July 05, 2005

Free Dating Site Looking for Acquisition

Free Dating Site Looking for Acquirer

Total Users in DB: 110,000
Total Active Monthly Users: 55,000 completed profiles (active members)
Total Daily Page Views: minimal
Site Written in: (insert tech apps here) sql .asp.

Please add: Site previously had as many as 1,500 to 2,000 new members per day. Needs marketing and traffic flow to revitalize.

If you are interested - let me know and I am happy to discuss price, etc!

mjones@userplane.com

Posted by Michael Jones at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)

Plenty of Fish - out of the shadows!

In case you have not been following Marcus - he is one of the more impressive internet-entrepreneurs I have met - and has built quite a site at PlentyOfFish.com.

Plentyoffish.com Becomes the Fifth Largest Dating Site and Destroys Existing Online Dating Business Model
Plentyoffish.com, the largest free dating service in the world was established merely two years ago. In that short time span, Plentyoffish.com has experienced exponential growth and now accounts for nearly 25% of English speaking Canadian online singles.

Vancouver, Canada (PRWEB) July 5, 2005 -- Plentyoffish.com the largest free dating service in the world was established merely two years ago. In that short time span, Plentyoffish.com has experienced exponential growth and now accounts for nearly 25% of English speaking Canadian online singles.

Markus Frind CEO and Founder stated, “Originally we wanted to develop an online community based on the concept of free dating. That it would take off in such leaps and bounds with minimal effort was not anticipated!”

More than 35,000 Canadian members visit Plentyoffish.com each weekday looking for their perfect match.

Currently it appears that Plentyoffish.com is the fifth largest dating site in North America based on daily unique logins. Plentyoffish.com sparks fear in the heart of the online dating industry. This week alone 100,000 daily unique logins exceeded the previous record of 50,000 daily unique logins of only three months prior. Match.com, Yahoo.com, Eharmony.com and Americansingles.com are the only other dating sites suspected to surpass it.

Radical changes have been brought to the industry by Plentyoffish, ‘radical’ as Plentyoffish is comprised of only one employee. Sites of comparable size rarely operate with a staff under 50 employees. Technology costs are at a minimum when compared with AmericanSingles.com whose costs exceed $500,000. Plentyoffish.com garners the same amount of online traffic while keeping costs less than $10,000 per month not including advertising.

Michael Jones, CEO of Userplane, "For a free Website with over 5 million page views daily, and over 35 million page views for the Userplane Webmessenger, it’s incredible that a single employee company has grown to such a size. A unique entrepreneur, Markus’s expertise within search engine marketing and online property management, has created what I would imagine is likely one of the most profitable dating sites in existence.”

Plentyoffish.com charges nothing for all of its many services. By contrast most dating sites charge $24.95 to $49.95 per month. When asked how this affects the industry, CEO Markus Frind replied, “With the recent success of Plentyoffish.com in the Canadian dating market, the executives of Lavalife.com, Americansingles.com and other major dating sites must realize their days are numbered. Who wants to pay when they can get a superior product for free?"

Posted by Michael Jones at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

Engage.com Launches

We have been hearing about this one for a while - looks like a solid team. Here is the release:

Engage.com Launches World's First Online Relationship Community Where People Help People Find Love Through Personal Introductions
Matchmakers, References, Reputations, Helpful Advice and Legitimate Ties to a Real Social Community Bust the Bogus Barrier and Isolating Experiences on Leading Online Dating Sites, Where Members Report Only a 28% Satisfaction Rate

AN FRANCISCO, July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Engage Corporation today announced the June, 2005 Beta launch of Engage.com (www.engage.com) the world's first online relationship community where singles "engage" their friends and family in their search for love by inviting others to Play Matchmaker(TM) for them. Predicated on the notion of people helping people, there's no scientific testing required to meet someone on Engage. Love happens on the site much as it does in the real world, with a little help (and the occasional nudge) from our family and friends. According to a June, 2005 Engage survey of more than 1,000 married adults, more marriages form through a third-party introduction than through any other manner.
Unlike dating sites, singles in the Engage relationship community can elect to have their wingmen and wingwomen help them meet someone special, break the ice, make a great first impression and more successfully navigate the early stages of dating, all while eliminating the social isolation typical of online dating. Unique Engage.com features include:

-- Play Matchmaker(TM) -- Singles can ask family and friends to introduce
them to other singles, while anyone (single or married) can help set up
singles they know.
-- Cast Your Vote(TM) -- Better than unproven, scientific
personality-testing methods, singles can garner the collective
intelligence of the Engage community to meet matches the community
"senses" would be right for them.
-- Living Profiles(TM) -- Much more than the typical dating profile
offering only self-disclosed information, Living Profiles(TM) present
singles in a rich, community-determined social context, helping bust
the bogus barrier plaguing other sites.

- References -- Read what friends and family have to say about a
member.
- Member Reputation -- Feedback regarding the member's interactions
with others in the community -- including responsiveness,
truthfulness and politeness -- speaks to a member's character.
- Advice -- Decide if a member is insightful by reading the dating
advice she or he has provided to others, or give the member advice
yourself.
- People I'm Helping Introduce -- See (or contact) other singles a
member is helping.
- My Community of Matchmakers -- Contact matchmakers who are helping a
member to find out more about the member, or ask for an introduction.
- Matchmaker Rating -- View the number of introductions a member has
made for others and feedback regarding the quality of those
introductions.

A Solution To The Shortcomings Of Traditional Online Dating Services
Although all leading online dating sites disregard the role family and friends play in the dating lives of singles, the June, 2005 Engage research suggests singles are most likely to succeed in their search for love by engaging people they know in the process. The research also validates Engage's People-Helping-People premise: Few of us date, or fall in love, in a social vacuum, and most of us want to help others find happiness.

Additional Engage Research Findings Regarding Married Adults:

-- 59% felt safer on their first date with their spouse because they were
introduced. Women (70%) were more likely than men to say an
introduction felt safer.
-- 69% said their spouse's reputation was important as they considered
marriage. Women (77.5%) were more likely than men to say reputation was
important.
-- 76% said when they were getting serious about their spouse, or
considering marriage, the opinion of their close family and friends was
important to them. Women (82%) were more likely than men to say this
opinion was important.
-- 93% would help out a friend or family member they trusted and liked by
putting in a good word for them with someone they hoped to date.
-- 82% believe they cannot be truly happy in life without also helping
other people.
According to a February 2005 Jupiter study of the online dating category, only 28% of users of online dating services surveyed reported that they were either somewhat satisfied or very satisfied with their experience. "Engage.com brings the tried and true methods of falling in love in the real world to online dating and corrects for issues of isolation, dishonesty, unrealistic expectations and rejection that are diminishing the experience on leading dating sites today," said Suneet Wadhwa, CEO and co-founder of Engage.com. "Just like dating in the real world, on Engage singles are tied into a social community that helps to set them up and keep them genuine, realistic and on track."

All adults, single or married, are welcome to play matchmaker for friends and family at Engage.com. Only singles can be daters. As part of the Engage Beta launch, early members who are daters will receive a free six-month membership, a $200 value, with no credit card required to join. It's free to be an Engage matchmaker.

"You'll never be asked to take a four hundred-question test to qualify to say hello to someone on Engage, because we all know that's not how love happens in the real world," said Trish McDermott, Engage's Vice President of Love(TM), who left a ten-year career with InterActiveCorp's Match.com prior to launch the new service. "Engage reconnects online singles with their caring community, and finally introduces a warm and inviting social context to searching for love online." Engage welcomes altruistic, genuine singles and their family and friends-people with nothing to hide, who are willing to step up and help each other find love.

About Engage.com

Founded by Suneet Wadhwa (co-founder of Snapfish.com, a recent HP acquisition) and entrepreneur Karen Wallace, developed with 16-year dating industry veteran Trish McDermott, and co-developed and endorsed by noted relationship expert Dr. Robert Epstein, former Editor in Chief of Psychology Today, Engage.com (www.engage.com) is the world's first online relationship community where people help each other find love. There's no scientific testing required to meet someone. Love happens on Engage much as it does in the real world, with a little help from our family and friends. Engage, a San Francisco Bay Area company, closed its first round of venture funding in Q2, 2005.

Posted by Michael Jones at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2005

Unique new online community

Dirt.com is an interesting new online community/social network created using Mambo Community Builder open source scripts. Dirt.com was created to address social issues and become a community based on positive social change. Dirt.com is unique in that it is aimed at maintaining a small community feeling and keeping a strong social and political identity rather than to grow into a massively diversified network of users.

"dirt.com is a place where tolerant people can find the beauty within each other and continue to unify in order spread hope and love and fight like hell" Brian Rembrandt, Founder

Posted by at 04:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Dating Site for Golfers

DateAGolfer.com Launches World's Most Comprehensive Internet Dating Service For Golfers

Halifax, N.S. -- Online dating for golfers has been taken to a whole new level with the launch of the world's most comprehensive internet dating service geared specifically towards golfers. The main focus of this new site is to help golfers have fun, meet great friends, and expand their golf network.

Responding to an overwhelming demand from single golfers for a quality online dating service, DateAGolfer.com began to examine the reasons why many people were dissatisfied and frustrated with the online dating experience.

"Our business model is built upon a foundation of providing excellent customer service," says Gary Kelly, co-owner of Dateagolfer.com. "We want to be much more than a static database of names and photos. We want to create a safe and dynamic online community where people come to share their passion of golf," says Kelly.

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March 22, 2005

Online-Dating.com for SALE!

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March 11, 2005

Connecting.com for Sale!

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February 15, 2005

Dating Site Seeking Investors

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January 25, 2005

PlentyofFish.com

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January 13, 2005

Yahoo! seeking Director of Product Management for Community Applications

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October 02, 2003

Red Bull Road Trip

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September 26, 2003

Red Bull ReEvolution.tv

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