Hi,

I am a newbie here, and am finding my feet.

I am thinking of starting my own dating site. Does anybody have any tips or advice. I would be very interested to find out what other people would like to see on a site.

Online dating is in decline, so getting into it now would be a bad idea. Better to start a local club in your area. Of course you'll need a B&W laser printer, toner cartridges, paper, and plenty of time to figure out where you're going to distribute the flyers... but these are not really that expensive, they cost less than a new suit (which you'll also need if you host meetings yourself).

I am not sure if online dating is in decline. The competition is very strong and you have to have a unique product. Even then getting a site that generates income is not easy. This year we have seen advertising costs increase substantially. Advertising revenues have also declined due to the fact people people don't click on ads as much and there is an abundance of free sites that create expectation that you shouldn't have to pay to date online(although the security for members on paid sites is substantially higher).

I'm not predicting online dating will eventually disappear: far from it. Online dating will still be around for years to come, but game-players will be the only ones using it (singles who are serious will go for the offline alternative). In fact, the laser printer cost me less than an online banner ad, and the web has long since reached a saturation point with all the online dating services which are essentially clones of each other.

One other thing I learned about offline singles clubs... don't post about how much better they are if you're on any other dating messageboard! The mods will immediately ban you if you do, because they know offline dating is a very real threat to them.