A Serious Question

[ECOCKS]

I'll bet every one of us has had the thought, "If I owned or operated an agency I would...." or, at least, "Gee, it would be better if they would...."

So fill in the blank and give your thought(s):

If I owned or managed an FSUW agency I would........

[Aloe]

gathering free business ideas?

[ECOCKS]

gathering free business ideas?

Not hardly.

It's a joke among expats that one of the first things western guys trying to live there do is try to establish a new dating agency. The stories are legend.

It does offer a chance though that some agency owner or future operator might take some of the suggestions seriously though.

[Ade]

If I owned or managed an FSUW agency I would........

.... make a ton of money off of the gullible and the dudes that only want an online fantasy.

[Mir]

I don’t know it was just me but I notices a marked reduction in the number of attractive young ladies on the streets of Kiev during my visit last month.
Either they have all left Kiev or have all migrated to live with their foreign lovers.
Must be the credit crunch.

[Gator]

If I owned or managed an FSUW agency I would........

I would personally inspect all of the ladies!   :evil:

[ECOCKS]

.... make a ton of money off of the gullible and the dudes that only want an online fantasy.

 

OK, I am talking serious (intentioned) sites, but maybe a good business plan can inculde a Home page that separates the Fantasy-seekers from the Serious Suitors?

[Gator]

I don’t know it was just me but I notices a marked reduction in the number of attractive young ladies on the streets of Kiev during my visit last month...
Must be the credit crunch.

Yes, can no longer afford the cosmetologist, hairdresser, and the best fashions.

[ECOCKS]

I would personally inspect all of the ladies!   :evil:

A worthy ambition and "quality control" is a must among service businesses.

[Ade]

OK, I am talking serious (intentioned) sites, but maybe a good business plan can inculde a Home page that separates the Fantasy-seekers from the Serious Suitors?

One of the problems I see is that it is neigh on impossible to ferret out all of the scammers, GCG, and GTG and on the other side the sociopathic control freaks and other wack jobs looking for a "desperate" hottie.

[ECOCKS]

"Nigh impossible", is not "impossible" though.

So what would/could you do better to stem the tide or at least keep the percentage of occurences at a manageable level?

[Ade]

"Nigh impossible", is not "impossible" though.

So what would/could you do better to stem the tide or at least keep the percentage of occurences at a manageable level?

Yes, "nigh" that's the one  

Manageable? Unless each and every person is interviewed I don't see how it can be done, at least not to any level I personally would find acceptable. As far as I know, all these agencies, even the good ones work retroactively and by the time they find fault the offender may have already caused damage to someone. Even the interview everyone method does not guarantee anything.

No, it's not a business I would feel comfortable entering.

[ECOCKS]

Gator's gonna fix that by personally "inspecting" each and every one!

[KievHarmony]

we are in this process so:

- start with some services for free the time to be known
- Recruit women trough Mary Kay sessions
- Do a check on each woman (but this is my wife who is doing this...)
- Our idea is simple: We want no weird people, both men or women. So strict policy: If you don't want to travel within 4 months and you have not yet your international passport, do not use our services. For women, they must know what they want. (we have a complete form for them )

[ECOCKS]

we are in this process so:

- start with some services for free the time to be known
- Recruit women trough Mary Kay sessions
- Do a check on each woman (but this is my wife who is doing this...)
- Our idea is simple: We want no weird people, both men or women. So strict policy: If you don't want to travel within 4 months and you have not yet your international passport, do not use our services. For women, they must know what they want. (we have a complete form for them )

I like your recruiting method and the whole "no weird people" conccept. I hope it works out for you.

[Ade]

we are in this process so:

- start with some services for free the time to be known
- Recruit women trough Mary Kay sessions
- Do a check on each woman (but this is my wife who is doing this...)
- Our idea is simple: We want no weird people, both men or women. So strict policy: If you don't want to travel within 4 months and you have not yet your international passport, do not use our services. For women, they must know what they want. (we have a complete form for them )

Can you define "weird" and how do you "check" the women?

[KievHarmony]

Can you define "weird" and how do you "check" the women?

weird= men with no respect for women and who define the success of their travel based on the number of meetings, sex tourist,old fat ugly who is looking for a 20 something woman..
Check = copy of passport, interview, must be known by at least one another woman in the agency. Our first 20 women are friends and ex coworkers of my wife.

[BC]

Scam the crap out of 'em.

99% will never know and the 1% that wait for a mirage at the airport or get on a plane will learn a good lesson.

[Faux Pas]

we are in this process so:

- start with some services for free the time to be known
- Recruit women trough Mary Kay sessions
- Do a check on each woman (but this is my wife who is doing this...)
- Our idea is simple: We want no weird people, both men or women. So strict policy: If you don't want to travel within 4 months and you have not yet your international passport, do not use our services. For women, they must know what they want. (we have a complete form for them )

Why not a form for the men? I know it can be tough on a business model for agencies but weeding out the flakey dudes would be a great service for this industry. It seems for most agencies the only form for the men is the Mastercard/Visa form 

[Blues Fairy]

There are thousands of dating agencies out there, so to distinguish my offering I would start with figuring out an interesting marketing niche.  Say, highly educated English-speaking people only, involving essay contest from both men and women.   Or a service for beautiful people only, with user rating system to determine entry eligibility (similar to beautifulpeople.net); or something else.  The key is to make membership in your club seem prestigious and desirable. 

Next, a highly usable website with ratings, customized widgets, automated content feed and community features.  Next, extensive marketing campaign with banners and google ads, and of course word-of-mouth on RWD et al.

[ECOCKS]

WOW BF, good thoughts on building a niche. Go high-end and charge high as well. One of the best lessons I got from a consultant years ago is that it is far easier to charge high and discount from there than it is to start low and try to increase your margin later.

Your thoughts on an essay are good but maybe instead of a contest it would be some sort of subject content which helps you verify language skills and gives you an insight into their motivation and values.

[Blues Fairy]

Your thoughts on an essay are good but maybe instead of a contest it would be some sort of subject content which helps you verify language skills and gives you an insight into their motivation and values.

Actually contest will attract more users than just essay for verification of language skills.  Everyone likes to win; nobody likes to be verified.

The website where I met my husband was offering all kinds of tests (I was lured there by a pop-up ad of an IQ test).  Another awesome feature was the opportunity to set search criteria using all kinds of parameters (including IQ, education level, physical parameters, lifestyle habits et cetera). 
But I suppose a service like that would require some serious investment.

[ECOCKS]

Hmmmm, I wasn't meaning how you present or market it to the clients but how you use it to find your targets. Call them "Winners" if you will, just get more than one winner per group. Sounds like you're in the creative zone to me though.

[2tallbill]

First my GF would keeel me for having the idea, but

Maybe you could set up a section for pen pals and then
advertise it with English language classes at various Universities.
Have links on the site to kayak, tour guides etc. Also offer some
kind of Russian language courses online.

Set up a video chat section similar to yahoo or skype and charge
a set fee for unlimited contact. I would also have a question that
MUST be answered by men asking When will you be able to travel
and list how long a man has been on the site without traveling. This
might create a few less keyboard romeos.

Work a deal with a couple of local apartment managers to get a
discount on rents and offer apartment rental, airport pickup etc
through the site.

Put in a section for jokes, funny pictures, etc.

After reading what I wrote I don't think there is an original thought
in there 

[ECOCKS]

Interesting, chat room access for a fee add-on rather than a per event basis. Hopefully Elena Petrova is checking websites like these for new ideas, that and a more lengthy application/qualification process are both positive thoughts on cleaning up the serious FSUW environment.