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When Sumner Chase got back on the singles circuit last year after his 26-year marriage ended in divorce, he wasn't sure how to sell himself on dating Web sites. The slim, wealthy 50-year-old owner of a telecom business in Dallas is a confessed fitness fanatic -- "on a scale of one to 10, I'm an 11," he said. But he worried that he would alienate women if he bragged about himself on his online profile. After an unsuccessful year on six different Web sites, Chase called in the experts.
Chase found online dating consultant Evan Marc Katz, who urged him to be honest about his athletic obsession, but to package it differently. For $1,000, Katz revamped the profile and counseled his client on how to market the Chase machismo.
So while Chase's old profile merely said he was a "sports fan," the Katzified one reads: "We'll go see the Stars on Thursday, a horse race on Friday. . . . You work out regularly because it's fun, not because you 'have to.' " Days later, Chase connected with Mara Baumann, a sporty, self-assured software saleswoman whom he's been dating for several months now.
In an age of consumer customization, an increasing number of online daters are spending their extra cash on custom-made online dating profiles. These consumers take their online love lives seriously and are hoping a personalized, sleek image will help them compete better in the marketplace. About 10,000 people have tried these services, all in search of attention-grabbing profiles that set them apart from the 25 million Americans who use the Internet to find romance.
Not all services are as expensive as the one Chase purchased from Katz. His E-Cyrano service offers a basic profile rewrite for $49 that includes a "line-by-line critical analysis" and phone consultation. A "deluxe profile" written from scratch costs $129, based on a questionnaire and phone call. Profilehelper.com offers an "extreme profile makeover" for $29.95 that changes "red flags" such as negativity into "green lights" such as personal anecdotes.
This new breed of writer insists a well-crafted profile is a must. Service providers say most of their clients are 30 and older, with roughly equal numbers of men and women looking for long-term relationships.
"Women over 40 and men in their 20s and 30s have the hardest time finding a match," said dating coach Julie Ferman, owner of Cupid's Coach, who refers some of her clients to E-Cyra no.com. "These groups need an extra boost to draw people in."
These self-proclaimed profile gurus say their experience working for online dating sites has taught them what makes for the hottest profiles.
The trick is simple: be honest and be specific. But some online daters have more formidable challenges than sharing an obsession with sports. Larry Patterson, a 46-year-old ophthalmologist, has been struggling to find the right woman for six years since his divorce. He started dating online six months ago and was frustrated that women weren't.
"I'm not a Don Juan, but I'm a good-looking, nice guy who had a hard time getting dates," Patterson said. Patterson paid $129 for his deluxe profile revamp. It worked. "I had a good doubling of responses," he said.
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