Quote:
Originally Posted by temi
If you have something new and fresh, I think there is always a room for new products
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Hi Temi.
I totally agree with you, if you are trying to kick off in the online dating world just as I am, you need to be lateral and innovative in your thinking. I have some great material on my site but as I'm a new member, can't post my details yet. I describe the huge benefits of a pay-per-contact dating website over a pay by the month one.
My new dating website I launched 3 weeks ago is purely pay-per-contact driven. As a free member you get to send unlimited free 'winks' messages which are pre-worded 1 line messages. However if you want to exchange contact emails with someone, you have to pay for a contact stamp package which comes in 6, 12 or 24 contact stamps. The 24 stamp packs retail for $79 AUD. (My site is Australian only and best to start a local dating site, not one that tries to cater to the world because you mostly won't be able to commit a worldwide advertising budget to start up). However you need email address filters in place on the profile pages.
But the benefit of pay per contact is many. For starters you won't get spammers infiltrating your site. Secondly, because guys value their contacts more, instead of sending hundreds of emails out in the first month to get their money's worth, they actually word each email properly and value each member. Girls get more sincere contacts and it generally works much better.
I also offer 1 free contact stamp when they refer 2 friends and I have been recently promoting 2 free contacts when they join. You have to give lots of bonuses and freebies. Yes, starting a dating website is hard work. You can expect to be dishing out adwords advertising money for at least the first 9-12 months without making a dime. But I'm predicting once I reach the 3-4000 mark I will start seeing some results with members upgrading.
Just remember, look at how most other people run a dating website and look at standard things, like advertising on the site. Is it obtrusive or annoying or excessive? Do things better.
That's just my bit anyway, I've only been a dating site webmaster for 4 weeks now so I'm just learning myself. I'm open to any criticism or advice.