The Wall Street Journal (subscription required, but this article is in the free section) has an article on the free web dating site PlentyOfFish. Online dating sites are very popular, with the leading sites doing heavy web and TV advertising and charging subscription fees. PlentyOfFish is a free site, supported by ads. The article says that PlentyOfFish has one full time employee/owner, one part-time employee, and generates between $5-10 million in revenue per year.
According to the article, PlentyOfFish is able to do this because web software has become simple enough for a single person to manage, and there is a robust 3rd party ecosystem of larger companies providing a broad array of services to support small web and ecommerce sites. The article points specifically to Google, which evidently is PlentyOfFish's primary source of revenue.
Two major trends, both of which are discussed in the article, are providing the opportunity for small and personal web sites to create multi-million dollar businesses. The first is the growing ease and simplicity of the tools required to build and support relatively complex web and ecommerce sites. The second is the growth of 3rd party platform companies that help and assist small businesses. PlentyOfFish is a great example of these two trends coming together and creating interesting - and profitable - small business opportunities.
I am a 20 year old guy on a few online dating sites, i don't drink or smoke and i don't really like wild parties. i like to go out once in awhile and stay in too. I'm looking for someone honest and committed. Do you guys have any tips for me to put in my profile, like a headline and what are some things that are turn on's and turn offs to see in a profile?
Posted by: online dating site | October 04, 2010 at 09:20 PM
I think plentyoffish is a good site but my favorite dating service is www.YouDate.net. Free chat room as well as live video chat with voice.
Posted by: David B. | September 26, 2010 at 01:40 PM
I think that this dating site is a good example of the attentive approach, patience, hardworking and big initiative. I know some sites which are also simple, opened to members, have pleasant environment, interface for being there and meeting new people, for example http://www.meetingland.com/online-dating/
Posted by: Success | September 08, 2009 at 08:57 AM
One must be leery of the truth according to Markus.
Posted by: Tucker | August 31, 2009 at 10:12 AM