My fairy tale adventure though BeautifulPeople.com!

By Jessica Walker

I hope you all enjoyed the fairy tale beginning to this two part article.  I had a lot of fun writing it.  Although, I hope you read into the sarcasm that was dripping from each sentence.

And now for the million dollar question… “Mirror, Mirror on the wall is Jessica beautiful at all?”  You’ll have to read to the end to find out.

If you are wondering, yes I did in fact register with BeautifulPeople.com.  I can attest that this site definitely caters to “looks” as the profile information is minimal and your admission is based on the opposite sex rating your profile image over a 48 hour time frame.

On your profile they offer the following sections to complete about yourself that the other members can access:

Name: Appears next to your profile image

Profile Description: Text box to offer anything on yourself

Profile Information: Date of birth, country, home address, cell phone number and private homepage

Occupation: Education, job title and job description

Profile details: Car owner, smoker, hair color, eye color, Weight in lbs., Height in feet, body type (slim, average, athletic, muscular etc…)

Interested in: Check a box for love, fun and flirts, social networking, business networking, invitations to parties and events.

In order to get a favorable rating you need to really market yourself through the chat rooms, add friends to your profile and of course rate the other profiles.  The site to me is more of a social networking platform and less of a match making destination. There are no matching filters or tests for personality/compatibility.  This site also seems to cater to heterosexuals only since the members of the opposite sex determine who stays and who goes.

From a safety standpoint I am fine with this site.  You have the option to offer very minimal personal information, which I advise. I would refrain from completing the majority of the Profile Information as it gives away your birthday, home address and cell number.  They offer many ways to communicate with someone without having to give out your cell number or personal email address.  Beautiful People does not offer background checks but that’s what we are here for, right!

I personally do not have a problem with this site.  I believe they have every right to do what they are doing.  Relationships are initially based on looks and if that is their niche then they should strive to be the best at it.  Our niche is safety and we have dedicated our business to being the best at that.  Besides, you don’t have to join their site if you are offended.  There are plenty of other dating sites available, but if that is your preference then perfect there is a site that caters to you.

As a marketing professional, I LOVE options.  Options are empowering to me.  You could say I find beauty in choice.  It’s wonderful to be able to pick and choose whether I want to offer my support for a particular company.   Now it’s up to you to make the choice and that’s the BEAUTY I like to advocate.

Now to answer the million dollar question… I did not make the cut, even with a few favorable ratings.

So I turned to the mirror one last time, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who decides beauty after all?”

The mirror replied, “Now you ask the right question my dear.  It’s not the cyberland men that’s clear.  You must not search for it far and wide, it is everywhere, right here and outside.  It’s blowing through the trees, and soaring up in the sky, it’s laughing out loud and even in a cry.  It’s seen through the eyes, felt with the hands and heard like a melody dancing across the lands.  My sweet child without further ado, there’s nothing more to review, the answer is plain and simple it’s YOU.”

Until next time, here’s to keeping you Safer in the City!

Jessica

My fairy tale adventure through BeautifulPeople.com.

By Jessica Walker

Once upon a time, in a cyberland far, far away there was a simple girl named Jessica Walker sitting in dismay.  She found herself in a dating slump, wondering if her looks were the reason why she was attracting so many chumps.  So she sat in front of her mirror one day to assay, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, am I beautiful at all?”  The mirror replied, “Only the people of cyberland will tell, you’ll have to register with BeautifulPeople.com to see if you fair well.”

Jessica had never heard of this place, could there be such a showcase; she only knew her mirror would not lead her into disgrace.

Excited for her new journey Jessica wondered on her way, learning all she could before putting herself out there on display.  As she read more and more she began to understand, that new members are only added if their image is in demand.  The suitors of the opposite sex are in control of this site, they rate new members on a scale from one to ten before they are deemed alright.

After reading this Jessica began to wonder, “Could this site really be the end-all to this question I ponder.”  She decided to take a chance and completed a profile, picking an image that seemed worthwhile.

With fingers crossed she hit submit then waited and watched for the suitors to permit. Wishing and hoping for a seven, eight, nine or ten, anything that would show her beauty among men.

Jessica then asked the mirror before going to sleep that night, “Do you see me fairing well among the suitors on this site?”  The mirror replied, “48 hours will surely tell, for the suitors have this time to dwell.  But sleep well tonight my dear as I am sure your beauty will appear, for it’s now in the hand of cyberland so there is truly nothing to fear.”

Stay tuned this week to see how this fairy tale ends; will Jessica find her beauty among the cyberland men?

Motivation to buy is real when the profile fits

For Immediate Release

BATAVIA, Ill./EWORLDWIRE/Oct. 29, 2009 — The doors are open at for sale by owner (FSBO) site Sellmestraight.com, with a novel concept modeled after popular online dating sites - rather than matching people with their dream date, SellMeStraight.com aims to match buyers with their dream home. Using sophisticated profile based matching, sellmestraight.com is as much an “emotion engine” as a search engine, including criteria such as buyer tastes, preferences, and priorities into the home search process.

The primary deficiency with most online real estate sites is that they focus too much on brick and mortar, and pay little attention to the emotional aspects of buying a home, which are sometimes the greatest motivating factors when making a major purchase. Eric Little, the site’s founder, said, “The motivation behind creating sellmestraight.com came from first-hand experiences, on both sides of the fence. As a buyer, I was frustrated that the intangible elements of my home search were largely overlooked. A house that looked great on paper often fell far short when viewing in person - especially when it came to personal preferences such as the type of neighborhood where the house resides.” By injecting intangible criteria into the process, sellmestraight.com functions more like a dating site, where a user’s personal profile is actually matched against a property profile.

In regard to selling a property, Little said, “As a home seller attempting to sell by owner, I was discouraged that there was no good way to reach out proactively to interested buyers. The selling tools provided by sellmestraight.com offer home sellers the ability to proactively reach out to interested buyers, representing an unprecedented advantage for motivated home sellers.”

Where sellmestraight.com really stands out from the crowd is by allowing home sellers to view matching buyer profiles and interact with buyers directly, again borrowing from the interactive online dating model.

While catering to the for sale by owner market, sellmestraight.com also hopes to do its part to revitalize the ailing real estate market by saving both buyer and seller thousands of dollars in real estate fees. With realtor fees up to six percent or more, many would-be home sellers simply cannot sell because that would mean handing their down payment on their next home over to realtors. Giving home sellers the proper tools to sell a home on their own, while saving thousands of dollars, could be an effective catalyst to spur home owners to sell versus sitting on their property.

To learn more, visit SellMeStraight.com.

Source: eworldnewswire.com

By Jessica Walker

Segment 4

Jessica: Please give our members examples of the information that should be withheld from a dating profile or a social networking profile, information that a criminal could use against them.

Linda: When you are first meeting and getting to know someone online you want to share what you care about, and not much about who or where you are.

Maintain anonymity to protect your identity. Don’t include your full name, phone number, where you work, financial status, or detailed location information in your profile or during early communications with potential dates. Stop communicating with anyone who presses you for this type of information.

Use the e-mail system provided by the dating service rather than your own e-mail address to maintain your privacy.

Be smart about choosing profile pictures and learn how to share photos safely. Make sure your photos reflect what you want to say about yourself. Provocative pictures may attract the wrong people. Make sure that your images do not contain identifying information.

Set your search criteria to filter out anyone with behaviors you may not want to deal with, and check to see if a potential date has a good reputation among other daters on the service.

Be cautious about sharing emotional vulnerabilities. It is very easy for criminals to play to emotions to gain undeserved trust, or to tell a sad story to gain your sympathies. Use a friend as a sanity check – if the story sounds like a stretch to them it probably is.

Note any inconsistencies in what they say about themselves. Periodically reviewing exchanges you’ve had with a critical eye is healthy. This is a real advantage with the Internet, because it IS written down, not something fuzzy in your memory.

Jessica: Safer Dates recently partnered with your company ReputationShare and added a gauge to our member profiles that track online behaviors.  How can our members get the most out of this feature?

Linda: You deserve to experience the Web, and the people you meet through the Web, on your own terms. I was super pleased to learn how much Safer Dates is dedicated to providing as safe an environment as they can, AND how much they respect their users. ReputationShare does two key things for Safer Dates users.

First, it helps the service identify and manage rogue users because, like credit bureaus, ReputationShare literally shares people’s online reputations across participating sites.  If someone has been abusing other Dating sites or their members, Safer Dates can see that information even as the person is registering and take appropriate steps. That said, unlike credit bureaus, the ReputationShare service does not receive or store any information about who the user is. Consumers privacy is extremely important to us. Users stay entirely anonymous, but both positive and negative behaviors associated with their email alias are collected. Of course, we have advanced algorithms to identify email accounts being gamed. Learn more about ReputationShare on www.reputationshare.net.

Second, it gives users the ability to make more informed choices about who they choose to interact with.

Segment four question:  Name four things you should withhold from your dating profile. To submit your answer, click on the contact link found on the upper left side of the blog.

July 31, 2009

Source: datinglovedating.com

While honesty has always been revered as a valuable human trait, it draws its value from its scarcity. In other words, honesty is revered because so few people remain honest, particularly when they believe no one can see them. Now, when a person is tucked away in the privacy of his or her home typing into an online dating site’s profile page, there will be a tendency to stretch the truth somewhat.

Granted, it is really not all that big of a deal to shave a few pounds off of one’s weight and claim an “athletic” build, but it is a completely different ballgame when the individual shaves a decade off of his or her age. Additionally, when it comes to claiming to be single when one is married we are no longer in the category of mere dishonesty. We are in the category of disgraceful and embarrassing conduct. This is why is is important to only deal with dating services that provide an online dating background check prior to accepting a profile.

When an Online Dating Background Check is a Pre-Requisite

The better companies will perform a short and abbreviated online dating background check through the use of confirming personal information provided. This is a relatively simple process that the more astute companies have followed in response to various outcries from members of the online dating realm.

In the old days, so to speak, most companies would simply allow an individual to make whatever claim he or she wished and no verification process was performed This practice was eventually curbed and an online dating background check became commonplace with many services. After all, if a potential mate turns out to be a radically different person than what was claimed on the dating profile, this is a bad reflection on the dating service and has the potential to hurt future business.

The instituting of an online dating background check ultimately reduced the instances of people lying about their marital status, their age and, in some cases, whether or not they were convicted felons. Of course, there will be those individuals who have beaten the online dating background check, but many of these individuals found themselves liable in civil court. This reduced instances of fraud greatly and has made online dating much more safer and pleasurable. So, let your fears be put to rest and keep directing your business towards those dating services that provide comprehensive online background checks.

by Jessica Walker

After celebrating Valentine’s Day, I figured it was appropriate to switch the focus this month from safety to helping you find that special someone. And what better way to do that then to interview another Safer Dates expert, Yvonnne Rice, for my third article, “Write Your Dating Profile with a Smile.” Scroll below to read it now.

Yvonne Rice is a former Dating Agency Director and expert in the research of all aspects of the single lifestyle. She is a huge supporter of online dating and has researched 4,500+ online singles and over 6,000 online dating sites globally. As a result of this research, she is also the Author of two books dedicated to being single and dating online, “Love Sex Lies and the Internet Mouse ‘Trap’” and “Finding ‘The One’ - A Powerful Step-by-Step Guide to Making Online Dating Work for You”, available through SaferDates.com. Whether you’re a new or seasoned dater, both of Yvonne’s books will help you to truly understand the online dating scene. Yvonne’s depth of research, coupled with her wry sense of humor, provides a clear, accurate and immensely well-balanced view of the good, the bad and the ugly sides of Internet dating in all of its forms.

Continue Reading »