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Advice on launching new dating site in USA :D

by alg
8 replies
Hey folks,

We are exploring numerous options such as whitelabel, database rental, etc.

White label option.

Who can you recommend for whitelabel route? We have spoken with 2 UK based companies. One Cupid seems to have really high% of fake profiles, other one WLD got negligible ,around 1000, amount of female users in USA.

We are looking at whitelabeling arrangement when we host front page and partner host rest. Emails can be send by us or via partner generic xyz.com mailer. Solution that provides ways to customize design of back end. Ideally accommodates GA coded on successful payment page, etc.


Database option.

We are thinking to rent access to existing USA database in exchange for % of profit from paid users. We can place partners GA tracking codes on the successful payment page.


Staring from scratch option.

Maybe select 1 town say NY. However then what does it takes to get initial members interested in joining en mass? We do plan send traffic from variety of sources, its just when people join and see 10 members lol Matter of getting big from the start. We can also contact media sources to generate some PR.


Or perhaps there are some other excellent way to accomplish the mission?

Your suggestions are very appreciated.


Thanks in advance,

Alex.
#advice #dating #launching #site #usa
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I would not recommend White Label sites for dating.

    I started on that I used using Darren's $5 script called OsDate here: osDate - Free, open-source dating system.

    OsDate offers many possible add-on scripts for a few dollars.

    I found it hard to work with, because live chat could not work. I also found it difficult, because although I am a decent php programmer, I could not easily follow the logic in the open-source scripts.

    I was eventually able to customize some of the OsDate experience, I never did do as much as I wanted to do.

    Using osDate as a free dating website -- following the path of Plenty of Fish model -- I was eventually able to make $200 to $400 per month with Ashley Madison affiliate banner advertising, even though I only had 400 total members in the site. It is also a very small-niche dating website.

    I converted to two different White Label sites.

    By the end of the second month with the first white label company, I knew I had screwed up, but I stayed with them longer than I should have, b/c I was otherwise busy. They were an American company, and I made $250 in 8 months.

    I finally got enough time to look for another option. I went with a UK white label company, with whom I stayed almost one year. I don't remember the names of either one of them, and I don't want to look them up. When I got my first 98 pound check, I tried to cash it locally. Most banks were unable to cash. The only bank where I had an account (of 5) could get it cashed, but it would cost $75 non-refundable to cash a check that was worth just over $100.

    I have two checks from them, equal to about $200 total, but I have to pre-pay $75 U.S. just to process each check. So I would pay $150 to get just over $200, but if there are any problems with the checks, I would lose my $150.

    I just recently moved my domain back to my own hosting with the osDate, after nearly 20 months under white label setups.

    The biggest issue I had with the white label options is that I could not see referrer URLs or referring Search queries for my domain, because the white label companies were hosting me. Because I did not have access to that data, I was not able to see what kind of advertising was working for me and what advertising was a money pit. I hated so much trying to drive traffic in the dark.

    Before I switched to the white label setups, I had a number of top 5 Google listings, in some cases beating out Penthouse for #1 or it beating me putting me in the #2 spot.

    I just returned to my own hosting account for the dating site last month, so I don't know how well I position in Google at the moment. But I do know that I had lost many of those competitive rankings I once had.

    Whatever path you choose, I would avoid white label options.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author alg
    Hey Bill,

    Thanks for your advice. I find its also matter of negotiating. I found 1 company that is ok with domain and front page hosted on local server and they host backed and customer service. However they got tiny presence in USA.

    I could negotiate with them to get paid for getting those presence larger. It takes lawyers time to draw agreement, etc.

    Are you still running your site? Perhaps we could team up

    And hey folks anyone knows of reasonable white label provider do share ))

    Bill I think well for 1 town if site got 50,000 sign ups also good. Also I am intent to charge for the service as people like to spend anyway
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    • Profile picture of the author Matador
      Hi guys,

      Its my first time on here. Interesting stuff so far. Alex I am too looking to commence a dating website here in the US. I contacted 6 whitelabel (two responses so far. I emailed directly as i would not accept their T&C just to find out more info?!). I mean im not a legal person but why would i agree to all these trading terms just to get further info?!
      Global Personals - prompt response & answers, the other World Dating but no info from them yet.

      My big issue with Global Personals is that their response is their is nothing to sell or transfer if you become successful. In other words they keep all of your new clients and there is nothing you will have to sell or take out on your own but your domain. Now why would i spend hard earned $ along with blood & sweat to create something successful to own nothing at the end? It astounds me how anyone who is aiming for real success would do this. Cupid promote that you will have something sellable or which you can take on you own but its not part of their initial contract. This is only negotiated after some trading period. Now forgive me for being skeptical but whats stopping them from (when your hugely successful) saying No!
      I dont want to take this chance.
      I do believe I can be successful at this. I have developed personal interest websites along with Youtube videos (not related) but which I feel will drive huge traffic plus I feel my site will be innovative (as much as possible these days) so I couldnt imagine owning nothing at the end. Fair enough on 50% revenue share for back office. I am scared if I go with any of them they will own me and my ideas!!
      Also Alex it surprises me they only have 1000 girls in the USA? Just cant be right, i could sign up 1000 girls myself through FB friends. I did ask them how they are addressing their small presence in the US but i didnt ask them directly the numbers yet.
      PS I have searched for renting a database. Only could find one you buy which is a total scam (they steal photos) and I dont want to go this path.
      PSS Bill I have read the big platforms now have tools to track advertising etc. Im not savvy on this but like google analytics etc
      Cheers!
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      • Profile picture of the author barry500
        Not sure if of use , but only company I know of in this space are

        Dating affiliate programme with best affiliate dating service

        don't have any contact names or numbers - but seem to have reasonable reputation
        Signature

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        • Profile picture of the author Matador
          what space? USA? They began in Manchester so not sure of their US presence. Links to their portfolio dont work which is not a good sign. Seem very niche as well, hard to use their database. I like how they also say they are based in Gibraltor so its tax free!! tax free if you want to get done for tax fraud. Tax free for them but when you recieve it as an income for operating in the US im pretty sure your expected to pay tax!! Thanks anyway!
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          • Profile picture of the author Thoma$
            Originally Posted by alg View Post

            White label option.

            Who can you recommend for whitelabel route? We have spoken with 2 UK based companies. One Cupid seems to have really high% of fake profiles, other one WLD got negligible ,around 1000, amount of female users in USA.

            We are looking at whitelabeling arrangement when we host front page and partner host rest. Emails can be send by us or via partner generic xyz.com mailer. Solution that provides ways to customize design of back end. Ideally accommodates GA coded on successful payment page, etc.
            I would recommend White Label Dating Affiliate Program,FREE affiliate dating sites | White Label Dating Affiliate Program for this. Very flexible company. Their interface allows you to send newsletters/emails to your members using an extensive range of filters so you can send specific newsletters to particular niches, locations and demographics. GA and other tracking codes can be placed on the payment confirmation page as well.

            Originally Posted by tpw View Post

            OsDate offers many possible add-on scripts for a few dollars.

            I found it hard to work with, because live chat could not work. I also found it difficult, because although I am a decent php programmer, I could not easily follow the logic in the open-source scripts.

            I was eventually able to customize some of the OsDate experience, I never did do as much as I wanted to do.
            I agree, OsDate has been nothing but a pain for me. After pulling every single hair off my head, I decided to go the white label route and have been a top affiliate with several white label dating companies for 5 years now. We are marketers after all, we should focus on sending targeted traffic, not dealing with bugs, customers, payments, chargebacks, fraud, dating newsletters etc... Just my two cents.



            Originally Posted by tpw

            I converted to two different White Label sites.

            By the end of the second month with the first white label company, I knew I had screwed up, but I stayed with them longer than I should have, b/c I was otherwise busy. They were an American company, and I made $250 in 8 months.

            I finally got enough time to look for another option. I went with a UK white label company, with whom I stayed almost one year. I don't remember the names of either one of them, and I don't want to look them up. When I got my first 98 pound check, I tried to cash it locally. Most banks were unable to cash. The only bank where I had an account (of 5) could get it cashed, but it would cost $75 non-refundable to cash a check that was worth just over $100.

            I have two checks from them, equal to about $200 total, but I have to pre-pay $75 U.S. just to process each check. So I would pay $150 to get just over $200, but if there are any problems with the checks, I would lose my $150.
            Sorry, I am just going to quote myself here as we already had this conversation on this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ing-sites.html.

            Originally Posted by Thoma$


            At the time I was working in World Dating Partners offices, checks were admittedly causing a bit of trouble. Checks are a bit old school. The thing is checks were a good way for small affiliates inside of the UK (where WDP bank is located) to get paid 100% of their affiliate commissions with no bank commission (clearing a national check is free). Being outside of the UK and not being a big affiliate, it wasn't wise to choose this option. You should have chosen bank wire transfer and set your minimum payout higher. You were just asking your bank to rob you here. To me it's just common sense to be honest.

            I am going to talk about WhiteLabelDatingSolutions specifically now, because I can't vouch for other white label dating companies but this one is quite far from what you make them all to be:

            When it comes to payments, they pay you NET15 via bank transfer or paypal, your choice. I use bank transfers, and I receive exactly on my (french) bank account the amount that I earned. Not one cent less. The only commission I have to pay is what my french bank charges me for receiving the international payment. As to Paypal, well we all know how it works, it's interesting for small affiliates, but for the bigger ones the international wire transfer is a cheaper option.
            Originally Posted by tpw

            The biggest issue I had with the white label options is that I could not see referrer URLs or referring Search queries for my domain, because the white label companies were hosting me. Because I did not have access to that data, I was not able to see what kind of advertising was working for me and what advertising was a money pit. I hated so much trying to drive traffic in the dark.
            Again, my two cents from the other thread (sorry for the quotes but I would just repeat myself. For the whole picture I advise people go take a look at this thread, it is quite interesting).

            http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ing-sites.html

            Originally Posted by Thoma$

            - They allow you to place your Google Analytics and any other tracking code on all pages of your white label dating websites very easily through your admin control panel. So there si no data you don't have access to. Plus when it comes to reporting and analytics, I have yet to see a dating affiliate program or white label dating provider that is more transparent and gives you more analytics than WhiteLabelDatingSolutions do.
            Before I switched to the white label setups, I had a number of top 5 Google listings, in some cases beating out Penthouse for #1 or it beating me putting me in the #2 spot.

            I just returned to my own hosting account for the dating site last month, so I don't know how well I position in Google at the moment. But I do know that I had lost many of those competitive rankings I once had.

            Whatever path you choose, I would avoid white label options.
            Not sure why this has anything to do with white label dating, I have many white label dating sites ranked #1 in Google. That includes a #1 (sometimes #2) spot for "disabled dating" (without quotes) on Google USA. This is over a million competing pages with quotes. Good white label dating providers allow you to do pretty much anything on your website (edit meta tags/page titles, add new pages/articles, customize front page, edit headers and footers, etc...). So there is no reason why you shouldn't rank well as long as you make the necessary changes to your website.

            Originally Posted by alg View Post

            Hey Bill,

            Thanks for your advice. I find its also matter of negotiating. I found 1 company that is ok with domain and front page hosted on local server and they host backed and customer service. However they got tiny presence in USA.

            I could negotiate with them to get paid for getting those presence larger. It takes lawyers time to draw agreement, etc.

            Are you still running your site? Perhaps we could team up

            And hey folks anyone knows of reasonable white label provider do share ))
            I definitely recommend WhiteLabelDatingSolutions. They have been nominated as "the best" in four categories at the Idate awards, so I guess public opinion means something. Like I said, they are very flexible and no matter my needs, I never hit a brick wall with them. So I bet you could negotiate different terms with them as long as you are a serious partner. I don't want to blab so my advice is join them, try their platform. Also try other white label dating providers and decide for yourself.

            Originally Posted by Matador View Post

            Hi guys,

            Its my first time on here. Interesting stuff so far. Alex I am too looking to commence a dating website here in the US. I contacted 6 whitelabel (two responses so far. I emailed directly as i would not accept their T&C just to find out more info?!). I mean im not a legal person but why would i agree to all these trading terms just to get further info?!
            Global Personals - prompt response & answers, the other World Dating but no info from them yet.

            My big issue with Global Personals is that their response is their is nothing to sell or transfer if you become successful. In other words they keep all of your new clients and there is nothing you will have to sell or take out on your own but your domain. Now why would i spend hard earned $ along with blood & sweat to create something successful to own nothing at the end? It astounds me how anyone who is aiming for real success would do this. Cupid promote that you will have something sellable or which you can take on you own but its not part of their initial contract. This is only negotiated after some trading period. Now forgive me for being skeptical but whats stopping them from (when your hugely successful) saying No!
            I dont want to take this chance.
            I do believe I can be successful at this. I have developed personal interest websites along with Youtube videos (not related) but which I feel will drive huge traffic plus I feel my site will be innovative (as much as possible these days) so I couldnt imagine owning nothing at the end. Fair enough on 50% revenue share for back office. I am scared if I go with any of them they will own me and my ideas!!
            Also Alex it surprises me they only have 1000 girls in the USA? Just cant be right, i could sign up 1000 girls myself through FB friends. I did ask them how they are addressing their small presence in the US but i didnt ask them directly the numbers yet.
            PS I have searched for renting a database. Only could find one you buy which is a total scam (they steal photos) and I dont want to go this path.
            PSS Bill I have read the big platforms now have tools to track advertising etc. Im not savvy on this but like google analytics etc
            Cheers!
            This is true, this is the way white label dating providers terms are. They need to keep building their database to increase conversion and retention rates. I have never been too worried about this because what I aim for is long-term residual income, not quick bucks on a database sale. I have been with them for years and plan on keeping it this way for years to come. However, I understand this can be a concern for some marketers who might have different goals. While I was working for some white label dating providers, I did hear some cases where the partner could get access to his database when leaving. But this is not something I will comment on because this obviously was a very atypical case and something that has to be dealt with on a one on one basis.
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            • Profile picture of the author jemary
              Thoma$- I notice you promote white label dating solutions pretty heavily. Are you an affiliate with them? Also it seems that by going with these guys you have a pretty narrow database for the U.S. They seem to have a heavier European interest. Do you know what kind of data base they have for the U.S.
              thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author n3o
    this post maybe a bit old but white label dating solutions indeed have more non-english members but they have recently acquired other white label site which focus more on US base members
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    India Casino Affiliate - Best Casino Affiliate Programs in India
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