Posts Tagged ‘start dating site’

SkaDate Dating Software:
10 Dating Site Ideas For 2012

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

SkaDate Dating Software is good. It has a sea of fun features, a myriad of free dating templates, a friendly interface, a treasure trove of knowledge in faqs and manuals, etc., etc. But what good is SkaDate dating script without a perfectly timed idea? Seeing as how we already survived January, and December is apparently our last month ever according to Mayans, I’ll give you 10 dating site ideas for the rest of the months in 2012. Enjoy the slideshow! And if you don’t see one, pretend it’s there, because that’s what this post originally was, and that’s what it’s gonna be once we fix it.

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SkaDate: How to Start Online Dating Business (The Right Way)

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

by Zima

SkaDate: How to Start Online Dating Business Right?Would you look at that? A few hours after SkaDate Dating Software Blog posted about the dangers of SOPA, Lamar Smith, the chief sponsor of the controversial bill pulled it. Pure coincidence you say? Well, sure, but I still love to think that we did our part and added one of the last straws to help the common sense outweighed the ridiculous proposition.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s return to our scheduled programming – we have some fairly important topic to talk about today. Namely, a question on the minds of anyone with the goal of starting online dating business on a budget: How do you not screw up?  How do you do it right from the start? There is no universal answer, of course, but I’ll try to give you some useful heads up anyway.

One common rule for entrepreneurs without a huge advertising budget or venture capital funding, is to start small and be patient.

What does it mean? Well, once you’ve got SkaDate dating script installed, slowly begin your expansion locally – there will be time and money to go international later on.

Your local scene will have everything you need to jump start dating service in terms of initial member base, networking opportunities, and advertising venues. Your goal here will be not to make millions in profit in just a few days, but to build some word-of-mouth and raise awareness for yourself – something that will go a long way for your future success.

Working together with local business can add some cash to your budget, make several important connections, and provide locations to recruit new members by hosting themed dating events. At this stage, inexpensive local media can also be utilized to great effects for promotion. Alternatively, even colorful fliers in right places will work to your advantage.

Spreading word-of-mouth is an art in itself, but the effect can be greatly boosted with a right strategy. When you know who you are going to target exactly (say, the local divorced market), how about signing up some of them for free as promotion. Also, doing something public or speaking up for the target group in the community will greatly boost your popularity and reputation.

While doing all of that, you’ll slowly get the hang of the business, and once you are through the stage one, things will proceed much easier. When that happens, you will have to re-focus on building a strong team around you, raising additional funds, and expanding your service beyond the local community.

And never be afraid of competing with big international players like Match.com, etc. They serve a huge pool of daters, but their audience is too spread out. If you do everything right, your precision rate will be much higher, what with the local operation and a targeted niche approach. Good luck!

 

 

 

SkaDate Dating Software vs White Label Dating Solutions

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

by Zima

SkaDate Dating Software is one of the most popular and acclaimed dating scripts on the market, and there is a good reason why it is chosen again and again over various white label solutions for the past seven years. Nevertheless, many new clients who want to start online dating business often compare the two options at hand, and we are here to help them.

‘White label’ refers to a product or service produced by one company and than re-branded and sold by other companies as their own. The term comes from the world of vinyl records, where prior-to public release promo copies were sent to DJs, bearing no official artwork but a simple white label instead.

In general, white label is seen as something mass-produced and generic. Think low-end electronics or supermarkets with store brand goods – these are usually just re-brands made by someone else.  And there’s nothing wrong with that – sometimes white labels can reduce costs and save time. The same works for white label online dating, but not quite.

You see, the demand for online dating is still huge. There are close to 100 million singles in the US alone who are ready to be virtually matched right this moment. The business is striving and the industry is frequently referred to as recession-proof.  Nevertheless, the honeymoon might be over soon thanks to quickly growing competition.

Why am I telling you this? Because the only way to succeed in online dating nowadays is to be unique and original. No one needs mass-produced and generic products if those are readily available from big brands only a click away. Online dating startups have to rely on a lot of creative freedom, target niches, and be innovative, something white labels just cannot offer.

Only stand-alone platforms, especially the ones based on something like SkaDate dating script with its unencrypted source code, give users full control over their websites. They will be in charge of every aspect of the development, from design – to database expansion – to niche-specific modification, etc. Basically, anything can be done with the original script given enough effort.

With white labels new clients get a ready, generic dating solution and a member database used by all other numerous customers. That’s a problem right there, since all the new members brought to a white label website by admins will dissolve in the common pool. Needless to say, this also works against any niche concepts, since new members will be part of the same database used for, say, adult and christian sites at the same time. Do you think your members will like this idea?

But maybe the money’s good here? Ross Williams, the founder of WhiteLabelDating himself said that some of his company’s partners managed to reach a pretty decent monthly profit, but only after spending in the north of $60.000 per month on marketing.  And now look around – notice how virtually all of the dating websites that are actually making millions of dollars and setting trends run on stand-alone dating software like SkaDate? Yeah, it’s not a coincidence.

See, that’s all relative, of course, but there’s one thing to know about money in relation to white label dating solutions. No matter how hard admins work on their sites, market them, grow databases, etc., 50% of the profit will always go to the original white label.

So, not only users don’t have full control over their sites, cannot make them truly unique and target narrow niches, the profit is also split 50/50. This is a trade-off for having less overhead and not worrying about building a loyal member base.

Perhaps, white label dating solutions were a very viable option just a few years ago, when the market was still exploding. Unfortunately, that time is gone now, and more effort has to go into launching dating sites these days to make them really stand out and be successful. Hopefully you’ll find this information useful, because the final choice is up to you.

SkaDate Dating Software: Getting Started

Friday, January 6th, 2012

by Zima

SkaDate Dating Software: Getting StartedSo, you’ve bought a copy of SkaDate Dating Software and we’ve helped you installing it on the server, where it sits now, sexily tempting you to dive head-first into exiting world of online dating business, and never look back…

But what should you do first? How should you proceed? What are the first steps?

These are the types of questions customers frequently ask our Support Team right after the installation process is over. With general concept in mind and SkaDate dating script ready to be fired up, many clients are understandably overwhelmed with new options. Well, that’s why I am here; I’ll help you understand what you need to do first.

Trust me, I know everything about the intuitive drive to call the support and ask for instructions, but wait. Here’s a little secret - once you are a part of our exclusive club (of SkaDate 9 owners), everything you need is actually right in front of you. Check this out.

SkaDate Dating Software: Getting Started

This is your SkaDate Customer Area. As you can see, there are a few really helpful things right there. What you should do first (not only with our dating solution, but with any new soft or hardware) is look through the Manuals.

SkaDate Dating Software: Getting Started

We put them there for a reason. Seven years on the market made sure we know exactly what our new customers have trouble with. Moreover, these manuals will be helpful even for seasoned SkaDate users, who need step-by-step instructions for anything from changing the logo at the top of the page to installing new free dating themes and templates. Yeah, we do know what you want, so check back this area often.

Once you know how everything works it’s time to get on the Forum and see what’s going on in the community. Chances are most dating site owners already went through logistic, creative, financial, and organizational issues you think you might encounter. Never neglect the experience of others. These things will set you on the right path or give you new ideas in the very least. Oh, and the answers to most question on your mind can also be found here.

SkaDate Dating Software: Getting Started

By this point you should have a pretty clear idea about the direction you are heading. What you need now is a few visual tips to really get the feel for operating the powerful SkaDate machine. We have those in the form of Video Tutorials. Custom Page Creation? Check. Membership Type Configuration? Got it. Advertising Management? You bet!

SkaDate Dating Software: Getting Started

You know what they say – if a picture is worth a thousand words, than a video is worth millions. Well, lucky you, we have all three, giving you a load of information before you even started!

It is quite possible that you might still have some questions left after digesting all of that data. Technically, there is a possibility that manuals, forums, and tutorials do not give you the answer you are looking for.

Well, then is the perfect opportunity to get to know our Support Team better. (I believe they love reasonable challenges). Actually, their only shortcoming that I’m aware of, is the lack of telepathic superpowers; so when contacting them, it’s preferable you have a clear idea about a website you want to see when the dust settles.

Good luck!

SkaDate Presents
Online Dating Statistics and Interesting Facts

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

by Zima

What? She's a scientist and researcher, OK?!

Have you ever wondered what international market to tap with your website powered by the SkaDate Dating Software? What about social, demographic, or economic characteristics? Who are the people that are willing to give you their hard earned money and where to find them? We have the research data to help you.

When it comes to online dating, most business is done (unsurprisingly) in North America, and more specifically the US. The surprise comes with the realization that while 40 million Americans use online dating services, Canadians actually spend more time online dating than users from any other country.

The European numbers are comparable with those of the US, with over 38 million users visiting dating sites every month.  Interestingly, the European country most versed in virtual matchmaking is not the UK, as one might expect, but Italy. It has almost 3.5 million users visiting online personals every month. The UK comes only fourth (with 1.7 million) behind the aforementioned Italy, Spain and Germany, but ahead of France.

At the same time, the top five European markets combined have less monthly users than India alone, where the trend is catching up fast. In 2011 the online dating usage in that country has escalated to around 15 million. Quite impressive.

But business aside, nothing comes close to the number of people using dating services in China. Take 40 million American daters, add 38 million Europeans and 15 million users from India, and the result will still be a fraction of 140 million Chinese fueling the online dating boom.  Is anyone thinking about turning that number into real money yet?

Now let’s look into user characteristics. As you’d expect men are more interested in online dating than women. Although the difference in actual numbers is quite small – only 4.8% (52.4% for men and 47.6% for women). The average online dating age in America is 48, although 45% of the entire population of the country over the age of 18 are unmarried.

Marital status, though, does not play a significant role in online dating. 11% of all daters are married, and staggering 51% are already in a relationship. Only 21% of dating service users consider themselves truly single. And speaking of marriage…

Did you know that a third of all marriages end within 10 years? True, it is sad statistics, but for online dating sites it’s also good news, since the pool of singles is being constantly replenished by the fresh divorcees. Think of it this way – while there are sites that do facilitate infidelity, most work towards giving people another chance at making their love life better.

Now, if you are afraid to start online dating business out of fear for competition (especially from the multi-million giants like Match.com or eHarmony), think again. Research data shows that only 19% of all daters use one single website to satisfy their needs. Another 19% use two, and 9% use three or more.

That’s a huge number when you convert it to real people. And we are talking about those already in the game, while the potential is there to attract even more singles from the 39% pool of those who have yet to try online dating services.

Fascinating info, isn’t it? But that’s exactly why online dating is now a billion dollar industry, and is even bigger than porn. The door is still open for both, startups with aspirations of global domination and smaller niche websites for local communities – all you need is a clever idea and some tools like SkaDate dating script.