Category: All Interviews

Mike Kahlowsky’s Handwriting Analysis – OPW Interview

Posted on March 8, 2008

Michael_kahlowsky_pictureOPW INTERVIEW — Mar 8 — Last week we introduced OmniDate as a way to make your site stand out from the crowd. This weeks it's time for Mike K's Handwriting Analysis. Do you believe in personality profiling? How about handwriting analysis? I really think there's a strong correlation with certain character traits and handwriting. Here's what Mike has to say. – Mark Brooks

Your company provides online handwriting analysis to people to help them find the perfect mate.  How exactly does that work?
A visitor to my website, HandwritingProfiles.com, registers, and is given a 16 question online handwriting analysis assessment test. The text takes about 10 minutes. We ask them to write out a handwriting sample of about 1-2 paragraphs in length.  They then read and answer online questions based on the handwriting sample they created.  For each question, we provide three possible answers, each with pictures of samples. The test-taker chooses the picture which is most like their handwriting sample. For example, the first question asks about handwriting size. The test taker rates their sample as small, medium or large based on comparing to the pictures we provide.   

So they finish the 16 questions and then what happens?
First, the user is given an overview of how handwriting assesses compatibility. It tells them about compatibility, which traits within the handwriting are being evaluated and what compatibility traits can be shown through handwriting analysis. Then, for only $4.99, they can purchase the complete assessment and compatibility profile. The first feature is a self assessment. It contains a 5 – 8 page report about their personality and their compatibility traits. It also rates 4 specific compatibility traits on a scale from low to high. These 4 traits are introverted/extroverted, sexual interest and energy, emotion expression, and finally, emotional maturity.   

Then the user is given an email invitee link so they can invite friends or lovers to take the test. Once their friend or their significant other takes the test, that individual’s information is stored in the Handwritingprofiles.com database. Using a compatibility algorithm that I created, we compare the two analysis results and tell the test-takers how compatible they are.   

How would this be used on dating sites?
The compatibility algorithm I created has 141,000 unique combinations when comparing 2 people. This occurs because within the 4 key traits, there are multiple possibilities. What I would like to do is license out the algorithm and test to online dating sites, which would then be able to instantaneously produce a compatibility outlook based on how the 4 traits of person A compares to the 4 traits of person B.   

Some of our readers will wonder, is handwriting analysis really scientific?
First of all, handwriting analysis is a branch of psychology. So it’s not going to be a mathematical equation like, x + y = z. But like all branches of psychology, research and case studies show expected behavior trends.  Handwriting analysis research has shown that there are clusters of traits in one’s handwriting that represent a certain personality trait or psychological disposition. In studies, people with clear personality traits have provided handwriting samples. Then correlations have been derived between particular handwriting traits and particular personality traits.   

Do you see a credibility issue? How do you overcome that?
In Europe, handwriting analysis is more widely accepted, but in the US the majority of people do want to know more about the validation behind it. So the way I overcome that is through example. I give the test to hundreds of people I have never met, often at trade shows and singles events.  I then tell them what the test shows about them. People have been amazed at the accuracy. I did this at IDate and the success was remarkable. Personally, I am certified through the National Society for Graphology and I’ve been studying and performing handwriting analysis for about 15 years.

How would a dating site use your product to increase their revenue or attract new users?   
If you were the CEO of a dating site, I would offer the handwriting analysis matching system as a fun and enlightening product to differentiate themselves from the competition and to make the site more sticky. It also creates PR value. I would offer the compatibility analysis as a premium service so people who have paid for the analysis will quickly see how they match up to others who have paid for the service. This too would be a differentiator as well as a revenue stream.   

For a larger site, we would be open to licensing an exclusive offer. We could also do a revenue share or a flat fee for a year, with an option to renew. At this point, we are open, as it depends really on the goals of the company to which I am talking.

OmniDate, Igor Kotlyar – OPW Interview

Posted on March 1, 2008
Igor_picOPW INTERVIEW — Mar 1 — How does your dating site stand out from the crowd?  In a sea of ubiquitous features, OmniDate stands out as a feature that dating site owners can use to get their members talking.  It's an avatar based instant messenger.  Here's my interview with the founder/CEO of OmniDate, Igor Kotlyar.  (Full Disclosure: OmniDate is a client of Courtland Brooks)

What is OmniDate?
OmniDate is a simulated dating environment where two people go on a virtual date, in a bar or café, from the comfort of their own home. Imagine a cross between a 3D avatar chat and a highly-realistic virtual environment. It’s a fun way to facilitate a conversation after reading someone’s profile, but before you are ready to meet someone in person.

We’re introducing OmniDate as an application that can be easily integrated into a typical dating site. It keeps users engaged longer (typically 30 minutes or more per date on our test site) and thus, increases conversions and retention. OmniDate also offers dating sites several revenue opportunities: premium pricing, product placement advertising fees, and gift fees from users who want to buy their dates a virtual gift.

What is your founding story?
I’m an Industrial Psychologist by training and in my previous business we built simulation-based assessments for business applications. When I sold the business in 2006, I saw an opportunity to apply similar innovative concepts to the online dating world. I was aware of a Jupiter Research survey that said only 1 in 4 users was satisfied with online personals sites, and I felt “virtual dating” could help online sites engage their users better and provide a more satisfying experience. My goal is to help dating sites achieve these objectives.

When did you launch and how is it going so far?
We opened our beta site to the public a couple of months ago and we are receiving a lot of positive feedback from our beta users. They really like the “virtual component” and how it helps them get to know each other before meeting face-to-face. It creates a level of comfort when they meet other singles and it facilitates a fun interaction. We are already getting thank you notes from people telling us about great relationships they found through our application. I am particularly pleased to see that our application appeals to both genders and all age groups. Fifty-one percent of our users are women and one-third of our users are 35 or older.

How does OmniDate help online dating services make money?
Two ways actually – it provides sites with a terrific differentiator and a completely new revenue model.

First, OmniDate helps our partners capitalize on huge growing trends – such as virtual reality, animated entertainment and online games – with minimal work. OmniDate improves traffic and conversion rates because daters get excited about “virtual dating”. Among our users, virtual dates last 20-40 minutes each, with many going over an hour. We are also finding that a “virtual dating” experience is a great conversation piece and increases word-of-mouth referrals.

Second, dating sites can make money with OmniDate in both the traditional way, as a premium service, but also using with product placement advertising and virtual gifts. Think about being on a virtual date when the sailboat that goes by has a McDonald’s logo (paid product placement), or I “buy” my date a drink (which costs me a $1) and the waiter serves a Corona (more paid product placement).

What makes OmniDate interesting to consumers?
Going on a virtual date is less time consuming and emotionally straining than meeting every person who seems “perfect” in a profile. You can get a really good sense for a person by going on a virtual date. If he is funny, he’ll make you laugh; if he is interesting, he’ll capture your attention; if he is boring … well, you don’t have to sit through the date.

Also, it reduces stress and awkwardness associated with dating in general. It allows you to ease into a conversation and get to know each other better before you actually meet. And, OmniDate has a tremendous “cool” factor! Like the iPhone, it has a “gotta-have-it” appeal.

Tell me about some of the interesting product features.
There are many, but let me mention a couple. First, OmniDate’s “virtual dating” component has a very intuitive user design. It doesn’t require learning or “figuring out” on the part of the user. Actually, it doesn’t even require installation – it’s a web app. Second, our users love how the avatars respond to typed text. For example, as you type “lol” your avatar actually laughs out loud. Or you can reach over and touch the other person’s hand. Our users have a lot of fun with that.

How do you see the online dating business changing over the next 5 years?
You’re probably not surprised to hear that I see a trend toward more entertaining, richer communication online environments. I think online daters want more from their dating site than “search profiles” and “email a member.” They want to have more engaging ways to interact with other singles than “send a wink.” I can see how over the next 5 years, the industry will evolve from a “database” toward the “entertainment” end of the spectrum. I think we will see a proliferation of game-like experiences that will allow singles to get to know others in an entertaining way.

Do you see any applications for this product outside the dating business?
Right now we are focused on the dating market and the design of our current product reflects that. However, the technology itself can be used in any industry where people communicate with each other over the Internet and could benefit from a more natural interaction.    

SpeedDate, Dan Abelon – OPW Interview

Posted on February 10, 2008

Dan_abelon_photo OPW INTERVIEW — Feb 10 — Speed dating is fun, but wouldn't it be cool if someone bottled it and put it online.  Turns out a couple of companies have done just that.  Namely WooMe, Camlink and Speeddate. Here's our interview with the founder of Speeddate.com, Dan Abelon.

What is the founding story of SpeedDate.com?
I was at Stanford Business School with a good friend of mine and co-founder, Simon Tisminezky. He had used a lot of different online dating services and found them frustrating.  We also kept hearing these same stories over and over from many of our friends. On most sites, there’s a long process you have to go through before actually interacting with someone. We really liked the offline speed dating idea, but found nobody was doing it online. We thought of the idea about a year ago and the site launched this past October.

How is it going so far?
It’s going really well. People seem to be responding and joining very fast. We have a bunch of success stories so far and a lot of people are signing up every day. I think people in general are looking for a new way to meet people that is more interactive and that’s what SpeedDate is providing for them. It’s spreading rapidly via word of mouth.

How does SpeedDate work?
You fill out a little information and it takes about a minute when you sign up for the site, which is completely free by the way. Then we take the information you’ve given us and match you with relevant people based factors such as age, location, gender and gender preference. Basically people pop up on your screen for 3 minutes at a time using live video, live audio and instant messaging. At the end, you vote yes or no. If you vote yes and the other person votes yes, you are considered a match and you can connect with each other through our site through email or instant messaging for as long as you want afterwards. If either side votes no, then you have a little break and go on to dating the next person.

What makes SpeedDate.com unique and better then some of the other services?
I think it’s because it’s such a fast way to meet people face-to-face. There really aren’t any other sites where you can quickly give a little bit of information and immediately be matched with someone who has also opted in to wanting to find someone for a romantic connection.  There are a lot of sites out there that are starting to add more interactive features, but SpeedDate is completely focused on interaction.  We’ve had over 300,000 dates take place on the site since we launched in October.

How did you decide on 3 minutes?
We went to offline speed dating sessions and tried them out at various different time intervals. We settled on 3 minutes because we thought that it worked best. Most people seem to think it’s an appropriate amount of time.

You used yourself as guinea pigs on speed dating sessions?
Exactly!

Now you mentioned a few times that your service is free. What is your revenue model?
We’re planning to introduce premium features potentially in the future. Right now it is completely free and we’re focused on user acquisition, and then refining the site and adding features.

Who is your typical member?
We have all different kinds of members. We have members of all ages. There are a lot of people in their 20s and 30s primarily because there’s a higher penetration of webcams and early adopters in that age group, but we do have a very wide range of people on the site. We have people from every state and almost every country. I think the commonality among people who join is either they have been frustrated with other dating services or they don’t want to fill out lengthy profiles and questionnaires. Any many are just looking for something new that’s a fast and effective way to meet people.

Now you don’t need a webcam to use SpeedDate right?
That’s right. We do encourage people to use a webcam. Live video with live audio is as close to the real world as you can get in terms of determining whether you have a connection with someone. But we do think that interaction in general is so important so we do let people instant message as well or just use their microphone if they don’t have a webcam.

Do you have any success stories?
Yes we do. I have people writing in a lot about how they really like the site and have met boyfriends and girlfriends on it. And actually, several people have written to tell us that they got engaged on the site which is really, really exciting. We’re a young site so I guess these people decided they wanted to move quickly.

Where do you see online dating going in the next 5 years and what is your place in it?
I think online dating in general will become more interactive. I think we’re one of the early sites that is completely focused on live interaction. We’ll start to see the industry transitioning too, especially as webcams have a greater penetration in society. More and more people have them and I think online dating will be most successful when it facilitates the richest interactions possible given existing technology.

How do you see social networking affecting online dating?
I think there’s a lot of talk about social networking taking over online dating but I don’t see that being the case. I think you’ll still have sites that are focused; we’re trying to be as focused as possible on romantic interaction. And the social networks, while they’re a place where a lot of romantic interaction takes place, they are not only about that. We do have a Facebook application that we’ve launched that allows people to SpeedDate from Facebook. So it’s a good way for us to acquire customers, especially of younger demographics. 

Stephen Stokols, WooMe, CEO Interview

Posted on January 13, 2008

Stephen_stokolsOPW INTERVIEW — Jan 13 — WooMe is bottling speed dating. (So is Speeddate.com.) Here’s  OnlinePersonalsWatch interview with the CEO. – Mark Brooks

What is WooMe?
It’s an introduction platform that allows people to meet in fast-topic speed sessions via voice and video. Users create their own sessions on any subject that is of interest to them. An example might be Nature Lovers in San Francisco. Each session melds 5 men and 5 women and each topic draws different personalities. Users enter the session and talk with each person of the opposite sex for 1 or 2 minutes (depending on what the session leader specified) and then are automatically transferred to the next person in the group. For now, WooMe is online speed dating platform, but we see many other applications in the future.

Tell me a little bit about your founding story.
My little sister and her friends were talking about how lame traditional dating sites are. It takes too long; they don’t like the stigma associated with it; and they thought all profiles sound the same. My little sister had actually been to a speed dating event last Christmas and she was telling me how fun it was and wouldn’t it be great if it could move online.

At the same time I was at British Telecom as VP in charge of new wave revenues. I had been looking at browser voice and video and trying to think of new applications. When she told me about speed dating, the light went off.

Who is your target audience?
Actually, it’s deliberately the younger, more casual setting. Our tag line is Enjoy the Minute. Our audience wants a more fun, less intense meeting experience. We consider ourselves an introduction platform on which dating is the core application, though many sessions are not about dating at all. Before Thanksgiving, we had a few sessions for people trying to find travel partners. We want to keep it very open-ended and a bit lighter. It doesn’t have the pressure of having to find your soul mate. Instead, its fun and allows people to connect in the way you would connect in person, without all the pressure. I think this has more appeal to the younger demo, who are as interested in meeting new people as anybody, but are turned off by the hardcore dating sites.

Do you find that when most people set up sessions that are geographically based?
Actually, only about 25% of the sessions are regional. The other 75% are interest-based only. There are a lot of people just looking to have a good time and they’re not as concerned about geography. We have built geographic specification into the product and we expect it to get a bit more regional as times goes by.

Why do you think online speed dating is better then offline speed dating?
First of all, there’s sort of a self selection. If you go to an offline speed dating event you don’t know who is going to be there. A typical session might be Catholic singles Los Angeles Age 34-46. It’s very broad. We are much more granular. We have had sessions called People Who Hate Bush and People Who Love Film. Each session is very different. It’s a far deeper level of segmentation. In addition, WooMe is quicker. You can log on whenever you want. And it’s free. You can also meet people from anywhere. For example, I might want to meet people in Europe or in Brazil. You have all kinds of different options when you webify something the way we have.

What makes you better then some of the other speed dating sites?
The biggest one out there is Speed Date, I think. They have a different model. In their model, the user enters and gets put into a blind session with somebody for 3 minutes. Then, they get switched to someone else that they might not have anything in common with. What we’ve done is a much more sophisticated platform. Our interactions are session based by interests, so it gives users greater ability to self-select. Users can create their own sessions with their own interests and invite people to their sessions. Plus, we have much more traffic. Come to the site at prime time and you’ll see 10 or 15 sessions all starting within the next 20 minutes.

How do you plan to monetize this?
After I interact with someone I have the ability to Woo her. If she Woo’d me as well, the system sends a message that says, Congratulations Steven, Annie 21 was also Wooed by you. At that point it’s $1 to get her contact information. So I pay a buck, get her email address and I can take it further myself. If she pays the $1, she gets mine as well. Right now we’re giving people unlimited Woo credit, so it’s currently free.

How do you prevent abuse by users?
We’ve got two functionalities. If someone is being abusive to you in a session, you block them and they can no longer interact with you or see your profile. Or users can report someone. If someone gets reported 3 times, we kick that person off the site.

You’re still in Beta right now. When are you planning on going live?
We’re open, but we’re officially in Beta because we are adding new functionality every couple of days. We’ll probably be in Beta for another 3 to 4 months. Whereas a month ago, we had just opened and we were adding about 200 people a day. Today, we are adding thousands of new users each day. We’re still learning from our users what we need to tweak and what functionality we need to add.

Yahoo! Personals, Egon Smola, GM Interview – Delight Your Users!

Posted on January 1, 2008

EgonsmolaOPW INTERVIEW — Jan 1 — Yahoo! Personals ranks as the top internet dating site in the U.S.A. according to Comscore Mediametrix and Nielsen//NetRatings, and #3 on Hitwise. Egon Smola is the new General Manager at Yahoo! Personals after Anna Zornosa's ~two years as GM. I met with Egon for breakfast in Mountain View for this interview. – Mark Brooks

Egon, congratulations on your new role as GM of Yahoo! Personals. What's your background with Yahoo! Personals?
I've been with Yahoo! Personals for the past 4½ years and what an amazing ride its been. I initially joined to lead international expansion before moving into the lead product management role, where I spent time learning more about our users and translating that insight into a vision and road map. Then I shifted my focus to driving customer acquisition from various channels and increasing customer satisfaction. One of the things we did to increase conversion was tweak our search and browse requirements. Non-registered members must now register and create their own profile before viewing multiple profiles. As a result of all our efforts, the most-often-cited reason why subscribers leave Yahoo! Personals is that they "found someone." Now, in taking the general manager position, I truly feel blessed to have such a strong leadership team in place to continue driving innovation focused on enhancing our customers' experience.

How do you think the social networking industry affects the Internet dating industry?
What we see today are people using social networks to find friends, stay in touch and occasionally meet new people. Online dating services such as Yahoo! Personals have a clear advantage in our value proposition. We provide access to a pre-qualified number of people who are serious about finding a mate. We offer anonymity, safety and security up to the point where the user is willing to reveal his or her personal information to someone else. We capture the relevant information of interest to online daters, and we provide users with the tools to make establishing a relationship efficient and fun. Finally, we charge for our service. In interviews with consumers we found that price is a signal of quality, both of the service and of subscribers to that service. Today, social networking services provide none of these advantages and I think they will be hard pressed to do so in the future.

Do you think in the future we'll see online personals services costing $100 a month or more?
I think the prices we see today, in the $20 to $40 range, is the sweet spot for the market. There will always be an opportunity for premium services that appeal to a very niche segment. What we're focused on is both satisfying our existing customers and appealing to potential users. This requires listening very carefully to the customers and making enhancements to the site that best meet their needs. This is no longer a game where we can look at our customer base as a homogeneous mass. Every dater is unique in their own way and requires a personalized approach to dating. We want to leverage our technology so that different subgroups have different user experiences, but the process is still fun.

What's important for online personals companies to bear in mind to make sure they are still around in 2012?
2012 is a long way off, and just look at how the industry has changed and matured in the past five years alone. The way for any online dating service provider to succeed going forward is by delivering a customer experience that truly delights. It delights by providing profiles that are easy to browse, a search algorithm that hones in on people that are of most interest, and tools that allow members to make contact. Scale is also tremendously important. Good services must offer a large number of potential dates in a geographically constrained area. Anyone who is doing this in a straightforward and honest fashion while providing users with safety and security will still be around in 2012.

You seem to be implying the largest sites will ultimately win the game. Yet there a number of niche dating sites emerging and doing quite well. Why is this?
What we're finding is that online dating has rather low points of entry. There are a lot of niche providers that can break-even. However, because these sites are not generating as much revenue, they are finding it is very hard to drive acquisition or reinvest in their businesses. In addition, some of them are employing tasteless and inappropriate tactics that Yahoo! Personals would simply not employ.

What is Yahoo! Personals doing in regard to Reverse-Search?
What we've invested in most recently is new search technology that allows us to highlight more relevant potential dates then ever before. We've added a number of new search features, two of which are We Match and I Match. I Match is what you refer to as reverse search. You can now search for anyone who is already looking for someone exactly like you. To give an example, if you are a single parent you may limit your search to include people who are specifically interested in people with kids. The We Match functionality is a mutual match. It searches for people who are looking for someone like you, but only if you are looking for someone like them.

Is Yahoo! Personals working with the academic world?
We are benefiting from the relationships that Yahoo! has established with a number of top universities across the country, particularly in the search field. We also have a specific relationship with the University of Berkeley. We initiated a research project that was so interesting that the National Science Foundation actually gave the doctoral student that we're working with a grant.

What features on your site have been the most successful?
This summer we launched new functionality that allows users to add captions to photos. This allows daters to identify the individuals in pictures that could otherwise be misinterpreted. For example, is that man seated next to that woman her brother or her ex-boyfriend? In addition, the captions allow for more context to be added to the photos, drawing attention from other users with similar interests. The photo and captions features made a big difference for our users and we've seen a four-fold increase in the photos that are added to our service. Again, most people are looking for someone else who has posted a photo so it makes a big difference because it opens up new potential dates.

We've also launched a feature called Who's Viewed Me, which tells users who has looked at their profile. Users like this feature because they know people on this list are likely already interested in them. We've also launched Side by Side, which allows users to quickly compare what they are looking for in a mate with characteristics of a particular profile, side by side, in an easy to read chart. At the end of the day, we focus on enabling our daters to make connections in a safe, fun and easy-to-use environment. And we are proud to have achieved the highest customer satisfaction rating among the major online dating service providers!

HonestyOnline.com, Mark Ezra, CEO Interview

Posted on November 3, 2007

MarkezraOPW INTERVIEW — Nov 3, 2007 — Mark Ezra knows background checks. It's not the online dating industries favorite subject, but background checks are here to stay. Mate1 will be offering them as an option to members on their site. I interviewed Mark to find out what checks work for dating sites. – Mark Brooks

What is Honesty Online’s founding story?
It all started a couple of years ago. I kept hearing story after story from my friends and others about people misrepresenting themselves on online dating sites. People who weren’t really who they said they were or who mislead people with false information. All of these problems and all of the fraud online sparked the idea. We saw there was a need in the online dating world and went out and did the research. We discovered there was no way to properly and accurately authenticate individuals and conduct criminal searches in a high-volume capacity.

What is your background?
My initial background is in the commercial real estate industry. I segued into the technology world when I co-founded a company that constructed technology buildings throughout the U.S. We sold that in early 2001. My partner’s background is technology. He’s built six startups. His last startup, Reliacast, which involved streaming video technology, was sold to Comcast last year.

What kind of background checks do you do?
Our background checks involve a few steps. The first thing we do is validate the identity to confirm that the person on the other side of the computer is who they claim to be. After validating all aspects of their identity, we run a background check and a sex offender search. One of the things that makes our products so successful is we use every possible data source out there to get the most complete data. We don’t rely on any one source. We combine the results from our various sources and use our technology to sort the enormous amount of data we receive. This ensures that we locate all relevant criminal records and match those records to the right individual. We spent a year alone building our proprietary technology.

What kind of background checks would you recommend for dating sites?
We would recommend a process like ours which is accurate, instant, cost effective, and easily integrated. Unfortunately, there are many holes in the data that results from performing a national criminal search. That’s why we have created products that allow us to plug a lot of these holes with technology that can handle gathering data from multiple data sources and then sorting that data so that errors of omission and over-inclusion are avoided.

We built our products so that we could use the data that people already are accustomed to giving on dating sites. We don’t require social security numbers or home phone numbers and our accuracy levels are just as high as if we had that information.

Why haven’t other services in the past been able to provide as much accuracy and speed?
We’re the first consumer-based product built for online properties with high volume. Traditional background checks, on the other hand, are targeted for lower-volume (typically HR) applications and rely on human beings to sort through the records and properly match a criminal record to an individual.

How much does a background check cost?
We charge an end user $10. For large partners, like dating sites, we have sliding scales of commissions we pay out to our partners that are based on volume. The retail cost would be the same, but what we pay the partners would vary.

How fast and accurate are your results?
Our background checks are done in seconds and are nearly 100% accurate in locating the individual and validating their identity and 95% accurate in matching the criminal records. Common names are no problem. Even with all the John Smith’s in the world, we can approach 100% accuracy levels.

I understand that Mate1 is a customer of Honesty Online. Tell me more about how the tests are being offered on Mate1.
We’re waiting for the Mate1 model to be released, but I can tell you that people will be able to opt-in to our process. We’ll be offering two products. One is a verification ID product that we call “Verification”. If you’ve been verified, we will know that you are who you say you are, that you live where you say you live, are “x” years old, etc. The next level up is what we call “Certification” and that ensures that you’re not a criminal or sex offender. Mate1 is going to have people opt-in and is going to heavily market our services as a means of keeping their environment a trusted one. With our products, they’ll be bringing to their consumers what a lot of them have been asking for. They believe our products will help create a market differentiator for them and value for their members.

What are your goals for the rest of 2007 through 2008?
I hope to be able to announce very shortly some partnerships with some large sites. Some, obviously, are in the online dating world and some are in the social networking market. We’re in all levels of discussion with numerous online communities that we can help. Our products can help create trusted environments and values to all of these sites’ members.

Author, Myles Reed – Interview

Posted on October 27, 2007

Mylesreedphoto1OPW INTERVIEW — Oct 27, 2007 — Myles Reed wrote Fishing For Love on the Net. Here's my interview with him about why he wrote the book and what he thinks of internet dating. – Mark Brooks

What’s your background?
I’m a seasoned business executive who has worked for Fortune 500 companies for the past 15 years. I’m trained in observing and analyzing and synthesizing information with an MBA from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Accounting from the University of Michigan.

I’ve worked in 4 functional areas, which are accounting, finance, strategy and, of course, the 4th area being marketing. From those experiences, I’ve really developed a skill in understanding consumers and how people behave. That is part of my skill set and what makes me tick. That became the perspective I’ve applied to my time in dating online. I spent over 6 years living and breathing what it takes to find love online.

Tell me more, how did you meet your other half
What’s interesting is that the environment for online dating presents a phenomenal number of opportunities that really haven’t existed for thousands of years. What sparked my interest in my soon to be future wife was that she was the first person who had the exact same birthday as I had. It was the spark that led to love.  More interestingly, she happened to live in a foreign country. If it weren’t for Internet dating, I would never have met this person. Traditional dating is typically confined to the physical sphere of influence of the people who are looking for love. Internet dating breaks down traditional barriers. It really opens up a new world of possibilities and potential mates to consider, which is why I’m very bullish and very excited about the opportunities for growth in this particular area.

What internet dating site did you use?
I have, over the 6 years, tried a wide variety of sites that turned out to be very effective. Of course, I used some of the big sites, which were E-Harmony, Match.com and Meetic.com, which is a very big Internet dating site in Europe, but I ultimately settled in on what I call a Specialty site, which was ChristianCafe.com. I talk about in my book Fishing for Love on the Net that there are 3 categories of websites. There are Mainline sites that offer primarily online dating services and those would be sites like PerfectMatch.com and Meetic.com. Then there are also Multi-purpose sites like Yahoo Personals that offers other information like the news, but then there are also Specialty sites that appeal to people who have a particular interests that are really meaningful for them. This could be a religious or ethnic site or any criteria where you have common interests. She is actually from Norway. That’s the wonderful thing about online dating. You can plug into populations across the world.

So tell us about your book on internet dating?
My book, Fishing for Love on the Net, talks about love and how people can find it. That’s the only reason why people sign up for online dating sites, they are thirsty and they are lonely for love. Online dating sites provide an opportunity to satisfy that longing. My book talks about the fact that online dating does work. However, many people are still unsure. The commercials do a great job of enticing people but many people toil for many years trying to find out if it can work for them. I demonstrate that yes it does work.

Secondly, my book highlights the misconceptions about online dating.  I demystify them and I address them head on. There are tons of people who are lonely wanting to find love but they’re hesitant to try online dating because of the water cooler discussions about the misconceptions and fears around online dating. I address these points of discussion to reassure people that there’s nothing really to fear.

And the last set of things Fishing For Love on the Net talks about are the really effective techniques for people to master their online dating experience to make the best use of their time.

What prompted you to write the book?
After spending more then 4 years online, I noticed there was a uniqueness to this experience that was not like my offline experience. There were some repeating patterns of behavior that no one had to instruct the people to display. The herd of the people involved created their own culture.  I recognized that many people, though caught up in the culture, did not quite understand how to make this new world work. So I felt that because I’m good at understanding value and synthesizing where the opportunities are I needed to capture that learning and distill it down to some really effective principles that would help people find love online.  That’s what Fishing For Love on the Net is really all about, helping people find love.

Do you think internet dating really works?
Absolutely.  In this particular day and age in which we live, people are very consumed with their careers.  They put off the decision of trying to establish relationships and now they are at certain points in their lives where they really do want to find love but they don’t have the time to do it. Online dating expands their world of opportunities. They are able to find the love in a very easy and systematic way that can get them the love they desire. So absolutely, I’m a big proponent of online dating.

Do you advise your readers to use social networking sites for dating as well?
Social networking sites can be an opportunity for people. The problem is that many people who participate on social networking sites are not interested in romantic relationships. They want to connect with their friends. I would advocate that if you were interested in finding love online that you stick with sites whose sole purpose is to create a community of people who have decided they want to find someone with whom to establish a meaningful relationship. Mainline sites are the way to go.

What are your top 3 tips for internet daters?
There are 3 things that I recommend. The first thing is for people to know exactly what they’re looking for in a mate. I really can’t overemphasize the importance here. People have to know what are the non-negotiable things. They have to stick to them. They also have to know the other things that are important but be willing to compromise a bit on them. Both of these categories become the filter that is used to evaluate the people they come into contact with.

The second thing that I recommend for people is to have a method for contact management. The online dating world is very different. You are going to meet many more people online than you would ever meet in the offline world. So you have to have a way to sift through the numerous profiles.

And the last thing I would recommend is that people court their prospective mates as opposed to engage in traditional dating. Because you will meet so many people, many of them will not be the right person, so you have to find a way to more efficiently determine if this contact is the right person for you. Courting, as I lay out in Fishing for Love on the Net, requires two things that are different than traditional dating, a mindset change and a behavior change. If courting is deployed consistently, people will really improve their chances to find love online.

Are you looking to partner with any internet dating sites in any way?
I really would like to find ways to partner with the industry. I’m very passionate about the space of online dating and helping people find love. I’m heartbroken often times when I hear of many of my friends and people that I meet for the first time who are lonely and are desperately wanting to have a meaningful and loving relationship. With a few clicks, online dating can change peoples’ lives. They just need to know how to go about it. People would not dare try to assemble IKEA furniture without following the instructions. Online dating is a whole new world where people can benefit from some direction. Fishing for Love on the Net provides that guidance for them so that they make the most of their time and equip them to reach their point of success, true love. This is my mission.

PerfectMatch.com, Duane Dahl – CEO Interview

Posted on October 23, 2007

PerfectmatchlogoOPW INTERVIEW — Oct 23, 2007 — I last interviewed Duane in February of 2007, and before that in June of 2005. I asked Duane about PerfectMatch.com's targeting, positioning, new TV placements, his plans for the future and what he thinks about Match.com launching a high-end matchmaking product. Here's my latest interview with Duane Dahl, CEO and Founder of PerfectMatch.com. – Mark Brooks

How is Perfectmatch different from and better than eHarmony?
We pride ourselves in providing the best results to our members. We’ve worked hard to develop and refine our matching process, the Duet Total Compatibility System (Duet®), which matches members not only on similarity factors, but also on complementary factors as well. I think a significant difference in our approach is we work to be inclusive and transparent in the process, which members (generally 30+ in age) really appreciate. eHarmony has struggled a bit with the holier than thou approach – and I imagine that is driving the changes we see at eHarmony as they work to become more mainstream.  As part of this process, we lay the member’s information over the research and intelligence to ultimately present what should be excellent matches for them. We believe our matching process is superior to eHarmony’s – and I think that has been proven out by the success we’ve had – and the conversion of eHarmony members to Perfectmatch.

Another very important key element which our members appreciate is the supportive environment we provide. This goes beyond matching – for us it really is about being the best approach. It’s a very difficult and stressful process for many – putting yourself out there and trying to pursue a relationship is difficult. So, we work very closely with Dr. Pepper Schwartz (Pepper) to help our members put their best foot forward, to enable them to be in a position to have success. This is accomplished, in part, through our profile review system, and tips and information provided by Pepper.

Lastly, our team strives to create opportunities for members so they can extend the experience through offline events and opportunities. This is a significant component to many of the entertainment-focused promotions we’ve had over the last few years.

Do you allow people to search on the site?
Absolutely. This is another of our unique differentiators. We view our members as adults who’re actively seeking long-term relationships. Although we’ve done an excellent job in creating a matching system for them, we also want our members to have the opportunity and freedom to seek out other individuals.

One of the really distinctive tools we give our members, in addition to traditional searches, is the ability to search on personality types directly linked to Duet®. Members have told us, via feedback, it’s very exciting for those who found themselves dating certain types to go outside the box and search for people who possess a different personality type than what they’ve traditionally been drawn to.

Again, I think it all just creatively weaves into our approach of putting our members in the best possible position for success.

Has Perfectmatch been integrated into any entertainment vehicles lately, and what else do you have in the works?
We just finished the prime-time one hour airing of “Science of Love” with NBC. It aired on June 25th and featured Perfectmatch, Duet® and, of course, Pepper. On the plus side it was exciting because it was an opportunity for us to get involved on the ground floor in the development of a show and fully integrate the brand, our matching system and Pepper. We’re continuing to work with a couple of production companies to secure an opportunity to fully leverage and merge the internet with television programming.

Also, on September 21st, a film called “Good Luck Chuck”, starring Jessica Alba and Dane Cook, will hit the theaters. We have integration and placements in the film. It, looks like a hit – very funny film and nice placements for us – kudos to Lionsgate.

Any plans for introducing instant messaging, anonymous calling, or any other communications?
We’ve tested instant messaging off-and-on over the past three years. Our members, who skew from early 30’s through 40’s, and even a growing segment of the 50+, just haven’t embraced instant messaging. They much prefer the more traditional email approach.

We are looking at numerous solutions in the area of communications. Certainly one of the related challenges all of us face in 2007 and beyond involves deliverability. We’re working to find new ways to engage our consumers, to extend their experiences and visit times on the site. We expect to have an announcement shortly on furthering the perfectmatch experience.

What are your thoughts on Match.com’s new high-end matchmaking service, and do you have any plans to offer something similar?
It’s a natural step for the space. We think it’s a terrific idea and have been looking at it since the Kiss.com days. I would expect as we get into Q4/Q1, you’ll see us introducing something of a premium nature. We’d want to ensure that whatever premium service we offer our members, embodies our high touch approach and leverages Pepper as the leading expert in the space.

Who is Perfectmatch’s ideal client these days?
As we continue to see the site grow and the relationship/dating space evolve, we’re finding we continue to have success with the 35-year-old professional. This segment of the market continues to be a very important part, and driver of, the business. We’re having a tremendous amount of success with acquiring members who are 45+. And that’s natural when you step back, look at the evolution of the Internet, and then combine both with our messaging and approach. I think the 45-50+ member finds our message of relationship versus a casual approach to be one they can embrace. And I think it’s important to them to be in a community of like-minded people versus a community of 20-25 million people with assorted goals and desires. It’s all sorting out I think…social networking has played an important role in developing members. It used to be we depended heavily on members graduating up from Match.com, and those who hadn’t had success or were frustrated with eHarmony. Now, as the online community is introduced to consumers much earlier in life than even just five years ago, we see kids graduating from MySpace to the very casual dating and down market hook-up sites, then up to Match.com and finally to Perfectmatch and eHarmony.

Dating Direct, Alistair Shrimpton, CEO Interview

Posted on October 16, 2007

Alistair_meetic_3OPW INTERVIEW — Oct 16, 2007 — Dating Direct is the UK's top straight internet dating site (Gaydar is #1 according to Hitwise, and PlentyofFish is #3) and was bought by Meetic back at the beginning of 2008. Here's the quick interview I did with Marc Simoncini, the day I heard they were to buy DatingDirect.com. And here's my recent interview with the CEO of Dating Direct, Alistair Shrimpton… – Mark Brooks

What is the founding story of DatingDirect.com?
DatingDirect.com was founded in 1999 and was, I believe, the first UK online dating service. It was created by an entrepreneur, Darren Richards, who went into this market because he was frustrated with the poor online dating choices available at the time. He thought he could better and did just that.

DatingDirect.com was the historical first mover in the UK and, in many metrics, has been the brand leader ever since. The company was running successfully when Meetic bought it earlier this year.

Could you tell me more about DatingDirect.com’s new platform?
When Meetic took over, we had to migrate the 5 million plus registered users on DatingDirect.com onto the standardized global Meetic platform. It was quite a challenge because millions of people who are used to the look and feel of one particular service are now presented with something completely new. But the product, especially in terms of features and usability, is an enormous improvement and consumer reaction has been phenomenal. Our growth since migration has been impressive. I can’t put figures on it, but I think all of our UK internal targets are higher than our best forecasts.

In terms of these new features, the word that I would use for the new DatingDirect.com on the Meetic platform is “live.” Dating is impulsive. Nobody knows why people suddenly get the urge to talk to somebody. But when members do, they can see right away who is online, who is available. Members can enter their post code, see who’s online in their area, and chat to them with an instant messenger that is built into the Meetic browser system.

I know a lot of sites offer this, but this is a really important feature for us and one our users really appreciate. When we did the research for the new platform, 82% of our users said that, of all the proposed changes, instant messenging is the killer application. And that has proven so in our post research results. Instant messenger is what’s really moving the needle for our business.

Are people in Europe making money from mobile?
In 2006, just under 7% of Meetic Group’s total global revenue was mobile revenue. The mobile solution provided by Meetic across its platform is probably the best execution that I’ve ever seen of a web proposition delivered to a mobile phone. It works really well and almost perfectly replicates the website functionality. Users can see new members, get messages, search for people who are local and online, and then chat with them in an instant via mobile. It’s really exciting and I believe the mobile-phobic UK is actually going to produce significant revenues for us in the years to come.

Across Europe, I believe we’re working with 21 operators. Within the Meetic Group, we’re already working with Vodafone, Orange, O2, and most of the other major operators. Within three weeks of launching our new platform, we signed a linking agreement with Vodafone and my commercial sense tells me that we’ll probably close out the other major operators in the UK by the end of 2007.

What are your thoughts on future online dating in the UK?
When I first looked at the UK market, I was amazed at the number of online dating companies. If I look at comScore numbers, there are hundreds of UK-focused online dating services. A lot of these companies are very focused, niche players and I think the niche players here have a great opportunity to make a very good business out of continuing to focus on those niches.

If we compare markets in Europe, we see that the UK is probably the one that has the lowest credibility for individuals who want to date online. People are still a little embarrassed to admit that they’re doing it, but there’s been a huge escalation in acceptability, particularly in the last six months. My belief is that this will continue and, as online dating becomes more of a mainstream industry here, there will be two or three major brands that will push through and be able to deliver scale operations. And it’s honestly pretty obvious at the moment who two of those companies would be.

What are your goals for DatingDirect.com for 2007 through the end of 2008?
I think that we have completed phase one, which is the successful migration of the current DatingDirect.com users onto the new platform. For the rest of the year, I think we’ll probably work on two key objectives. The first one is to continue to educate and help the DatingDirect.com users who joined from the older platform. We want to help them understand how the new site works and make them as loyal to the new DatingDirect.com platform as they were to the old. It is very important to us to reassure these millions of users and this will be our number one priority for the remainder of 2007.

Almost equal to that is our ambition to win more market share. I think a prime target market of 30-35 year olds is beginning to move more towards online dating in the UK and we want to grab the lion’s share of this new market. In 2007, we’ll have activities that are actually focused on us beginning to win that piece of the market.

In 2008, we are planning a pretty big offline media campaign in the first quarter that will involve a substantial investment above the line, i.e. TV media.

Dating-Central a.k.a Bonefish, Mike Fitzgerald – CEO Interview

Posted on October 2, 2007

MikefphotoOPW INTERVIEW — Oct 2, 2007 — So you want to start your own internet dating site? You can build it yourself, use a white label service. White label services look after the technical and customer service end of things and allow you to have fully stocked shelves, right from the day you start your site. This leaves you to do the marketing work. For a roundup analysis of services email me at mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com. Here's my interview with Mike Fitzgerald, CEO of Dating-Central, a.k.a Bonefish. – Mark Brooks

What’s your founding story?
Me and my business partner Graham started Dating-Central back in 1999. We both graduated from the university with business degrees and somehow ended up in technical positions at the companies we worked for. I was from an insurance background and developing white label sites, so I sort of developed the idea of doing the white labeling we do today. Graham was in more of a programming role.

Although we both enjoyed our jobs, we realized the IT and Internet markets were still quite young and the companies we worked for didn’t really fathom how sites could actually go with the Internet. So, around 1999, we both left our positions. We saved up some money and basically developed the Dating-Central service.

We tried to develop a system that wouldn’t put us in one market. Rather than competing with major sites, like Kiss.com and FriendFinder, we tried to develop an application that fit into each niche market. We had various markets, like gay, lesbian, adult, and romance, which protected us from being forced out of any one market by one player.

After we did that for about six months, we had some 50 or 60 partners from a few of the big niche areas. We had gay, Christian, disabled, and obviously romance customers. They, in effect, launched the service for us. We were both self-financed and didn’t have any backing.

What does Dating-Central do?
We’re basically a white label service that provides a very niche market to each of our affiliates. Instead of just a white label romance site, we can provide our affiliates with a white label romance site that specifically targets a certain age range in a certain location with a certain fee. For example, if an affiliate wants to target brokers in London, we’ll provide them with a romance site with members that match the profile they want, in the area they want. And, of course, the site will match their brand. Since the application we use has been around for about six years, all the bugs are gone and we’re able to provide pretty much any type of site to anybody.

What do you do best?
I would say that in addition to providing the sort of specific niches that affiliates ask for these days, we also provide the personal touch. Our affiliate department is just me and one other person. So, when we take affiliates on board, we tend to have a great knowledge of what they want. I’ll personally speak with them for 20-30 minutes. I’ll get a very good idea of what they want and provide them with the best solution. If the solution isn’t what they think they want, I’ll tell them where it is they need to be heading. I’ll tell them that we can provide them with a service that will compete with companies, like FriendFinder and Match, but that they’d be better off targeting something a little more specific.

The tailored approach has always been our goal, rather than trying to get as many white label sites live as possible because, if we did that, there’d be no emotional link between us and our affiliates. We’d just be providing some sort of faceless service.

Who is a typical partner?
A typical partner tends to be somebody who wants to do this on a full-time basis, but starts off on a part-time basis. We’ll find people who have some knowledge of the Internet, some knowledge of the market that they’re in, and then we tailor the service to match their needs and help them become a full-time affiliate.

A typical affiliate will be somebody who earns 500-1,000 pounds a month in the first year. By the end of their third year, they should be making 3,000-5,000 pounds, at which point they can go full-time. We’ll then try to help them become an affiliate in more than one area. If their strength lies in a particular location or a particular niche, we’ll try to strengthen that by giving them additional ideas in the market or additional ideas in the location. What’s worked for other affiliates may or may not work for them.

How do they typically drive traffic?
That’s a very good question. With our white label solution, we provide the back end and they provide the front. A lot of our big affiliates who are earning 5,000-15,000 pounds a month have their own front end and tend to keep their marketing a closely-guarded secret.

But, on the whole, I would say they target pay-per-click search engines and search engine optimization. We have some affiliates who advertise in magazines and on the radio. It depends on the niche and the location. Quite a broad spectrum of advertising, I would say.

What do you recommend to people who are starting from scratch?
The first thing I would recommend is for them to actually speak to me in person. I think it’s very difficult to give a blanket approach to an affiliate starting out. You could tell them, though, that most affiliates target things like Google AdWords and other pay-per-click search engines to try to get the traffic through. Once they start generating the revenue from the first week or two, they then could look at long-term solutions, like search engine optimization.

Small niches allow affiliates to target small periodicals, local radio stations, and local support groups. Again, it all depends on the market they’re interested in and the size of their budget. If they have a very large budget, then obviously we can do a lot more with it. If they have a very small budget, then we tend to advise they approach other websites in the area. For example, we have a few disabled dating websites that advertise on other disabled sites and appear on programs about disabilities. It’s actually a lot easier to get the advertising and exposure if they’re targeting a very small niche, then it is if they’re advertising a worldwide disabled site.

What are your goals for 2007?
We’re in the process of moving our service back to the USA. We were running it in the UK and had a few problems with that. We have finished version 3 of the service and are waiting to go live. For the rest of the year, we plan to migrate all of our existing affiliates onto the new platform. We have about 600-700 templates from which they can choose, or they can continue to use their existing service.

For 2008, we signed a contract with a marketing agency in the UK that basically will target specific organizations and companies in markets we think have some mileage as far as our service goes. We’re going to try to move into markets that aren’t necessarily traditional dating, which I know is not necessarily a low-risk thing. But we’ll be looking at communities of people who are, for example, English and based in, say, India or Pakistan or Australia and try to use the service more as a contact site rather than a dating service.