OPW — If you have any interest in the business of matchmaking, I'd recommend you consider attending the Matchmakers Conference this Friday and Saturday. You might also want to stick around for the matchmakers training on Sunday, which is included. ~100 matchmaking industry executives, top level matchmakers, marketers and press will be in attendance. The matchmaking industry is the antithesis of the online dating industry in many ways. I'm looking forward to learning from the Yentas, and figuring out how to pair the two industries together more effectively.
I'll be keynoting along with Helen Fisher of Chemistry.com/Match.com. Master matchmaker Julie Ferman is moderating. Paul Falzone from The Right One & Together Dating, Evan Marc Katz from e-cyrano, Bill Broadbent from Instinct Marketing, Patrick Perrine from myPartner, and Violet Lim from Lunch Actually in Singapore will be speaking amongst others. See MatchmakersConference.com.
OPW — Sep 17 — The first ever Matchmakers Conference is happening next week Friday 28th September, and Saturday, with an optional Sunday matchmaker training session. The conference suits prospective matchmakers, current professional matchmakers and those interested in learning more about the matchmaking business. I'm doing the keynote sesssion "State of the Dating & Matchmaking Industry: Statistics, Trends & Market Overview." Dr Helen Fisher from Match.com/Chemistry.com, Paul Falzone from The Right One/Together Dating, Julie Paiva from Table For Six, Patrick Perrine from myPartner.com and many others will be presenting. See the program. Press, please call me at 212-444-1636 asap to arrange your press pass.
PRESS RELEASE — Aug 29 — Matchmaking company The Right One and Together Dating has been named #2,598 in the Inc. 5,000 – Inc. Magazine's annual list of the fastest-growing and most dynamic privately-held companies in the country. The company boasts over 100,000 members and revenues that have increased 133% over the last four years. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Mark Brooks: Brick and mortar matchmaking is alive and well and The Right One & Together Dating are leading the way.
MEDIA SYNDICATE — July 31 — When it comes to taking a first vacation with your date, less really is more. Paul A. Falzone, dating guru and CEO of The Right One, Together Dating, and eLove.com, suggests a 2-3 day mini-vacation over a more complicated, lengthy, and/or overseas one. He advocates planning the trip together, discussing budgets, and coming up with a daily game plan. And remembering the Trifecta rule of dating: Never talk about dogs, death, or dating.
The full article was originally published at Media Syndicate, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Paul is one of a small number of genuine, time served matchmakers in the USA. He'll be talking at the Matchmakers Conference in September.
PRESS RELEASE — July 12 — On Sept. 28-30 the first Matchmaker Event & Expo will gather personal matchmakers, introduction agencies and dating coaches from all over the country and abroad. With ~1,500 independent matchmakers in the U.S. generating $250 million last year, the matchmaking industry is booming. The 2-day conference will be followed with a 1-day matchmaker certification on September 30, 2007. Over 100 matchmakers and dating coaches are expected.
– Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating – Patrick Perrine, specialist in Human Mating Preferences, founder of myPartnerPerfect – Dr Helen Fisher, research professor and anthropologist, author of "Why we love" – Patti Novak, Confessions of a Matchmaker (A&E) – Lisa Clampitt, CMM, CSW, co-founder of the Matchmaking Institute – Julie Ferman, CMM, founder of Cupid's Coach – Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch
The full article was originally published at Fast Pitch, but is no longer available.
PRESS RELEASE — July 2 — The first worldwide conference for professional matchmakers will take place on Sept 28-29, 2007 in Weehawken, NJ. With over 1500 independent matchmakers in the US and sales of $250m last year, the matching making industry is growing steadily. Topics at the conference will include Dating & Relationship Coaching; Dealing with Challenging Clients; Business Models; Marketing & Lead Generation; etc. Speakers include Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating, Dr Helen Fisher, research professor and anthropologist, and Patrick Perrine, specialized in Human Mating Preferences and founder of myPartnerPerfect.com. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Mark Brooks: This is a must see event for those interested in learning more about, and partnering with, the 'real-world' matchmaking industry.
PRESS RELEASE — June 10 — The Right One and Together Dating Service, has been named to the Boston Business Journal's elite Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies list. With 2006 revenue of $18.1 million, more than double that of 2003, The Right One and Together Dating captured 38th position on the BBJ's list. The company's revenue has grown at an average of $3.5 million annually since 2003. The Right One and Together Dating Service has four offices in Massachusetts, located in Norwell, Newton, Shrewsbury and Woburn. CEO Paul A. Falzone said, "We've experienced phenomenal growth over the last several years, due in part to increased consumer interest in traditional dating services over online dating services." Catering to 300,000+ members at 60 locations throughout North America, The Right One and Together Dating are the largest bricks and mortar dating services in the industry. FULL ARTICLE @ NEWSWIRE
Mark Brooks: Online dating companies need to monetize their communities ever more. One of the easiest ways to add significant revenue is to do lead generation for the top matchmaking outfits. They offer CPL’s (Cost Per Lead) in excess of $8.
OPW — May 25, 2007 — I’ve yet to see online services successfully integrate traditional matchmaking services. They need to. They’re leaving money on the table. Users want choice AND service, and are willing to pay for it. Actually, the nearest I’ve seen so far is the MyPartnerPerfect.com service which will go live in the next few hours. It’s niche targeted at the gay male population. I know The Right One/Together Dating is looking for online partners now. Here’s my interview with Jason Tian, who has been quietly pioneering an online/offline amalgamation of services in China with Baihe.com, the eHarmony of China. I conducted four video interviews at the Asian internet dating and social networking conference. Here’s the first one. Click on the image to play the video. – Mark Brooks
Can you tell me more about your new pricing system and matchmaking services? At first we wanted to allow the user free profiling and free search or free match. But if they want to communicate they need to upgrade to a membership. That's what we needed to understand. But after we tried it for 9 months we found it very difficult to work in China because there are some people who want to pay but the percentage is much lower than in the U.S.
We found that users pay a lot for offline matchmakers. They pay thousands of U.S. dollars. So want to combine the off line and online. When we changed the pricing model we also hired some matchmakers. They interview the customers and do identity verification and recommend matches. But compared with the offline matchmakers, we have a very large online user base and can provide more high quality matches to them.
With the online model the users are reluctant to pay 30 RMB ($4) a month but for this offline model they will pay up to 30,000 RMB ($4,000). So our average pricing is 5,000 RMB ($700) per user.
After 3 to 4 months of service, 30% to 40% of our web users find somebody they want to stay with for at least several months and there are many couples that get married. So we deliver a high service with a high success rate and privacy protection and the users feel they are well treated. So that's why the users want to pay us.
But the difficulty for us is making it scalable. You can have good love consultants but how to manage hundreds of love consultants and still deliver service at a common standard. So we built a training program and a CRM system and we have an independent QA team. By the end of this quarter we will have established the majority of the services and infrastructure, including the IT system, the training system, the people system and some of the branding. So that's our new model. Of course, I think there is a gap. We need to develop a medium tier. So that's what we want to try.
What is your regular online pricing? Current pricing online is zero but they can upgrade to 1,000 RMB ($140), which allows them to use the matching system. A self service system. Then there's the gold membership, which is 3,600 RMB ($500). Our consultants will recommend the matches to them. Then there is a platinum service around 7,000 RMB ($1000) for the users have very high requirements. The highest price is something like a headhunters service. They pay 30,000 RMB ($4,000) and we will help them find someone. If we cannot do it in one year, we will return 2/3's of the fee. So that's our current pricing scheme but I think we can have something between that zero and the 1,000 RMB. Maybe 100 RMB. I think a mid tier service will attract more users and will be more scalable.
How do users communicate with the matchmakers? The majority of the communication happens through the telephone and at the beginning we may interview them face to face.
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY — Apr 24 — Christie Nightingale is owner of Premier Match, a traditional matchmaking firm in NYC launched in 2000 ($6500 membership for 12+ matches, 400 clients). Despite stiff competition from the Net, she says her revenue is surging 30% annually. Premier Match found that competition from the Internet hasn't undercut its business. Ironically, it may be helping to grow it by making dating services with a human touch more alluring in a very digital world. Most clients are in their 30s and 40s. 60% women, 40% men.
Mark Brooks: I just flew up to Boston to check out the The Right One / Together Dating's services. They invited me to mystery shop them. More soon 😉
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY — Apr 24 — Christie Nightingale is owner of Premier Match, a traditional matchmaking firm in NYC launched in 2000 ($6500 membership for 12+ matches, 400 clients). Despite stiff competition from the Net, she says her revenue is surging 30% annually. Premier Match found that competition from the Internet hasn't undercut its business. Ironically, it may be helping to grow it by making dating services with a human touch more alluring in a very digital world. Most clients are in their 30s and 40s. 60% women, 40% men.
Mark Brooks: I just flew up to Boston to check out the The Right One / Together Dating's services. They invited me to mystery shop them. More soon 😉
