Due to the post-iDate uptick in traffic and I thought it would be a good idea to say a few words about this blog and myself. As editor of Online Dating Insider, I have written about the business of online dating industry since 2002. A good way to get to know me is to use this blog’s search box, which as of today spans almost seven years of blogging, 2,797 posts and 7,587 comments.
The purpose of this blog is to attract business for Digicraft, my consulting company. If you want online dating news, read OnlinePersonalsWatch. If you want unfiltered insight and commentary into the business of online dating, you’re in the right place. You can sign up to receive this blog via email or RSS in the sidebar.
My primary role in the dating industry is as a strategic advisor. I spend a lot of my time working with companies interested in bringing technologies, brands and services into the dating/social marketplace. Click the ads in the sidebar to see what some of my clients are up to.
My work is often centered around dating site startups, mid-tier sites looking to get to the next level and third-party vendors looking to introduce their brands into the online dating marketplace. I do consulting 2-3 days a week, the rest of the time is spent interviewing companies, talking to the media or working on other projects. I prefer quarterly retainers, although I often perform one-day engagements along with my online dating industry startup bootcamp. On very rare occasions I take equity in a company.
I have an internal wiki with more than 500 pages of interviews, notes, research and anecdotes about the online dating industry which I have updated daily for several years. The majority of what I do and who I talk to never make it onto this blog. This isn’t TMZ.
I like to write about companies who are innovating and doing great things. At the same time, I see a lot of things wrong with the online dating industry and I’ve taken it upon myself to try and help fix what’s broken.
I am not a newspaper, and while I try to get comments on record from time to time, I mostly write about what I want, when I feel like it. I’m the first to admit that I’m biased in certain ways. If you don’t like it, leave a comment, that’s what they are there for. I like it when people tell me they think I’m wrong.
I try to mention my clients and advertisers on this blog from time to time (with attribution of course). I have relationships with these companies because they are doing things I feel are interesting and useful to my readers. I turn away a lot of advertisers because I don’t approve of what they’re selling.
Digicraft, my consulting company, is where (among other things) provide consulting and advisory services geared toward the needs of online dating and social networking websites and the technology providers, value-added services, financial resources and consumer brands participating in the marketplace.
Digicraft develops growth strategies, social media and product development initiatives and a lot more that would take too much room to explain here. On the finance side, Digicraft has performed due diligence on social and dating properties and participated in fundraising and M&A activities for the institutional investing community. Learn more at the Consulting page.
I spend a considerable amount of time on the phone talking with reporters at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Jose Merc, Washington Post, BBC, NPR and so on. Sometimes I mention clients relevant to a story, but mostly I talk about the larger issues facing the online dating industry and emerging trends.
Prior to the online dating industry, I worked with a management consulting firm, built award-winning websites as far back as 1994 and much more. Details at LinkedIn.
Feel free to Contact me to discuss about how we might be able to work together.
