Man, is the Dollar taking a beating or what?!
The current exchange rate between the Dollar/Euro:
$1 = 0.70 Euros
If you are a US business with traffic from Europe that converts, right about now is a good time to contact your merchant (or get a new one), to start accepting subscriptions in Euros.
Peace!
Aside from the massive jet lag, iDate Barcelona was cool. After the panel session on the last day, I was approached by a nice lady from CupidMedia (I suck at names and to my chagrin, can not remember hers). We chatted a bit about our niche businesses and expressed interest for exploring how we can help each other.
Based out of Australia, CupidMedia is one of those under the radar niche companies that I think is kicking some ass. Like Spark Networks, they operate a slew of niche sites that range from ethnic, interest and religious niches. Are they a competitor to World Singles? Mmm, every dating site ]kind of competes with other personals sites, albeit not necessarily directly. CupidMedia is different than World Singles from the stand point that they are a “tweener” between a matrimonial community and dating site. Their sites are free for women, and on the ethnic sites anyway, men appear to paying mostly meet women overseas. From what I was told, roughly 50% of their sales come from subscribers in the US.
CupidMedia has strengths and weaknesses. For starters, their optimizations efforts are solid, real solid. Many of their ethnic sites appear on the top half of Google searches for relevant ethnic singles related keywords. They also found a good niche for themselves as a “tweener” — there is certainly an audience for a niche site that is a cross between a dating community and matrimonial site targeting people in the US and abroad. I also love how they have localized many of their sites. On the flip side, I think that they are experimenting with several niches that I believe will bear them little return on the investment. By far and away, their Asian sites like AsianEuro.com, ChineseLoveLinks.com, FilipinaHeart.com, JapanCupid.com, KoreanCupid.com, etc., are their strongest sites.
Given our interest in tackling the Asian market, I welcome future conversations with CupidMedia for how we can work together. I have been a fan of their business for some time and hope that they attend the Miami conference. Hopefully this time, we will both have business cards.
Life is good!
-Saïd
For those of you who missed it, the May/June copy of Revenue magazine was dedicated to “Web 2.0″. A couple of highlights from the issue:
- Page 113 was a one page ad for SexSearch.com. I wonder how they’re doing in their head to head with AdultFriendFinder:
“Online dating sites are the biggest paid content generators on the Net.” ClickZ.com
“The Dating Service Industry is a $917 million dollar business just in the US.” Marketresearch.com
“On average, those paying for online dating services spend a total of $239 per year.” Jupiter Research
“About 11% of all online users have a profile on an online dating site.” Jupiter Research
- Page 94 had a short blurb titled “Dating Slackens”
“Dating sites may be losing their luster. JupiterResearch says that only 10 percent of Web users said they had recently gone to online personals sites, compared with 16 percent last year and 20 percent in 2003. The overall dating industry is still making money – about $650 million in 2006, up a little from 2005. Jupiter says that the added revenue is likely from rate hikes and not volume.”
- Michael Jones, budding Entrepreneur and CEO of Userplane had a quote in the cover story, “The Web. Take Two”.
“Web 2.0 companies I come across all started as Web services companies. We saw an interesting need have an online communication tool, and we started to say maybe there is an interesting way to turn on the lights in these rooms.”
Mike is really dialed in with web communities. AOL, which recently acquired Userplane is still trying to better understand the web; they would be well served to have Mike help them shape their web strategy.
SexSearch Ad:
Tech blog Gigaom recently broke the news that social networking site Hi5 has received $20 million in VC funding. For those who have not heard of Hi5 it is a wildly popular international social network that claims to have 30 million members and 200 million page views a day. *whoa* so why do so few people talk about Hi5? Either Hi5 has poor PR efforts (internally or outsourced) or, the blogosphere and/or media in general does not give the time of day to sites that are more popular overseas than they are in the US. While not as large as MySpace and Facebook, Hi5 is nevertheless a very big social networking site even in the US. Who knows, maybe the valley frowns upon Hi5’s un-2.0hh roots which began as a matrimonial site for the Indian Diaspora. =)
Let’s face it, living in the US there is sometimes an arrogance towards things that are popular overseas or not based on our soil. Look at Markus’ PlentyofFish and how much self-promotion he has to do in order to get the media attention that he deserves; the poor guy is beating his poor chest more than King Kong. He’s in Canada and is basically the Rodney Dangerfield of online dating despite running one of the most trafficked singles sites on the web. Somehow I sense he relishes this roll =)
While on the topic of Hi5, the site proves that there is brilliance in simplicity. The navigation is basic and as a result, even prior to localizing the site,they gained traction overseas. Ditto with Orkut. Anyway, looking forward to hearing more buzz about Hi5; their traffic is certainly worthy of it.
Life is good.
We recently welcomed Gurdeep Singh (aka “Deep”) to our family here at NicheClick Media/World Singles. Deep comes to us from the UKs Allegran (LoopyLove.com etc.). He will be heavily focused on improving our conversions; a challenge that he is very well qualified for given Allegran’s success for arguably running the top dating site in the UK.
Deep and I first met last year at iDate in Amsterdam. We ran into each other again at iDate in Miami. We started exchanging emails and the rest is history. Great companies are built by amazing people. It’s always about the people behind the operation. Deep is not only great at what he does and passionate about his work, but more importantly he’s a great guy that “gets it”. Like me, he loves the Internet (he’s online practically as much as I am!) and he cares about our intentions as a company to provide an amazing service that people value. It’s awesome that a small company like ours can attract such quality talent and character.
Full press release found here.
The day that Google gets in the dating game seems to be upon us, well sort of. Try a Google search for “Asian Dating” — above the natural search results and directly below the paid listings, you will see a “Location” and “Ethnicity” field. The search results seem to be pulling profiles from just a few dating sites. If I am not mistaken, Mark Cuban had a similar service on his search engine a while back. From what I can tell, Google has signed up as an affiliate with all the dating services from which it is pulling profiles from.
I’m in a bit of a hurry but here’s my two cents worth: Google will make a boatload of money but at the expense of watering down their search results. I’m very surprised that they have opted to position this search area directly above their natural search results.
Peace,
-S
Community Connect was ahead of the game few years ago with BlackPlanet.com. Their niche site, launched in 1999, had the standard social networking tools allowing member to design their own page, invite friends and email members, but they also developed other channels like a Job Market (partnership with Monster.com), and later on a subscription based dating section for serious minded singles looking for their soul mate. They have recently added a Digg-like News section, Groups, Music and Style sections. Another site, MySpace (anyone ever heard of them? I think that they will be pretty big), is slowly creating more channels to their site. As of today there is a Film, Comedy, and Classifieds section. Bebo, another big SN player, in partnership with Amazon is experimenting selling books online.
Communities like MySpace morphed themselves from a purely social networking site, to an “entertainment social network” (thanks to their music section) and are now moving to becoming a “social portal” that offers a variety of services similar to Yahoo’s offering. Humans are not only utilizing social networks to stay in touch with friends and connect with new people; they are also exploring music, comedy, videos, classifieds and are open to much more. Ok, so they are exploring free content/services, but would members pay for premium services like Yahoo’s dating and music services? Depending on the service and demographics of the social network, of course they would. Why login to multiple sites for different needs when you can consolidate and enjoy a slew of services and content on one site, especially if it is the site that you already spend the most time on.
Time will tell…
Peace.
So things are hectic these days. World Singles is opening an office in Bethesda, Maryland and is looking to hire a few spirited professionals, I’m helping lay down the foundation to begin the development of a music site and launching my new venture NUZIZO this week. *sigh* To boot, my girlfriend and I are hosting her parents 11 month old Daschund who is tormenting my 10 year old pit bull. Hell, the madness climaxed yesterday when I stepped in dog shit (at home) and the toilet overflowed (sorry, more info than you care to know).
Nevertheless, I am ecstatic! Darren and I have worked so hard and wow, it’s now time to open the doors of Nuzizo City and welcome new citizens. I feel butterflies thinking about NUZIZO. I am also anxious. I remember the nervousness and excitement I felt when launching World Singles from the basement of my house. Will it work? Is anyone going to sign up? Will anyone pay for the service? Is the site any good?
Uncertainty is again in the air and I love it! Nothing is going to be handed to us, especially considering the ever populated social networking space. It’s time to get our hustle on and we are going to have to continue working hard and smart to make our own magic. The challenge that lies ahead is clear and we have a mountain to tackle; and we shall, one day at a time with the same spirit and enthusiasm that has brought us to this amazing moment. Man do I feel alive! This very moment is probably one of the biggest highs that one experiences as an entrepreneur.
Life is good!
-S
“Buster” – the little stinker who is causing havoc =)
So how do free dating sites measure up against subscription dating sites? Mmm, not so good when it comes to revenue.
Take for example two dating sites with equal traffic. A free sites revenue from ads vs a paying sites revenue from subscriptions doesn’t stack up. If any of our World Singles sites had the traffic of Plenty of Fish, I suspect that we would make more than three times his current revenue of 300k a month. The subscription model, when traffic is equal, is superior. The same is true for Social Networks. MySpace for example, makes peanuts compared to sites with similar traffic ranks like Yahoo which generate ad and subscription revenues.
Social Networks will in time increase their revenues by increasing their cpm rates (widget, brand marketing) and more importantly by offering their large and diverse member base premium/subscription services; not so sure that that the potential for a free dating site to monetize traffic is as rosy. For starters, most of the revenue on free sites come from paying dating sites choosing to display their ads on the free sites. In the face of stiff competition and slower growth, paying sites are more frugal with their budgets for acquiring new members (hence, cpm for free sites will not be as high as they would of been several years ago when paying sites readily spent $20 or more per profile). Secondly, dating sites are one dimensional in that they are strictly for singles. Social Networks appeal to both singles and non-singles — it’s like comparing the scalability of hot dog shop (dating site) to that of a food court (social networks); the food court is clearly more scalable and potentially more profitable.
“All of the big guys think users want to pay for dating because paying for something equals quality,” says Yagan of OkCupid…until free sites can provide solid customer support, quality screening of profiles beyond just blocking blocks of ip addresses and offer robust search functionality that allow members to find what they are looking for, free dating sites will not be on the same playing field as the paying sites. I believe that hybrid free/paying dating sites that address the aforementioned are the best positioned to shine and compete with the paying sector. By virtue of charging, paying sites are generally attracting more serious minded singles than those found on Plenty of Wish and other free sites; hence more thorough, “quality” profiles. That said, there is room for both free and dating sites to thrive. Levels of serious daters can be summarized by their participation on social networks > free dating sites > paying sites.
Unlike Social Networks where friends join and are in each others’ networks, singles on dating site are usually alone and search a sea of profiles of strangers who are also looking to meet others. First emails between strangers can certainly be awkward to initiate and reply to. So, are Social Networks dating sites? Depends. Technically, I would say that any online community (SN, chat rooms, forums, etc) can function as a “dating” site, should you choose to use it that way, but a sites search functionality is a big part of what makes some sites more conducive for dating than others.
In my opinion one of the most important aspects of a dating site is its search functionality. Allowing members to search for potential matches by pictures, lifestyle, physical, personality traits, etc. is important to love seekers. “Quality” search results (ie. compatible matches) are facilitated by the ability to search and find exactly or close to what members are looking for in a potential partner.
MySpace is conducive for dating. They offer robust search filters like body type, religion, height.weight ranges, location, ethnicity, drinker, smoker and sexual orientation. To further help singles find a match they even allow you to search for members who are specifically looking to use the site for “dating”. Not all Social Networks offer such robust “dating” search tools. Sites like VOX allow you to search the sites content by tags only; such sites are not as conducive for dating as they place more emphasis on exploring content created by members than searching for members specifically.
Peace.
MySpace Search Fields
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