16 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
16 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Promoting a fresh datingsite: 500-ish dollar budget

by CHZ
14 replies
Hi guys!

I have been snooping around this forum for a while now and I decided to register. So hi all!

I am developing a fun new dating site that I want to market on- and/or off-line, I know that the online dating market is a tough one to stay afloat in but I am confident that I will succeed, because of the site's uniqueness.

At the moment I have a budget of around 500 bucks to invest for marketing and such. I was wondering how you guys would use this budget to attract users to the site. I know the budget isn't that much, but it's something.

Also, what would you guys do to get the first 100-ish users? Fake it or are there better options?

Looking forward to discuss this with you guys.

Thanks!
#500ish #budget #datingsite #dollar #fresh #promoting
  • Profile picture of the author webuildsites
    plenty of fish might work for your type of site
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322779].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author CHZ
    I also have a facebook site of the project.

    In what way can POF help? Wouldn't that be against their policy to -for example- spam about?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322792].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author technician27
    POF allowing dating ads on their site but I don't recommend it. Because I done some survey in the past and found 99% of pof female members (in my area) not clicking any ads at all. And you can't set ads PPC on pof so it will be waste of money and time. If you want to run ads use facebook ads and drill it down to target people that who will show interest on your site.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322834].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author keithb89
    With a budget of $500, your going to have to invest a LOT of time - probably years. I hope you're in this for the long haul.
    Signature
    http://promo.article-writing.co/qual...dable-content/
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322958].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author CHZ
      Originally Posted by keithb89 View Post

      With a budget of $500, your going to have to invest a LOT of time - probably years. I hope you're in this for the long haul.
      I am willing to do that, but I am not sure what pays off the most.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9322998].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LegendaryGuy1
    Banned
    I'd invest some of that money into advertisements. I'd put some ads on Facebook as well as POF. These could generate high amounts of traffic and unique visitors which in turn would sign up to your site.

    Also, you could build a list along the way where you offer a free guide in exchange for their email address. Once people sign up, you could make additional income selling products to them via email.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9323015].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author CHZ
      Originally Posted by LegendaryGuy1 View Post

      I'd invest some of that money into advertisements. I'd put some ads on Facebook as well as POF. These could generate high amounts of traffic and unique visitors which in turn would sign up to your site.

      Also, you could build a list along the way where you offer a free guide in exchange for their email address. Once people sign up, you could make additional income selling products to them via email.
      Nice ideas, something I will likely try out.

      I was also thinking about spending a budget for google adwords, but I am not sure about that since it's likely to be very expensive (given the saturated keywords) and little payoff. What do you guys think?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9323282].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Alex Arvixe
        Are you launching this from scratch / custom (In other words, with no / minimal users)? If so, I'd really target a specific area to invest that 500. There really is no point in investing into such a website when the users are so far apart that there is really no use in being part of the website, nobody around local.

        Target one area then the next and grow slowly but surely.

        This does not apply if you're using one of those whitelabel services with lots of users already.
        Signature

        Alex A - alex.ali@arvixe.com
        Arvixe, LLC - http://www.arvixe.com
        Freedom of the web at your fingertips.
        Shared Hosting Specialist: US/EU, Free Domain, $175 Ad Credits, Sitebuilder, Cloudflare & More!

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9324324].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author CHZ
          Originally Posted by Alex Arvixe View Post

          Are you launching this from scratch / custom (In other words, with no / minimal users)? If so, I'd really target a specific area to invest that 500. There really is no point in investing into such a website when the users are so far apart that there is really no use in being part of the website, nobody around local.

          Target one area then the next and grow slowly but surely.

          This does not apply if you're using one of those whitelabel services with lots of users already.
          The site is custom build and from scratch. Like you advised I am also planning to attract people from certain cities/areas to the site so that the users don't live too far apart. The site's gimmicks should be interesting enough to interest people to join and hopefully be active.

          About facebook ads, even if it would be possible to have dating ads at FB then still facebook f*cks you over by clickfarms in India and god knows where as far as I know.

          I am quite new to marketing a website like this, in what form should I promote the website? Would an ad in a local newspaper be a good idea? Does anyone have experiences with this?
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9325498].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seobuzz
    Considering the tough competition on this particular niche, I will not depend much on search engines. Better you should concentrate on the referral traffic. You should have set up your FB page already and engage as many people as you can to your page. From that page you can direct the users to your dating site.

    Also dating related forums, question answers sites, social networking sites should also give quality traffic to your website. Age group 18-24 are the people mostly interested in finding partner through dating site. You should target this audience.
    Signature
    SecondIncomeBlog.com
    Ideas and Techniques to Make Money Online
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9325585].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Sagar Mehta
    Nobody's gonna tell you. Cause most people don't know, and those who know, focus their efforts in driving traffic to your site.

    This is one of those things where you've gotta learn on your own by trial and error.

    To be honest, $500 isn't much. It's a competitive niche, ad prices are sky high and there's no shortcut.

    In case you have some kind of an 'angle', or something unique about your site - then you could try going the viral promotion route.

    Otherwise, it's simple: buy ads, see if they help sign ups, improve your landing pages, repeat.

    Sagar
    Signature
    Need AWESOME Customer Support For Your Product / Service / Upcoming Launches? > Click Here <
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9325635].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author wanify
    We are currently running an internal case study on a free dating site set up at DatingFactory and we're sending our house traffic to it. It's on a new domain with no traffic. We're 3 weeks into the 30 day case study and so far we have over 500 profiles added and the AdSense revenue on the site has generated over $180 dollars. These figures in our case study are in line with what we're already seeing with 3 free dating site campaigns within our house traffic network. The house traffic has over 4 million impressions and over 12000 clicks in it per month.

    Once we complete the case study we will post it at Wanify.com under our Blogs page. If you would like more information on this feel free to contact us.
    Signature
    Dating Ad Network
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9996884].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author n3o
    wonder how far the op could take the site to ...
    Signature
    India Casino Affiliate - Best Casino Affiliate Programs in India
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10020194].message }}

Trending Topics