Starting a new dating site, need advice

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by onlyhuman, Oct 11, 2010.

  1. #1
    Hi All,

    I'm starting a new free online dating site. I've got the code completed and even though there were some challenges there, I'm now at the hardest phase. Does anyone have any tips on how I can attract new members to a site that at this point does not have any members? I would have to do this the free way for now. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    The site is http://www.sgreet.com

    TIA
     
    onlyhuman, Oct 11, 2010 IP
  2. Philoon

    Philoon Peon

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    #2
    If I were running a dating site, I would do a "grand opening" sort of thing and offer something like the first 100 people free membership, then start charging after that. That would at least attract your first 100 people and there would then be people using the site.
     
    Philoon, Oct 11, 2010 IP
  3. JoesMillion

    JoesMillion Peon

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    #3
    I can send people to your website, the cheapest you'll ever find.
     
    JoesMillion, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  4. tuksdrr

    tuksdrr Active Member

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    #4
    tuksdrr, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  5. Mr Right

    Mr Right Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Go on facebook
     
    Mr Right, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  6. MarkAse

    MarkAse Peon

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    #6
    For free....not a ton of choices and likely even fewer of them are going to offer immediate results.

    Are there dating specific forums or blogs that you can frequent. Will it always be free? If not, you should offer lifetime memberships to the first so many people to sign up.
     
    MarkAse, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  7. onlyhuman

    onlyhuman Peon

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    #7
    Thanks for the suggestions guys.

    I do have a facebook page for the site. I also intend on keeping it free for the life of the site. I'm going with the free model and once there are enough people I'm going for revenue from advertising.

    I have searched a bit for dating specific forums and I think I will keep going down that path. It's probably the best way for me to generate members and traffic at this point. I just wasn't sure if anyone had any specific ones that they could recommend.

    Thanks again. I appreciate all the input.
     
    onlyhuman, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  8. superrichguy

    superrichguy Well-Known Member

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    #8
    Do you have something different to offer on your dating site you cant find on other sites? If so promote the heck out of that. Otherwise just send messages to people on facebook and other social networking sites. make a bunch of fake female accounts always helps
     
    superrichguy, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  9. jasonvan

    jasonvan Member

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    #9
    Starting a free dating site is very difficult these days. Why? Because there are already tons of them.

    When Plentyoffish got started, they were definitely one of the first totally free dating sites.

    When word got around that it was making a million dollars a month from ppc advertising, everybody and their monkey wanted a free dating site.

    The best long-term strategy would be to find specific keywords that don't have too much competition, and start doing SEO and marketing using these keywords.

    Or you could do what the big sites do. You could create (or buy) a few thousand fake profiles. Then you could charge membership fees, and promote your site through banner ads, affiliate marketing, and ppc ads. This is honestly what some of the biggest dating sites in the world do. If it works for them, perhaps it will work for others as well.

    Best of luck.
     
    jasonvan, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  10. mcdoogy22

    mcdoogy22 Peon

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    #10
    I have a few ideas. I will PM you with details.
     
    mcdoogy22, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  11. Mixednuts

    Mixednuts Peon

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    #11
    I have to admit, it's going to be very difficult. There are a lot of dating sites out there and some are provided by established businesses like yahoo. So what is it that makes your dating site different from others? Knowing that, you would have created a niche that you can target and would make it easier for your to market your sites.
     
    Mixednuts, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  12. Justin_Dupre

    Justin_Dupre Peon

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    #12
    Very competitive niche... I have seen some success through dating site from some contest and giveaway.. try to generate traffic from social media site and those community forum.
     
    Justin_Dupre, Oct 12, 2010 IP
  13. golfpro1

    golfpro1 Peon

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    #13
    I suppose you could invite some female friends of yours to sign up for free (and give them gold membership, i.e. they don't pay at all) that will always attract the guys :)
     
    golfpro1, Oct 13, 2010 IP
  14. filipina4friends

    filipina4friends Well-Known Member

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    #14
    I have a totally free dating sites, no registration needed, you can get the email address and contact number of all the girls. (please check the links below) I hope this sites helps you.
     
    filipina4friends, Oct 15, 2010 IP
  15. tuksdrr

    tuksdrr Active Member

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    #15
    You can also target local areas - for example a dating site within the town or city you live in. Then create a local buzz by advertizing in local papers and so on.
     
    tuksdrr, Oct 15, 2010 IP
  16. realgroupspeak

    realgroupspeak Guest

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    #16
    I just have to say good luck competing against eHarmony.
     
    realgroupspeak, Oct 15, 2010 IP
  17. BBLinkbroker

    BBLinkbroker Peon

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    #17
    You should consider buying a database of online daters. I'm sure thats how many of them start off. They don't just suddenly get 1000+ members out of nowhere.
     
    BBLinkbroker, Oct 15, 2010 IP
  18. zeeside

    zeeside Greenhorn

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    #18
    I checked out your site and you might want to step up your game as far as the user interface and the user experience goes. It will give you more confidence as you go about marketing it.
     
    zeeside, Oct 21, 2010 IP
  19. steveeyes

    steveeyes Well-Known Member

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    #19
    Do a PR (press release)
     
    steveeyes, Oct 21, 2010 IP