by Alex Reddle, Flirt.com
If you’re on the fence of where to begin your startup, or don’t have an idea but are searching for the next big opening in a market to sow your ingenuity and create something successful, profitable, and maybe even leave a legacy, then here’s a tip: one of the best choices is right under your nose.
Here are 5 reasons why your next startup should be an online dating site:
1. It’s in High Demand – and Will Continue to Be.
Unlike some niches, online dating isn’t a passing fad. Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to find a significant other or someone to have a fun night out with, and that means your startup won’t lose relevance in a few years when another hot topic steals away the limelight. Even more so, the present demand for online dating websites is so booming that, according to StatisticBrain, the number of people in the U.S. alone who’ve tried online dating are nearly 50 million – not to mention the numbers spanning the globe. Users of every demographic are trying online dating or using it regularly, which means you’ll be in no shortage of demand and will not be limited to a specific audience.
2. It Has Room for Expansion.
Expanding a startup into other niches is a dangerous game, with the risk of alienating your current target audience or even worse – having nowhere to expand to. However, the online dating niche gives you a wide range of opportunity that doesn’t rock your preexisting boat. After a few months or years, branching your site off into a meeting site for online chatting between friends, groups of friends, or other target audiences won’t be met with resistance. So long as your current group still makes the matches they need, these added features will be seen as bonus content to complement the dating arena.
3. Users Don’t Stick to Just One Site.
On average, a user will find contentment with a single business within a niche and stay loyal – but this isn’t the case with a date site. On the contrary, the philosophy of “the more the merrier” encourages singles to seek out multiple sites for better chances of making an excellent match, and this means no matter how flooded your niche, your up-hill battle of beating out your competition is cut in half compared to other fields. So long as your website offers something unique, it doesn’t need to be the one and only – simply complementary.
4. It’s an Excellent Advertising Platform.
Anyone experienced with building websites understands the real money is in the ad space, unless you’re selling a product. Expecting users to purchase a subscription when they can go elsewhere for free leaves you in a bad position. However, dating sites are an excellent place to rent ad space, as it won’t subtract from the experience of meeting singles and chatting. Even more so, you already have a captive audience seeking out great places to meet up or gifts to exchange. By advertising restaurants, entertainment centers, and other dating-related products, the odds of your users clicking through increases – and so do your profits.
5. Affiliates Are in Great Supply – Meaning Profit.
You may be focused on women between 20 and 25, but these women may also be interested in a certain kind of man that falls outside of your criteria. By creating an affiliation with another dating site, effectively partnering up and advertising each other to your audiences, your users are encouraged to join up on both sites – which means more business and success for the both of you. Your affiliate then pays you for the advertisement, giving you profits. There is no limit to how many affiliates you can have and they’re in great supply in the online dating niche, meaning you have some of the best chances of landing multiple profitable affiliates.
There are plenty of startup ideas to choose from, but online dating is an option that provides incredible range and a chance at fast money. As a bonus, who doesn’t want to help thousands of people find love?
Alex Reddle leads the blog of web-site Flirt.com. He has a degree in Psychology and loves to study questions of commitment and matchmaking. He has worked in the dating industry over 5 years and has written a number of dating apps.
