As CEO of a company which operates some of the most popular
dating sites on the net, I'm uniquely positioned to provide some
clear and concise facts about the global phenomenon of online
dating. In six bite-sized chunks I'm going to give you the whole
truth about a past-time that has become part of the fabric of
the lives of single people everywhere where a computer screen is
affordable by or accessible to the masses.
1. Two out of every five single people aged 24 - 50 currently
use, or have used an online dating service. Yes, you read that
correctly - it's 40%! Now think of all the single friends you
have; how many of them have actually told you that they've
signed-up to a site in order to kick start their love lives? Not
many I would wager. That's because in spite of the popularity of
the medium, there is a still a social stigma attached to dating
sites; when people meet a partner this way, they generally
pretend to their friends that they've met in a
bar or at some
kind of party or work related function. One of the fastest
growing activities in the world is still something most people
wont admit to doing.
2. Only about 5% of people who join dating sites actually end up
in a relationship with someone they first make contact with at
their chosen site. Let's equate this to the 'real' world; you
walk into a room full of one hundred strangers and how many of
them would you be attracted to? Probably no more than ten. And
that's if you're lucky. It's the same in cyberspace - how many
total strangers will there be on any site that really press all
the right buttons for you? So when you register with a site,
don't expect miracles because your love life in cyberspace is no
different to the reality of everyday life.
3. Only 10% of people who join dating sites get any messages at
all from other members. There's a reason for this - the other
90% don't deserve any success. People who refuse to
upload
photos of themselves or post profiles which look like they can't
really be bothered to say anything about themselves will just be
ignored. The 10% who get noticed create upbeat, confident,
humorous profiles, don't have any qualms about posting a picture
of themselves and are proactive about contacting other members.
If your site doesn't work for you, you shouldn't blame the site
just as a bad workman shouldn't blame his tools.
4. Popular dating sites are popular for one reason and one
reason only. They work. In every territory, you'll find a
handful of sites that outstrip all the others in terms of the
volume of their registrations and their reputations in general.
You'll also find that none of these sites are free. The sites
which look the best, have the best features and offer good
customer service are expensive to run and maintain. You get what
you pay for on line as well as in all walks of life; if the
owners of a dating site don't have the
confidence in their
product to actually charge for it, you have to ask yourself why
that is. Relatively speaking, joining a dating site is very
inexpensive compared to, say, going out for a nice meal or
taking a trip to the theatre and the potential of finding a
great new relationship makes the risk/reward ratio a no-brainer.
5. Global sites which can boast hundreds of thousands of members
from all four corners of the globe are a waste of time unless
you're looking for a pen-pal. These sites might sound rather
impressive - "We have 5,000,000 members worldwide!!" - but so
what? What you should be concerned with when you're choosing a
site is how many members they have in your city, your town or
your village. So if you're serious about finding a partner,
stick to city or country specific sites like CupidNights.com
which is a London dating
site and take the 'global' hype with a pinch of salt.
6. The
percentage of men on dating sites is disproportionate to
that of women. Most services comprise about 60% men and 40%
women so as far as the on line arena is concerned, it's the
girls who are calling the shots. They have more choice and can
therefore be more discerning about who they contact or write
back to. So guys, if you want to stand out from the crowd, check
out paragraph 3 above; write a great profile and post a
flattering pic and you'll be just fine.
So there you have it; to make a success of online dating, all
you have to do is pick the right site and post an eye-catching
profile and photo and if it works for you...don't keep it a big
secret - tell your single friends all about it so they can get a
piece of the action too!
About the author:
Jonathan White is the CEO of http://www.CupidNights.com a London dating site and the
most successful geo-targeted site in Europe.
