GetCouplet

A matchmaking platform for niche site specialists

[getcouplet]

GetCouplet.com question: How many snakes do you see ???

[getcouplet]

8 super easy ways to get members to your dating site

Get people engaged with Twitter polls

Look into link directories on the web

Bring your site into discussion on forums and blogs

Advertise in newspapers and magazines

Check out other offline marketing opportunities

Free premium memberships are always a great incentive

Advertise your dating site before popular holidays

Don’t forget to advertise before holidays that may be specific your niche

With your site up and running and with your ad campaigns roaming the wide web, you can get even more involved in directly bringing members to your dating site while keeping your existing members engaged.

Tweet some polls

Twitter is an awesome tool to convey a message quickly. Not only can you easily communicate with your audience, but you can also engage with them by asking a question using a poll.

Think of posting a poll like giving flyers at the entrance of a tube station. People notice the brand name, in this case your dating website, and you get to know what they think instantly when they answer the poll.

Try to start with “Did you know facts”. For example: “Did you know that the first thing a man looks at in a woman is hair colour? Agree?” And give options: “Yes”, “No”, “I would say …”. Encourage people to retweet polls or tweet their answers on top of voting.

Of course, use specific #hashtags in your questions to reach more people. If you did not know yet, remember that from the moment you reach over 300 followers, your tweets and #hashtags get displayed in Twitter searches.

Should you need some help to get over 300 followers, drop us an email at [email protected] and we will help!

Remember to link your Twitter account to your Facebook account. This way, anything you tweet reaches your Facebook followers too . By the way, you can use what we talked about in Using Facebook ads to target dating niches to increase the number of Facebook followers by running “Awareness” ad campaigns.

Spread the link

Link directories are exactly what you would imagine. A directory on the web with list of website links grouped into categories. Just do a Google search and you’ll find some, free or paid. Add a link to your site in relevant categories.

Get on some forums, check out relevant discussions and try to give your point of view while hinting a link to your website, if that is allowed. Where possible, don’t forget to add a link to your website in the profiles you create on those forums. Any bit of visibility helps!

Do the same on some dating blogs in the comments section. Just try not to spam. Actually get involved in the discussion.

Remember the offline?

When you’ve had enough of all the wwws and the URLs and the Facebooks and the tweets, you have to remember that there was life way before these existed.

It’s worth a shot buying some ad space in a local newspaper to promote your website, especially when you are targeting a specific niche (as you should do!). For example, if running a dating site bringing birdwatchers together, joining a club of birdwatchers sometimes can help. See how it goes.

If there are any results, you could consider a magazine, as close to your niche as possible. Start locally, then move nationally and why not, when the moment is right, internationally.

For sure there are single people that are not online all the time. Why shouldn’t they know about your website?

The press is not the only way to advertise offline. See how else it was done back in the days and maybe you’ll get some folks to the online, more specifically, to your awesome dating site.

Free membership…again?

Free premium membership is a good incentive to get visitors to your dating site and to get them to register.

Advertise that your site is offering free premium membership and that the offer is limited for a specific period.

When’s the best time to go big on offers? Well, before holidays, especially November and December, before Christmas, or January and February, before Valentine’s Day.

That time of the year people are looking for their better half, thinking about a family, making them prone to respond to this specific marketing encouragement. Let’s not forget New Year, Mother’s day, Father’s day and any other holiday that may be specific to your niche and that brings people close together.

Any time for the rest of the year, you can consider running marketing campaigns advertising that your site is offering a free upgrade to a premium account if any member convinces at least one person to register a paid or even a free account.

[getcouplet]

Getting your first 100 members

Pick your target audience and relate to them in your messages

Make the best of managed profiles

Start building your network early

Use Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites

Use a landing page to gather subscriptions before you go live

Any subscription may turn into a paid membership

Start a blog to tell your story and present your website

Give your very first members a royal treatment

Once you are all set up with your dating website and satisfied with the result, you’ve got to spread the word! How else are people going to sign up unless you tell the world you are live?

Pick a specific audience and try to relate to them in your messages. You will need to make them understand that your website gives them the opportunity to find the right match quick and easy. Segmentation is key; for example, you can focus on targeting people that speak Danish, live in Brussels and are big fans of The Matrix movies by sending out messages that reference info about Brussels or fun facts about The Matrix. And if you throw in a bit of Danish as well, you are guaranteed to get their attention.

A controlled start

Getting your first 100 real members doesn’t have to be a difficult task. You just need a bit of guidance.

Because we all have to start somewhere, it is ok to use “some extra special help”. So get busy and create about 50 managed member profiles. Make sure they are brightly mixed and have a realistic appeal. Add detailed descriptions and other profile items, and of course, use attractive profile pictures.

It is important to keep the managed profiles active and always reply to any private message or interaction with real users on your dating website. This will get the ball rolling for your success.

Do not hesitate to contact us for more details about these actions via our contact page or via private messages on Twitter and Facebook!

Social media does not only provide an opportunity to contact us but it can also help you attract more users.

The ever-powerful social media

Even before you go live with your website, start building up your network on social media websites like Twitter or Facebook.

Primarily, set up Twitter and Facebook accounts. Of course, you don’t need to stop there. You can create accounts on any other social media sites you know.

Next step is to follow known names in the industry like match.com, okcupid.com or eHarmony.com.

Again, you don’t need to stop there. You can follow anyone you like. Now, take a peek at what they post. For example, see which hashtags are used on Twitter and make sure you use those when tweeting.

Think about creating a landing page, which gives visitors the option to subscribe! Anyone that subscribes might become your future paying member. To get visitors to subscribe, give them a quick overview of your website (try to make an eye-catching presentation) and include offers that they may receive when they go from subscribers to members.

With all this taken care of, start posting. Anything you can think of! Or simply highlight features of your dating website.

Mention the accounts of big names you followed in your posts and maybe their followers pick up your posts; add a link to your landing page in your posts, whenever possible.

Now, when you go live, your followers and subscribers will know and they may choose to become members.

Write your stories

A blog is also an important part of growing your network. You can write articles to tell the story of your website, highlight its features, give some tech tips.

When presenting a feature, consider adding screenshots, but make sure not to reveal too much.

Add a post on social media with every article you publish. You can also post about the same article several times at regular intervals, just spin its intro and try to be creative.

A royal treatment

You should lavish your first real members! Their good experience on your website may prompt them to give positive feedback or a recommendation to their friends, bringing in new members.

Consider giving free memberships, free access to a feature, a discount or other perks for just being among the first to register. If they convince a friend to sign up, up your offer and extend it to the new member as well.

If they contact you, try to reply as soon as possible giving support. If you don’t have an answer yet, just reply to let them now you’re on it.

[getcouplet]

How online dating won the heart of the Web

 A fast-paced world calls for fast-forward dating

Your online profile helps other members know the basics of who you are and what you like

Online dating - the perfect solution to ease humanity’s love and desire longing

Popularity and monetization potential of online dating sites attracts big www investors

Just imagine … in 2050, it could be just silly that someone is not using an online dating platform

In a fast-paced and always on-the-move world, finding the time to actually sit face to face with someone and actually get to know that person can prove quite a challenge.

The roots

The original concept of dating someone has changed gradually from its beginning, some believing this to be around 1950s in the USA. We are not talking about personal ads in the newspapers, which were around long before that, but actually meeting someone and talking to them in order to figure out if you have anything at all in common.

As the professional life occupied more and more time, people everywhere felt the need to speed up the actual dating process. Of course, as the www got more and more popular, the obvious next evolutionary stage of dating was to move to the online.

The “great grandfather” of online dating was Operation Match, a concept of two Harvard undergrads. This used a questionnaire and a huge IBM-1401 machine to match students. There was a $3 fee for submitting questionnaire.

The online in bloom

To fast-forward, then came chatrooms and then the first complex online dating sites appeared. People were cautious and skeptical, but soon many realized that meeting someone first online and getting to quickly know the basics about them made it easier to get the right match, the popularity of those online dating sited soared. This was just the beginning of it all!

Another huge plus of online dating, pointed out by the majority of users, is that making that first step, breaking the ice, is easier. You can show your interest just by leaving a message via the site’s chat feature, minimizing the anxiety of a face-to-face conversation.

Seeking a person with similar interests had never been easier! You sign in, browse through the profiles of other members, or better yet, you get suggestions for members with same interests and you just say “Hi” to anyone you believe to be a good fit. And presto, you have skipped many hours of talking to someone just to see if you enjoy watching the same movies or reading the same books. Yes, looks are important too, hence you could upload profile pictures, timeline pictures and any other type of pictures so other members can get a glimpse of you.

Dating evolution

Moving on, the “normal” course (if we’ll still be able to call it that) of a relationship will eventually ensue if there is a good match between two people.

Because of the popularity of online dating sites and the monetization potential of such sites, big online players started to show interest and investors were comfortable financing entrepreneurs with good ideas for online dating sites.

With money pouring in, online dating is now at such extent, that many cities have their own website and you have fragmentation by sexual orientation, race, religion or anything else site admins can think of. You virtually cannot go wrong and stumble across people outside of your predefined circle of interest.

A foreseeable future

The prediction made by Wired Magazine in ‘02: “Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love won’t look for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because ‘the right books are found only by accident.’” seems to make a whole lot of sense now!

The future is now and is as clear as ever. Give humans a tool to seek each other out and they will no doubt use it because the craving of a connection is woven into our DNA.

The demand for online dating sites is there and the only way it goes is up. We can imagine that by 2050, not using an online dating site will just seem silly.

[getcouplet]

Are you in love?

[getcouplet]