newbie advice needed on obtaining members

Hello

I can't seem to post on the buy/sell/trade forum yet, so will ask generally here... I am due to launch a niche, membership-based social networking site (with some dating elements and some adult elements; although these aren't the main focus of the site). I will be UK based and cater to the male market.

Can anyone recommend a company whereby I can purchase a mailing list of potential members? Or is there a company that can somehow help me generate initial members? I just need to reach "critical mass" and then maintain momentum as the site grows. Any help would be much appreciated.

If not; what are your thoughts on running the site as a free site for 2 months and then converting to paid membership... does this model work do you think?

Thanks!

 

Why not just do free? PlentyofFish is making HUGE money just by having a free site like you are talking about. I remember the owner talking about copying large, successful membership sites and making them free.

First fill it with fake profiles. It is the only way that people will sign up. As your members grow, remove more of the fake profiles to clean up the site. Get ranked in the search engines and use social marketing to drive new visitors. You can then use an upsell model to allow "premium" members to get access to more than x number of free profiles. But make sure everyone must sign up to get contact information.

It will take some time to grow. There is a lot of competition but that is because there is a lot of money to be made especially if you do it right.

 

As someone who once tried the dating site thing I can tell you be prepared for it to take AGES or LOTS OF MONEY to get going. Competition is fierce and mean out there. I tried for a year and scrapped it. But I wish you luck if you continue.

 

Thanks for your replies- I appreciate it. Re your comment "First fill it with fake profiles. It is the only way that people will sign up."... where would I obtain the fake profiles from?

This is the part I'm really struggling with, as I'm really aware that people won't join an empty site- but I can't see where to get fake members from? Do I do them myself? Or is there somewhere I can purchase them from?

 

I could help you get real leads from various places online and convert them into a CSV file... no buying leads anymore, let me know if your interested?