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Here’s the deal. There are 182.67 million
online users in the U.S. and Canada. There are 82 million unmarried
adults in the U.S. Put that information in a box and set it aside
for a moment. Now, consider this: Jupiter Research projects that the
15 million Americans who used online dating sites in 2002 will grow
to 24 million by 2007. One site, uDate.com, has approximately 225,000
subscribers and generated gross revenues of $18.5 million through
June 30, 2002. Another, Matchmaker.com, reported approximately 604,000
subscribers and generated gross revenues of $55 million through June
30, 2002. A third, Match.com, projects gross revenues of approximately
$120 million during 2002.
There is an opportunity here. An opportunity for groups, associations, businesses, what-have-you to provide something your single members/constituents want, while adding something to your bottom line. It works like this. White Buffalo Ventures, Inc., develops online dating sites designed to meet the needs of your membership or constituents. If, for example, your organization is all about bicycling, then we can have cyclingsingles.com up in a week with your name on it — a web site that provides you with a percentage of the gross revenues from its paid subscribers each month. (Please go back and read the last two words of that last sentence one more time, for effect.) As a partner in this venture, your job is simply to provide assistance in creating awareness of the site, whether by supplying us with membership e-mail addresses, providing support in any direct mail communication efforts or by setting aside complementary ad space in any publications serving your constituency. Win. Win. But what about... Online dating? Is that the sort of thing that a respectable organization/business/group like yours should associate itself with? Online dating was backwater as few as two or three years ago. Today, it’s on Oprah. It’s on the Today Show. It’s on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Online dating was backwater. It’s mainstream now. And the current is getting stronger every day. Add to that the fact that online dating is a rapidly growing, proven and profitable business model. By niching the online dating market, what you are basically doing is helping your constituents find people just like themselves, with similar interests and backgrounds. So they start out already having something in common. Best of all, it’s safe, anonymous (unless and until subscribers decide on their own to identify themselves) and secure. |
