Every since eAmore NYC we’ve seen an increase in readers and newsletter signups, which means its time to introduce Online Dating Insider to our new readers.
My name is Dave Evans and I have been blogging about the online dating industry at OnlineDatingPost since November 2002. As a consultant I’ve worked with Internet companies since 1994 as Digicraft. I’ve worked with startups of all stripes, on IPO’s, mobile technology plays, hollywood projects, technology acquisition due diligence, media and marketing plans and much, much more.
Back in the early 90’s I worked with the team that uploaded the first paid banner ads onto the Internet and was the technical-creative lead on a project where the king of Sweden raised the price of stamps and we took that money and built an open version of America Online for the country of Sweden.
I am a consultant first and foremost. Not a journalist or analyst. I blog because I love to write about what interests me and so companies will take notice and hire me. Tough and cynical at times, but always fair.
Advertising on Online Dating Insider is a great way to cost-effectively put your message in front of the multi-billion dollar dating industry. Click here for more details and to request a rate sheet.
Online Dating Insider is the media sponsor for eAmore, a new series of dating industry events tailored to the needs to the dating startups, investors and the media.
This blog is an attempt to shake things up and get the dating industry thinking about new ways of doing things. Special emphasis is placed on companies that are growing, innovating or trying something new. Companies make mistakes and the dating industry learns from it. I sometimes write about those mistakes. My intention is never to harm, but to shine light on issues that I feel of interest to the online dating industry, the media and others in the space (both positive and negative). After writing a few thousand posts (3,600 and counting), I’ve learned that you can’t keep everyone happy all of the time. Fellow bloggers know exactly what I’m talking about.
Industry executives are free to contact me about contributing or collaborating on a post. Vendors have access to a well-defined Sponsored Story opportunity.
I offer advisory services to dating sites (startups to top-10 sites), investors performing due diligence and other related players in the space. Longer-term engagements with the right companies are available on a case-by-case basis.
There is an enormous untapped market that a new breed of mobile/social dating companies are targeting. If you work for a dating site looking to increase traffic, are thinking about deploying social dating features, need general advisory services or assistance with leading-edge marketing strategies, don’t be shy, contact me. I’m always available to spend some time on the phone to see if there is an opportunity to work together.
A note about advisory services. The best time to contact me is *before* you develop your new feature, write a 50-page business plan, select a software platform, mortgage your house or buy a niche site. Far too often people contact me when they are ready to promote something. We should do gut-checks and discuss strategy and best practices *first*. I cannot stress this point enough.
You can read this blog at onlinedatingpost.com, subscribe to the newsletter, RSS feed or Subscribe to Online Dating Insider by Email. I post quick hits to Twitter and everything is pushed to Facebook (your Likes are greatly appreciated).
A quick bit about how I got involved in the online dating industry. I started blogging when I was thinking about launching ProfileDoctor, the company I started that helped people make a better first impression with their dating profiles. I sat on the beach and read 3,500 profiles and figured out how to improve them. Profile Doctor was unique in that we built an entire system that was integrated real live editors and scaled well. Nobody else has come close to that, then or now.
While starting ProfileDoctor, I often talked to the business development people at many dating sites. As a consultant, it’s in my nature to ask questions about the industry, it’s growth, the major players and the challenges and opportunities they face.
After a while I was working less on ProfileDoctor and more on consulting with online dating startups and a few social networks. That led to being on an ABC dating show pilot, a dating documentary, media attention and more consulting business, which led to speaking at dating conferences, media attention, and so the cycle repeats itself each.
I am also interested in identity, the social graph, mobile and hyper-personalization (advertising, dynamic websites and location-based services). I sometimes hang out at TechStars in Cambridge and have worked with a number of Boston Internet startups.
In general, I’ve found that marketing people think I’m an IT guy and developers think I’m in marketing. I sell myself as a trusted advisor and strategist, with emphasis on startups, developing businesses and marketing.
Hopefully this have given you a decent overview of this blog, who I am and the services I provide to the dating industry. Now enough about me, how can I help you?
