Dating Coach or Internet Guru?

[ramon]

Dear Friends

I'm Ramon Thomas from Johannesburg ,South Africa. I grew up in a small town and now have been living in the big city for 10 years now. My background is in IT and in 2004 I became self-employed. I moved into sales and marketing of research reports that focus on IT and business. In between I've created websites for clients and assisted them with online marketing.

Recently I've also moved into public speaking on the topic of cellphones, chat rooms and IM. There is a particular software, MXit, which is having a huge impact on South Africans. I'm also launching some Blogging training seminars next week.

Anyway I'm trying to give you a short introduction and ask a question. A few years ago I had a bad break-up and since then immersed myself in self-help books on dating and relationships. I've since been fortunate to gain some publicity as a dating expert and dating coach. And I have coached some men and one female client.

So I'm in this weird place where I've built up 10 years of experience in IT industry and is also recognised as a expert on online trends and online behaviour. On the other hand I've personally more motivation and interest in being a dating coach. Unlike most dating gurus I do not have my own ebook just yet. So that is something I'll need to make time for. And once I have that I'll have more credibility with seminars and public talks.

How would you suggest I go about moving from this Internet expert to a bona fide Dating Coach like Will Smith in the movie Hitch?

Sincerely
Ramon

[Shamou]

Hello and welcome aboard Ramon...

Sorry I cannot help you with your question... but I still would like to offer you a warm welcome to this board... and thank you for signing in...

Hope that you like it here and that we get to share, learn and grow together...

Looking forward to reading your posts...

.

[ramon]

Hey Shamou

Let me give some more details on my background and how I came to find StevePavlina.com because this question may be out of context.

I'm currently 32 years old, unmarried. Been self-employed for a few years. I enjoy classical music, reading (mostly non-fiction and self-help or esoteric type books). I'm a big movie buff and I also enjoy socialising with people. I'm a natural when it comes to connecting with people and connecting with them socially or for networking purposes.

Sincerely
Ramon

[Chet]

forgive me for being a bit cynical but the internet doesn't really need any more people getting rich off the unhappiness of others. Everybody is selling something ... from getting rich by thinking to finding the perfect date (or one nighter). Best advice I have seen is:

"Real Masters never charge for their services, nor do they accept payment in any form or any sort of material benefits for their instructions. This is a universal law among Masters, and yet it is an amazing fact that thousands of eager seekers in America and elsewhere, go on paying large sums of money for "spiritual instruction.". Masters are always self-sustaining. They are never supported by their students or by public charity."


---Julian P. Johnson, The Path of the Masters (1939)

[Angela]

Chet, I don't know about "real masters," but I feel it's perfectly appropriately for someone who offers their time or expertise to receive monetary compensation in return.

Having someone with experience in an area that you're looking to gain fresh insight into -- someone whose outlook resonates for you as one you'd like to align yourself with -- that is something of real value. You don't have to pay for it; you could just talk with your friends and family. But if you're willing and can afford it, it's often desirable and worthwhile to deal with someone you're not intimate with.

Ramon, if he chooses to go the coaching route, wouldn't be getting rich off the unhappiness of others. He would be choosing a career that aligns with his strengths and, possibly, his bliss. Nuthin' wrong with that!

[Chet]

Ya I suppose that comment was a bit stronger than I intended it to be. There are plenty of good people out there that just want to make a living so they can keep doing whatever their helpful niche is. But there are also a lot of 'bottom feeders'.

[Angela]

yup. And I guess being catfish food is a necessary lesson sometimes.

[Mayo]

You can try if you will/can dating training in London by two guys from Croatia, they will have course next month there.

Welcome to becomesocial.com and congratulations on taking a LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE - Naslovna

[frogcat]

Having met quite a few people from the PUA community who "went pro" I would seriously question the lifestyle adjustments that you'd have to make.

First, there's no shortage of clients who have problems far deeper than a dating coach can address.

Second, it's hard to get a reliable, sustainable income stream from coaching. While the potential market size is huge, there's a huge amount of resistance to overcome to convince people to pay for dating advice.

There's the issue of building a reputation of being enough of an expert to charge money on a subject where there's no shortage of free advice. I mean seriously, everyone's telling the lovelorn what they should be doing.

Also, most single guys I know don't feel that they have enough of a problem to change their M.O. And those that are open to the idea of learning and improving, few will want to sign up for a class.

That means, you're pretty much restricted to online marketing on the various PU sites. And I bet that once you've done a couple workshops around SA, your market will have dried up.

Third, the impact on your lifestyle may be huge. Reactions from your friends, how it affects your own hunting grounds, how it affects your perceptions of the way you interact with people, the hours you work, etc etc.

Sorry to be such a pessimist, but like I said, I've known people who've gone pro, and I don't envy them.

[ramon]

Its been a while since I've been on the forum. My blogging seminars and public speaking career has really taken off in the last 6 months. I am doing many talks about cellphones, chat rooms and social networking at schools across South Africa. This is still my primary source of income.

However, next Feb starting on Valentine's Day I will be involved in a 2-month reality radio show as a dating coach. This will be huge expose for that side of me. And I've just been asked my a friend of mine, Scot McKay, to do an interview for one of his dating products. Since I do not have electronic products right now the potential income from the international audience is going to be limited.

I must say in South Africa we currently have 4 million Internet users from a population that's close to 48 million people. So I would not rely on online marketing but continued positioning in the mainstream media and radio interviews in particular. In fact I have formed an informal partnership with SMARTdate, a speed dating company, to do workshops and seminars together. We have experimented on a small scale at the Sexpo recently held in Johannesburg.

As things are right now I would need to substantially shift my focus to seminars, workshops and coaching in the dating realm. Again I must emphasise I do not have much of any competition. However, in the Web 2.0/Social Media space its almost too crowded in South Africa because with our small online population I know most of the major bloggers personally.

In terms of comparing traffic I for November I did 2,000 unique visitors on my business blog and 8,500 unique visitors on my dating tips blog.

I suppose I would need to move step by step introducing more products and services in the dating realm over the next 6-12 months. In the dating space I have almost zero competition in the SA blogosphere ;-)

Any further suggestions?

[beautyscientist]

How do you find clients? As another poster said, there is no shortage of free advice in this area.