SAN FRANCISCO – Evan Marc Katz, a Los Angeles-based television and film writer, personifies the US$400 million-plus cottage industry blossoming around Internet dating.
The 31-year-old author of ‘I Can’t Believe I’m Buying This Book: A Commonsense Guide to Successful Internet Dating’ founded E-Cyrano (http://www.e-cyrano.com), which for US$49 to US$149 (N$330 to N$1 000) sells “profile makeovers” to cyberdaters who need help trumpeting their strong points. Some 40 million people in the United States are looking for love on the Web.Last year they spent an estimated US$425 million on their urge to merge — which would make personals the Web’s biggest content category except for pornography, according to research by the Online Publishers Association and comScore Networks.Profit-seeking entrepreneurs are rushing into the sector, turning out books and providing photo and profile services, as well as dating consultations and identity checks.An online dater himself, Katz founded E-Cyrano about a year ago after working as a customer care consultant for MatchNet, the European operator of Americansingles (http://www.americansingles.com) and JDate (http://www.jdate.com).He links his Web site to professional photo services provider LookBetterOnline.com (http://lookbetteronline.com) and also offers Internet date coaching as a service to clients.”It’s parallel to job hunting,” Katz said.”Most people don’t think about spending US$300 on a resume that’s going to get them a job.”Bookstores’ self-help shelves are bulging with online dating titles.Besides Katz’s, there are various twists on familiar themes: ‘Online Dating for Dummies’, ‘The Rules for Online Dating: Capturing the Heart of Mr.Right in CyberSpace’, and the ‘Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Dating and Relating’.Not to be left out, online dating services are rolling out their own books and services like profile assistance and dating help hotlines.Courtney Johnson, director of research for online dating site Tickle (http://web.tickle.com) – which is known for its scientific but often light-hearted personality and matchmaking tests – has published a workbook called ‘Date with Your Head, Mate with Your Heart: Five Steps for Finding Love Through Science’.InterActiveCorp’s Match.com unit (http://www.match.com), the world’s largest Internet dating and personals site, offers profile-writing help as well as online counsellors.Scott, who asked to be identified by his first name only, said he called Match.com adviser Fran Greene to find a nice way to stop dating women when things are not working out.The Portland, Oregon, resident, who is recently divorced and in his 40s, said Greene’s advice – to ask women for feedback after breaking the news – gives them the last word.The strategy has been working well.”I don’t want to be a rotten guy,” Scott said, adding that he was satisfied with his 45-minute session, which cost him about US$55.CHECK THEM OUTOther entrepreneurs are doing the job once handled by friends and family by vetting potential suitors and protecting clients from damage to their personal, financial or emotional health.Most online services can get a person’s age, criminal records and sex offender status, but finding out if an Internet love interest is already married is another story.”I can tell you a million things about somebody… but one thing that’s hard to get is marriage information,” said Geoffrey Lee, president of Entersect (http://www.entersect.net) of Santa Ana, California.The problem, he said, is that marriage records are often still in paper form and controlled by county governments.Lee plans to soon roll out a service called TrustMeID, whose users can pay to have their personal information verified by Entersect.Entersect and New York-based rival Verified Person (http://www.verifiedperson.com), which was co-founded by former Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive John Sculley, are both marketing their programs to dating services.Other identity sites include PeopleData (www.people-data.com) and Rapsheets Criminal Records (www.rapsheets.com).Free advanced searches on Google (http://www.google.com) also can turn up home addresses and phone numbers that may show whether a potential mate is already shacking up with someone else.Carmen Naimish, a licensed private investigator, owns Santa Barbara, California-based DateSmart.com (http://datesmart.com), where fees start at around US$300.”People call me because there are a number of things that don’t add up,” she said.”Eighty per cent of the time I find that clients’ suspicions are true or at least partly true.”Naimish said she once provided information that helped a female senior citizen decide not to marry a man she met online.”As long as people want to fall in love,” said Web romance guru Katz, “they’re going to need help.”- Nampa-ReutersSome 40 million people in the United States are looking for love on the Web.Last year they spent an estimated US$425 million on their urge to merge — which would make personals the Web’s biggest content category except for pornography, according to research by the Online Publishers Association and comScore Networks.Profit-seeking entrepreneurs are rushing into the sector, turning out books and providing photo and profile services, as well as dating consultations and identity checks.An online dater himself, Katz founded E-Cyrano about a year ago after working as a customer care consultant for MatchNet, the European operator of Americansingles (http://www.americansingles.com) and JDate (http://www.jdate.com).He links his Web site to professional photo services provider LookBetterOnline.com (http://lookbetteronline.com) and also offers Internet date coaching as a service to clients.”It’s parallel to job hunting,” Katz said.”Most people don’t think about spending US$300 on a resume that’s going to get them a job.”Bookstores’ self-help shelves are bulging with online dating titles.Besides Katz’s, there are various twists on familiar themes: ‘Online Dating for Dummies’, ‘The Rules for Online Dating: Capturing the Heart of Mr.Right in CyberSpace’, and the ‘Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Dating and Relating’.Not to be left out, online dating services are rolling out their own books and services like profile assistance and dating help hotlines.Courtney Johnson, director of research for online dating site Tickle (http://web.tickle.com) – which is known for its scientific but often light-hearted personality and matchmaking tests – has published a workbook called ‘Date with Your Head, Mate with Your Heart: Five Steps for Finding Love Through Science’.InterActiveCorp’s Match.com unit (http://www.match.com), the world’s largest Internet dating and personals site, offers profile-writing help as well as online counsellors.Scott, who asked to be identified by his first name only, said he called Match.com adviser Fran Greene to find a nice way to stop dating women when things are not working out.The Portland, Oregon, resident, who is recently divorced and in his 40s, said Greene’s advice – to ask women for feedback after breaking the news – gives them the last word.The strategy has been working well.”I don’t want to be a rotten guy,” Scott said, adding that he was satisfied with his 45-minute session, which cost him about US$55.CHECK THEM OUTOther entrepreneurs are doing the job once handled by friends and family by vetting potential suitors and protecting clients from damage to their personal, financial or emotional health.Most online services can get a person’s age, criminal records and sex offender status, but finding out if an Internet love interest is already married is another story.”I can tell you a million things about somebody… but one thing that’s hard to get is marriage information,” said Geoffrey Lee, president of Entersect (http://www.entersect.net) of Santa Ana, California.The problem, he said, is that marriage records are often still in paper form and controlled by county governments.Lee plans to soon roll out a service called TrustMeID, whose users can pay to have their personal information verified by Entersect.Entersect and New York-based rival Verified Person
(http://www.verifiedperson.com), which was co-founded by former Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive John Sculley, are both marketing their programs to dating services.Other identity sites include PeopleData (www.people-data.com) and Rapsheets Criminal Records (www.rapsheets.com).Free advanced searches on Google (http://www.google.com) also can turn up home addresses and phone numbers that may show whether a potential mate is already shacking up with someone else.Carmen Naimish, a licensed private investigator, owns Santa Barbara, California-based DateSmart.com (http://datesmart.com), where fees start at around US$300.”People call me because there are a number of things that don’t add up,” she said.”Eighty per cent of the time I find that clients’ suspicions are true or at least partly true.”Naimish said she once provided information that helped a female senior citizen decide not to marry a man she met online.”As long as people want to fall in love,” said Web romance guru Katz, “they’re going to need help.”- Nampa-Reuters
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