So check it, some of ya’ll may have heard my crazy idea to start a date auction website. Today was the first day I actually made some progress on that- by fully jumping in feet first. After meeting with my lawyer’s team (aka lovely cousins who have graciously offered to help me as they find this amusing and specialize in this type of venture), well not the Heidi Fleiss part, but the marketing of a startup site.
Anyway, you’re probably wondering where this idea came from. That would be the great Keep on Keeping on Foundation who I volunteer with and participate in their real live date auction event every December. I told them they’d make a ton more money by doing the pre-auction online, and that if a chick could sell her virginity on ebay
, whose to say we can’t sell dates online. They said go for it. And thus the idea was born. Continuing the convo with my group of friends, they were all about it. My social circle all define ourselves as triple threats- smart, funny and with looks to kill (cocky, maybe, but more like healthy confidence haha). We deserve to be wowed, so this is a way for guys to get our attention aside from the usual lame lines.
A little overview of the market research, 1 in 8 couples met online in 2009. But for some reason, online dating still has a stigma. People are embarrassed to admit they’ve dabbled. Or even peeked. Or maybe even made a fake profile so you could check out the landscape anonymously.
I’d be willing to bet all those sites have extremely low conversion rates. People may do the free trials, but won’t pull the trigger and sign up. Why? Because they don’t want to be “one of those people.“
But this would be the exactly the opposite of that. It’s cool to be the center of our online “bar.” You want attention. You want people to know you’re a rockstar. It’s like Hot or Not, the more “hits on you” the better.
Anyway, back to my lawyer meeting. I went in with questions like what kind of language do I need in the terms and conditions to release liability, does a web company need to be incorporated in multiple states, and most importantly, is this prostitution (apparently it is if you let the people keep part of the earnings haha). I left with more questions than I started with as apparently there’s all kinds of legality involved with NFP co-beneficial relationships and a bunch of other issues raised. It’s cool, it’s my own thing and it’s a fun project.
But as much as I like to do everything on my own I know things always turn out better when you have a little help from your friends…in the words of the Beatles. Besides, all you need is love. (But in this case not free love).
If anyone has any advice on said ventures, gone through the process of starting a startup themselves, skills to donate or know anyone who can do these things (programming/developers, etc.), or any creative direction- I would love your input/help/ideas. The first project is to come up with a name. I am completely stuck. Below are a few domains that are available, but I’m not in love with any of them.. anyone have any suggestions?
Datechi.com
Singleinchi.com
Meetinchi.com *twitter
Bestbuychi.com*twitter
Datebidbuy.com*twitter
Datebidbuychi.com
Datebuychi.com*twitter
Datebychi.com*twitter
Datedashchi.com*twitter datedash
Chicagodatedash.com*twitter
Cspotonline.com
Mychicagoloop.com
S+M: Social Marketing. 