The Desert of Perceived Need

[Esquire]

Please report back on how it goes.

I could see this strategy: Say Lisa from Montreal joins and you accept her, you can Instagram her photo "yourwebsite.com just accepted Lisa from [HASHTAG]#Montreal[/HASHTAG]. Want to meet her? [HASHTAG]#hot[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#yourwebsite[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#dating[/HASHTAG]" or whatever relevant hashtags you can find. I'd use better copy than what I just wrote but you get the gist. Create scarcity. Create the imagery of exclusiveness.

I would caveat this however, make sure your permission arrangement is CLEAR! BIG AND BOLD. People on dating sites like their privacy. Don't bury your "permission disclaimer" in a terms of service, or some fine print. If people don't know what they are disclaiming, it could get ugly. (Why on earth did you Instagram my photo!!?! ARGH!")

Will do.

As for permission ... TOTALLY agree. That is a big selling point of the site. The fact that it is NOT open to the public ... no gratuitous public tours.

I go one step further. I contact them directly and get their express written consent. I tell them what I plan to do (example: feature their pics on the front of the site) ... which pic I would like to use ... and get them to reply back and respond in the affirmative. I will NEVER use someone's pics in a public context without making sure they are absolutely 100 percent good to go with it.

 

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[theag]

Well, most of the big dating sites' new member signups are driven by affiliates. So get into a good affiliate network, they always want to work with good niche sites. You will have to pony up some cash upfront though and should have your conversion rates (external and most of all internal) in order first.

Or do some media buying yourself. GEO targeted adult traffic should work for this.

 

[RBefort]

I haven't read the whole thread, as I'm not an expert nor follow this industry. What about setting up some complementary service/website/blog that offers dating advice? Maybe set up a page and send them an ebook on how to talk to the opposite sex, show some training videos, hire a well known pickup artist, etc? Sorry if you've already done this type of stuff....just random thoughts that may/may not help.

 

[Esquire]

Well, most of the big dating sites' new member signups are driven by affiliates. So get into a good affiliate network, they always want to work with good niche sites. You will have to pony up some cash upfront though and should have your conversion rates (external and most of all internal) in order first.

Or do some media buying yourself. GEO targeted adult traffic should work for this.

Well ... the problem with the adult oriented "Google" crowd ... is they tend to attract creeps. I do not want the creepy single dude surfing porn at 3 a.m. anywhere near my site ... and quite frankly ... those types couldn't get in if they wanted to.

Most sites just want numbers. The more people who sign up ... the better. I want the exact opposite. An assortment of hand picked needless ... and none of the haystack.

I don't think that is what the affiliate marketers want to hear.

They want to get paid to drive numbers ... not be told ... the people you drove to my site were ugly ... so no sale. I think the affiliates are better suited for traditional dating sites.

So right now my affiliate program is limited to existing members ... the hope being ... like attracts like.

 

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[Esquire]

I haven't read the whole thread, as I'm not an expert nor follow this industry. What about setting up some complementary service/website/blog that offers dating advice? Maybe set up a page and send them an ebook on how to talk to the opposite sex, show some training videos, hire a well known pickup artist, etc? Sorry if you've already done this type of stuff....just random thoughts that may/may not help.

Well ... that's sort of the general idea behind the social media articles. News-you-can-use articles that I can circulate and use to (indirectly) promote the site.

 

[Esquire]

On a side note:

Someone on Facebook who I encouraged to join just thanked me for the site invite ... but told me "she did not want to join another paid site right now" ...

Technically speaking ... there are no references to prices anywhere on my front page ... but when you look at the site ... I'll be honest ... it screams upscale. You just know this one ain't going to be free.

So I said fine ... no pressure ... and told her a little more about the site concept ... and that I'd float her for free for a year (she is super hot) ... and immediately she wanted to join.

Note to self.

I'm not going to post that offer on the front of the site and cheapen the brand ... I want people to think it is going to be expensive (and it will be) ... but on a case by case basis ... I might want to be a little more clear about my carrot.

That might have been an issue. A (logical) assumption they would be limited to a brief trial period ... followed by a pay-to-play demand ... and (thus) inaction.

It's a theory ... only one way to find out ...

I am going to adjust my direct marketing approach on social media and see what happens.

Keep throwing shit at the wall ...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I might want to be a little more clear about my carrot.

In the world of clubs and bars, if you can get women in the door, the men will follow. I'm sure your concept is no different.

 

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[Esquire]

In the world of clubs and bars, if you can get women in the door, the men will follow. I'm sure your concept is no different.

Yep.

Let a group of dirty truckers get cozy at your bar ... and you are terminally F*cked.

I'm being very particular about how I fill the room early on.

Takes more time to do it this way ... but I gotta think big picture.

 

[Andy Black]

In the world of clubs and bars, if you can get women in the door, the men will follow. I'm sure your concept is no different.

Ah, them were the days.

I always marvelled at how some bars just got it so wrong. The bar would be across the dance-floor from the main door. So it always looked empty from the outside until the whole place was rammed. And you had an intimidating walk in front of everyone until you could get to the safety of the other side. Very enticing for women (and men) to walk into.. not.

Then other bars had the bar nearer the door, and were shaped so that you wanted to get in early to get some nice seating areas. They therefore looked busy early on as you walked past, and you wanted to get in there quick before the best places were gone.

Let a group of dirty truckers get cozy at your bar ... and you are terminally F*cked.

Oddly, back in my student days in York (England), there used to be a 10p a pint night on a Tuesday night. You could only buy two pints at a time, and the place was heaving straight after the pubs with groups of blokes knocking them back. I could never fathom why the women all turned up later on...

 

[Actionary]

You need to remember how facebook got started. Its focus was on the target audience specifically. It helped that the creator was in the target audience. He didn't set out to get the millions of people basically "e-living" on his platform. Start of with your target audience. You don't need millions of people, just start out with those precious first members. they are the best marketing team that you could buy.

I know that you may value this platform more or less due to the amount of time put into the product, but if you do not put AT LEAST that much time or MORE into adding value to your target audience with this site, its not going to be worth the time spent.

Feel free to pivot if you need to, to provide the most value to that target audience within the same platform.
ex: videos for video games -twitch you could do a video game clan social network. not everyone wants to tie their name to all of their activities, and yet they want to connect. (just an example of a simple pivot).

 

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[smarty]

How many clicks has a new user to do before they sign up and are ready to use the site?
If you have 20 input fields in the registration page, reduce it to just email & password. Ask them to complete their profile after they have been registered and confirmed their email.
Make the signup process just 2-3 clicks or you will bore many new potential users away!

Example:
1) they enter email + new password => click "signup"
2) boom! they are redirected directly to their new profile and can use the site (limited access).
3) they have 24h time to confirm their email, otherwise this profile will get deactivated and require email confirmation before being able to login again. etc.

make the signup process like a black sink hole (or shit hole if you will )

 

[Esquire]

How many clicks has a new user to do before they sign up and are ready to use the site?
If you have 20 input fields in the registration page, reduce it to just email & password. Ask them to complete their profile after they have been registered and confirmed their email.
Make the signup process just 2-3 clicks or you will bore many new potential users away!

Example:
1) they enter email + new password => click "signup"
2) boom! they are redirected directly to their new profile and can use the site (limited access).
3) they have 24h time to confirm their email, otherwise this profile will get deactivated and require email confirmation before being able to login again. etc.

make the signup process like a black sink hole (or shit hole if you will )

No ... I am doing the exact opposite, actually.

The method you just mentioned ... is what I did when I first launched ... and it was an absolute disaster.

If all you want are "numbers" ... then sure ... yeah ... that's the way to go.

Step right in ... take a look around.

But if you want a site full of high-quality profiles ... and high-quality members ... whole different story.

Joining my site ... is a lot like joining e-Harmony ... it requires a considerable amount of time and effort.

That will not change.

 

[MattL]

Interesting thread.

How have you thought about marketing your site?

Quality over quantity yes, but how are you going to attract them to your site (apart from the affiliate system you mentioned)?

 

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[Esquire]

Interesting thread.

How have you thought about marketing your site?

Quality over quantity yes, but how are you going to attract them to your site (apart from the affiliate system you mentioned)?

In the most general sense ... the same way I would anything else ... pitch your USP ... tailor your message to your target audience ... and filter out everyone, save for those select few you really want to keep.

As far as the specifics go ... I wish I could tell you I had the magic formula (but I don't).

Test ... Observe ... Adjust ... Repeat.

That's all I can say to an absolute certainty.

Keeping throwing shit at the fan till you figure out what sticks.

I'll figure it out.

 

[Bila]

Any update on this thread @Esquire ?

 

[Esquire]

Any update on this thread @Esquire ?

Yes and no.

2015 has been my best year ever as an attorney ... so I've put the site on indefinite hold ... and delayed the big launch.

I'm just not willing to invest endless time into a site ... when I'm not entirely sure ... it satisfies the commandment of need.

As noted in my initial post ... I may have misjudged the market.

On the flip side ... I know I've put together one hell of a great platform ... and I still believe the site could succeed ... so I'm not ready to completely walk away from it.

I just need to re-engineer it in such a way as will remove me from the day-to-day operations.

And in that regard ... I think it is a major step forward in my thinking.

In the larger sense ... I think the real value will come from re-purposing the platform in completely different industries.

For example ... it''s not hard to take a dating site platform ... then re-purpose it for matching up parents and babysitters (like care.com did),

Same framework. Different industry.

That's not what I plan to do (matching up babysitters) ... but that's where I see the more meaningful opportunity.

Taking my time ...

 

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[Esquire]

I'll add this ...

It is hard to admit to yourself ... that a project you poured your heart and soul into ... didn't pan out.

That you misjudged the market.

And the more time, money and emotion you pour into a project ... the harder it is to walk away.

And sometimes that's exactly what you need to do.

This might be one of those instances.

If I did not think there was a way to remove myself from the day-to-day operations of the site ... I'd call it a day and move on.

On a personal level ... it's real hard for me to publicly acknowledge this on the forum.

I would nothing more to report that the site was a splendid success.

Just like LeBron James wishes he could say he won the championship last year.

But I can't.

Sometimes a solid effort comes up short.

I'm not prepared to raise the white flag quite yet ... but if the site fails to reach its potential ... I will pick myself up ... as I have done countless time before ... and soldier on.

Only need to hit it out of the park once.

 

[Jon L]

I'll add this ...

It is hard to admit to yourself ... that a project you poured your heart and soul into ... didn't pan out.

That you misjudged the market.

And the more time, money and emotion you pour into a project ... the harder it is to walk away.

And sometimes that's exactly what you need to do.

This might be one of those instances.

If I did not think there was a way to remove myself from the day-to-day operations of the site ... I'd call it a day and move on.

On a personal level ... it's real hard for me to publicly acknowledge this on the forum.

I would nothing more to report that the site was a splendid success.

Just like LeBron James wishes he could say he won the championship last year.

But I can't.

Sometimes a solid effort comes up short.

I'm not prepared to raise the white flag quite yet ... but if the site fails to reach its potential ... I will pick myself up ... as I have done countless time before ... and soldier on.

Only need to hit it out of the park once.

I haven't read through all your posts on here, but it doesn't sound like you've discussed what the site is, specifically. Can you talk about that now?

It would serve two purposes:

1) help others see what you did right and what you did wrong
2) might give you some feedback that could turn this thing around.

Nice job, though, in pushing so hard on this. Keep this up and you'll get there.

 

[AceResponder]

2015 has been my best year ever as an attorney

Glad that the year went well and I hope it gets better for the coming years.

I'll be honest ... I'm feeling kind of beat up right now.

I launched a niche dating site back in January. Back then, I was feeling high as a kite. I had spent 13 months in development ... assembled a platform that was second to none in the niche ... and thought I had rolled out something truly unique.

A metaphorical Lamborghini in a sea of competing minivans.

The response ...?

Apathy.

The challenge isn't getting people to stay. The people who join ... really love the site.

The challenge is getting people to walk in the door and create a profile in the first place.

Creating a better product ... just isn't enough.

One of the main problems is that so many "me too" sites have been pushed on my target audience ... simple out-of-the-box crap sites ... they are mentally exhausted with "newcomers" as a whole.

They expect my site ... to be just like those "cookie cutter" sites that have come before me.

They expect to see a minivan.

They expect Goliath ... and the other established sites ... to kick David's a$$.

Just like he did to everyone else.

So they stay put where they are.

Google Plus has this problem. Bing has this problem. And now I have this problem.

Convincing people ... that this site ... is going to be something different. Something better.

The analogy that comes to mind is a supermarket ... where they are handing out free samples of new products ... but in THIS supermarket ... everything they hand you tastes like shit.

And then they get to you ... your sample tastes incredible ... but because of their lousy experience with the free samples before you ... they pass you by ... and walk out with a "safe" product instead ... the one they already know.

It is so unbelievably frustrating.

Every single thing ... my target audience ever asked for ... I've given it to them. Every single thing ... I've ever heard them bitch moan and complain about on the other sites ... I've cured. I have solved legitimate problems ... and bring new value to the table.

Apathy.

The focus of the first seven months have (admittedly) been perfecting the site itself. I have only promoted the site in a very small test market. I wanted everything to be perfect before I did a large scale launch. Iron out the bugs. Get some feedback. Adjust. That was critical.

But as I look ahead ... and start shifting my focus to marketing ... and launching the site on a large scale ... I am genuinely concerned. History tends to repeat itself.

And I have not (yet) figured out how to overcome the apathy problem.

Do I think I'll figure it out ...? Yes ... I do.

I'll keep throwing shit at the wall until I figure out what sticks. I imagine it is going to take time.

Anyway ...

I am not entirely sure why I am sharing this ... maybe I just need somewhere to vent ...

I survived 13 months in the Desert of Desertion.

But the Deserts of "Perceived" Need and User Apathy ... never saw it coming.

While reading your thread and some of the posts here I was wondering how's your site/app look, what's the name of it, what are the site features?
How does it make any difference:
1. When I read "I launched a niche dating site back in January." first thing that came to my mind is "what's his site?" and I am sure some other thought that too.
2. You started something in a social networking world and you should share it with as many people as you can, talk about it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Forums or any other website make sure you share the site/app link. This will also increase the traffic (even if by 1% but its adding something) and you never know how many people will look at it, like it and join it.
3. When people will look at the actual product they will also share what they like about it and what are the other opportunities.

So if I start a online store and I share it with people, the first thing I will do is let them look at my store. Maybe there is someone will like my product and interested in buying something? Well you never know.

I am still a wantrepreneur and not an expert but that's what I felt after reading what you shared with us. Good luck mate

 

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[Andy Black]

You say your platform could be used to match other groups (babysitters and parents for instance).

You also say you've had your best year as an attorney (family/divorce law isn't it?).

Can you use the platform to match divorce lawyers with people looking for them?

If you define a market as a demonstrated cash flow, then I'd guess there's quite a big market out there for divorce and family law...

 

[contract]

I've been there. Don't worry.

The first year and a half after launching my site, I kept getting stressed out. (At times desperate to quit, but I kept refusing to give up)

I thought I had done everything right.

No one ever said this was wrong or that was wrong in full detail. (Haters aside, of course)

What was the freaking problem? What more do people want? Why is no one sharing my shit... Etc.

Within time I learned numerous things:

The design I thought was once a Michael Angelo masterpiece could be greatly improved, massively. At the time I thought it was flawless. To date, I've re-designed the site seven or eight times now. Each time, it got better and better. I look back and now, wow, what was I even thinking back then!

I thought my content was exceptionally. I researched everything, but it was dry. Within time, I realized that and changed up my formats over and over. I look back and think, wow, this content today is so much more enjoyable to read. When I noticed people sharing my stuff, it was an aha! moment..

The biggest hurdle was not taking enough risk. There are so many things that just didn't cross my mind and ideas I just flat out ignored. Great ideas, but at the time it felt risky, even though in reality it wasn't.. Doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's just how things go sometimes. We end up fooling ourselves, even over the simplest things.

All of that aside, none of it matters if you aren't getting eyeballs.

None of it. Your amazing design, content, functionality, membership packages, products, etc.

Here's the thing: Say you can get any man in the world 15 GUARANTEED dates within 24 hours. OR you deposit $15,000 in cash in their bank account.

Sounds awesome, right? Surely people would be flooding the site. Problem is: If no one knows about it, no one cares.

For others it's too good to be true, they bail. There's this hurdle where you have to get them to sign up, THEN they start referring friends.

Not to mention, you NEED the haters to promote for YOU. They'll complain all over the place, telling everyone. You'll end up getting enough eyeballs to finally get someone to try your service. They do, then they refer their friends and so on. Suddenly, you're growing faster and faster.

But you can't just rely on the haters or some super catchy offer.

You need to find your where people are at in your niche.

Married men aren't going to care nor promote a dating site.

Young men probably don't have the confidence to announce, "hey I just joined this dating site!" on Facebook while their singles.

Couples who match/marry from your dating site, might be embarrassed to tell others they met online.

There's a lot of things to think about/find the answers to.

THIS TAKES TIME, PATIENCE AND DEDICATION.

That means you MUST be grinding it out every single day for 14 HOURS. Either you commit or your crash. That is EXTREMELY difficult for most people to do.

...

Now you're in dating.

1. Advertise on Porn sites.

2. Find out what traffic sources people are running to pick up ebook/dating affiliate offers.

3. Reverse that, build up a team of affiliates. Start offering a pay per lead program. Talk to affiliate networks about this.

4. Understand, there's a GOOD reason why most VC's won't fund dating sites.

5. Go through the founder's personal POF blog, might have to Archieve.org it. It's a massive GOLDMINE!

6. Stop the PR none-sense, social, etc. If you want to beat your competitors you need to get creative.

....

I could go on, but it's late.

 

[Esquire]

You say your platform could be used to match other groups (babysitters and parents for instance).

You also say you've had your best year as an attorney (family/divorce law isn't it?).

Can you use the platform to match divorce lawyers with people looking for them?

If you define a market as a demonstrated cash flow, then I'd guess there's quite a big market out there for divorce and family law...

What you just proposed in not "exactly" what I had in mind ... but you are correct. I see unmet needs in the legal profession ... and I am uniquely positioned to identify those needs because I am my own target audience.

But rather than jump head first into that (or something like that) quite yet ... I want to continue to use the dating site as a learning tool. When I launched in 2014, I only launched in a limited test market (Ontario, Canada). I held off on a large scale launch, so I could revise, improve and perfect the site ahead of that critical first impression. I learned a ton of useful information there.

My next question is ... what will I learn ... when I bring the site back online and do a large scale launch ...? I (obviously) do not know yet ... but I am guessing that ... like my beta trials in Ontario ... there will be much to learn there too.

And the more I learn (now) ... the more successful I foresee a launch in a new industry will be. If I am going to make rookie mistakes ... I would rather do it in the dating industry ... than my own.

I haven't read through all your posts on here, but it doesn't sound like you've discussed what the site is, specifically. Can you talk about that now?

No.

Two reasons:

1. I'm not dead yet. I still think I can turn it around. There is (in fact) an unmet need that I think I can satisfy ... and it is a big one. I purposefully held back on that in Ontario, not wanting to give my competition an advance opportunity to co-op the idea before the national launch.

2. The type of "niche" I am in is not the type of niche you discuss in polite company. I am not competing with Ashley Madison ... but supposing I were ... it's not the sort of thing I would want to take ownership of on a public forum ... win lose or otherwise.

 

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[Esquire]

I've been there. Don't worry.

The first year and a half after launching my site, I kept getting stressed out. (At times desperate to quit, but I kept refusing to give up)

I thought I had done everything right.

No one ever said this was wrong or that was wrong in full detail. (Haters aside, of course)

What was the freaking problem? What more do people want? Why is no one sharing my shit... Etc.

Within time I learned numerous things:

The design I thought was once a Michael Angelo masterpiece could be greatly improved, massively. At the time I thought it was flawless. To date, I've re-designed the site seven or eight times now. Each time, it got better and better. I look back and now, wow, what was I even thinking back then!

I thought my content was exceptionally. I researched everything, but it was dry. Within time, I realized that and changed up my formats over and over. I look back and think, wow, this content today is so much more enjoyable to read. When I noticed people sharing my stuff, it was an aha! moment..

The biggest hurdle was not taking enough risk. There are so many things that just didn't cross my mind and ideas I just flat out ignored. Great ideas, but at the time it felt risky, even though in reality it wasn't.. Doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's just how things go sometimes. We end up fooling ourselves, even over the simplest things.

All of that aside, none of it matters if you aren't getting eyeballs.

None of it. Your amazing design, content, functionality, membership packages, products, etc.

Here's the thing: Say you can get any man in the world 15 GUARANTEED dates within 24 hours. OR you deposit $15,000 in cash in their bank account.

Sounds awesome, right? Surely people would be flooding the site. Problem is: If no one knows about it, no one cares.

For others it's too good to be true, they bail. There's this hurdle where you have to get them to sign up, THEN they start referring friends.

Not to mention, you NEED the haters to promote for YOU. They'll complain all over the place, telling everyone. You'll end up getting enough eyeballs to finally get someone to try your service. They do, then they refer their friends and so on. Suddenly, you're growing faster and faster.

But you can't just rely on the haters or some super catchy offer.

You need to find your where people are at in your niche.

Married men aren't going to care nor promote a dating site.

Young men probably don't have the confidence to announce, "hey I just joined this dating site!" on Facebook while their singles.

Couples who match/marry from your dating site, might be embarrassed to tell others they met online.

There's a lot of things to think about/find the answers to.

THIS TAKES TIME, PATIENCE AND DEDICATION.

That means you MUST be grinding it out every single day for 14 HOURS. Either you commit or your crash. That is EXTREMELY difficult for most people to do.

...

Now you're in dating.

1. Advertise on Porn sites.

2. Find out what traffic sources people are running to pick up ebook/dating affiliate offers.

3. Reverse that, build up a team of affiliates. Start offering a pay per lead program. Talk to affiliate networks about this.

4. Understand, there's a GOOD reason why most VC's won't fund dating sites.

5. Go through the founder's personal POF blog, might have to Archieve.org it. It's a massive GOLDMINE!

6. Stop the PR none-sense, social, etc. If you want to beat your competitors you need to get creative.

....

I could go on, but it's late.

I like this post. I can immediately tell you've been there and done that.

I totally relate to what you are saying.

And yes ... I've put in those 14-hour days ... back in 2013 and 2014 ... more times than I dare to count.

But I can't do that now. My hourly time is worth too much.

The value of 14 hours of my billable time (now) ... is $4,900.00 ($350 an hour).

And I am racking up the hours.

My time is better served practicing law.

What I need to do instead is focus on the concept ... then automate, delegate and eliminate.

Act like a CEO ... instead of an overworked site manager or customer service rep.

For years I believed I had to push on through the desert of desertion ... and I did ... questioning all along whether I was overcoming the commandment of entry or violating the commandment of need.

Assuming the former (overcoming the commandment of entry) ... I pushed on.

But now I'm thinking ... I need a camel ... or an airplane. I'm not going to keep doing this on foot.

So I will focus on law ... outsource what I can ... eliminate what is not necessary ... and automate the site as much as possible.

Even if that means I have to substantially restructure the business model.

I have to remove my time from the equation.

But seriously ... thanks for the encouragement ... it's refreshing.

 

[Bila]

Thanks for sharing this @Esquire and sorry if i put you on the spot and you were not ready to share that publicly.

I cant put my finger on what did not work. People joining but not paying ?

If it's an "underground" service ( adultery, bdsm, whatever ) did you offer other means of paying rather than a credit card ?

In which city in Ontario you did your testing ? Toronto ? Ottawa ? ....the demographic in those cities and the culture are completely different ....and i am not sure i would beta test a dating site in those cities.

 

[Esquire]

Thanks for sharing this @Esquire and sorry if i put you on the spot and you were not ready to share that publicly.

I cant put my finger on what did not work. People joining but not paying ?

If it's an "underground" service ( adultery, bdsm, whatever ) did you offer other means of paying rather than a credit card ?

In which city in Ontario you did your testing ? Toronto ? Ottawa ? ....the demographic in those cities and the culture are completely different ....and i am not sure i would beta test a dating site in those cities.

Thanks for sharing this @Esquire and sorry if i put you on the spot and you were not ready to share that publicly.

I cant put my finger on what did not work. People joining but not paying ?

If it's an "underground" service ( adultery, bdsm, whatever ) did you offer other means of paying rather than a credit card ?

In which city in Ontario you did your testing ? Toronto ? Ottawa ? ....the demographic in those cities and the culture are completely different ....and i am not sure i would beta test a dating site in those cities.

No worries.

I picked Ontario for two reasons.

1. I'm very well known within this "underground" community in Toronto (in fact, that's where you'll find me partying this Halloween weekend). I had no problem assembling a high quality group of beta testers (and eye candy). That pic of me with the pussy magnet T-shirt (my avatar) ... that's me at a hotel party in Toronto. I love Ontario.

2. Toronto is very well served in this niche. As such, I felt it would be a good test market ... aka an ideal place to make mistakes. I also thought it would be a good place to recruit first adopters because (as I saw it) I would not be leaving much money on the table. Like I said ... Toronto is already particularly well served.

I did not charge in 2014. Pure beta. Given the presence of strong established competitors ... I felt the site needed to be absolutely spit shined and tested before I started asking for money. And I still believe that is true. I am taking a very long term approach to this (albeit one that does not require an endless investment of my time).

When I relaunch in 2016 (in all markets) it will launch as a paid site.

 

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