Online Dating Profile Service Turns Frogs Into Princes

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[Music]

Hey there, what's up? Welcome back to a brand new week of Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. I'm excited to be able to bring you a different story every day of somebody who starts an income generating project. This person, more often than not, does that by using the skills they already have without going into debt, without spending a lot of money at all, and without quitting their day job.

I think you'll like today's story. It's about online dating profiles, specifically a frog to print dating profile service, which eventually leads to a full-time job offer. Now this side hustle didn't go on to make $100,000, but it did something you could argue is even better. Two things, actually. One, it's a side hustle that helps someone get a job they want, but then also it develops the entrepreneurial spirit in this person.

And I think that is so important. I don't use the word entrepreneur very often in Side Hustle School because I'm not telling everyone to go out and be an entrepreneur. You might like your job and that's great. However, I do think it's critical in this day and age to develop that entrepreneurial spirit, to learn to think entrepreneurially, even if you love your job. And very often a small project can lead to a bigger one, or it just does something entirely different.

So that's what you'll hear in this story, how a small project inspired somebody to eventually go out and work for herself. But before that, she created a great story for herself, something she can talk about for the rest of her life. And as I mentioned, it had other benefits as well. So stay tuned, that frog to print dating profile service story is coming right up. [Music]

Something like 30% of long-term relationships now begin through online dating.

But this world can be tough to navigate and you need an edge. That's what one Massachusetts woman thought when she started an unconventional and temporary side hustle. More than 50 million people in the US alone have tried online dating. That means that more than 50 million people in the US alone have made an online dating profile. Emma Symosco had recently met her boyfriend who is now her husband through one of these services.

As millions of people know, waiting through a sea of thousands of profiles can be overwhelming. And let's be honest, if you're a guy in particular, you really need to stand out. Based on her experience, Emma had noticed how to put this, well, so many profiles sucked. So often they would be boring, lame or creepy. Three qualities that for some reason did not inspire most women to respond.

Her goal was to help men optimize their online dating profile so that they'd perform better in the crazy pool of competitors. She had been successful herself, meeting that boyfriend who would later become her husband. She'd helped out a few friends, showing them how to describe themselves in a way that sounded attractive without seeming overconfident. And then one of those friends said, "This should definitely be a business." All right, so listen up. This business didn't scale.

It didn't make a ton of money. It didn't become her full-time work. We've got lots of other stories that do those things. But in this case, this business did something else. Perhaps something even greater than those successes might have been.

But first, what was that actual business? It was called Frog to Prince. Great name, always lead with benefits, and she promised to liven up those profiles. Potential clients would complete an intake form asking them a series of questions, including the six things I could never do without and the most private thing I am willing to admit. Then they'd choose from a selection of four packages, ranging in price from $5 to $250.

Those packages were the profile grade, the tadpole, the lily pad, and the prince. At the highest level, clients could get a 20-minute Skype consultation with advice on picking out a cool date spot and an attractive outfit. Emma hoped to work with guys in the tech industry, nerdy types with good jobs and disposable income, but who weren't necessarily good with women, or maybe just not good at writing. Now, this side hustle did okay. She worked on it off and on for a couple months.

It made something like $800, and it gave her a story for the rest of her life. The biggest success was seeing that people would actually pay for this. If somebody really wants to devote time to this, they can probably succeed much more. The biggest challenge was that every guy she helped ended up asking her out, which wasn't quite the goal since Emma had already met her boyfriend. But here's the thing.

Sometimes a small project can lead to something greater. And in this case, Emma can point to two big changes that came from saying, "Okay, I'll give that a try." The first was landing a new job. Frog to Prince was the most impressive thing on her resume to the employer where she worked afterwards. She said she didn't have as much experience as the role called for, but they were impressed by her ability to make things happen. And in fact, they hired her because of her side hustle.

But even more, this experience nursed and nourished that entrepreneurial spirit she'd often thought of in the past, but hadn't pursued. While working at the new job, she made a lot of connections. People began asking her to do freelance copywriting gigs, so she set up a new side hustle. Frog to Prince gave her confidence and showed her that a career doesn't have to be linear or follow a normal trajectory. Emma now works as a marketing consultant running her own shop called Stories by Emma.

She writes copy, articles, and guides for companies including BuzzFeed and Girls Inc. That online dating profile service may have made just under $1,000, but she traces her current status to that decision to try something new. That's right, it all began with a frog that became a prince, or at least got a bit closer to online dating royalty. All right, congrats to Emma. Indeed, sometimes a small project can lead to something much greater.

That's why I encourage people to start projects quickly. If you've got an idea it's not gonna cost much money, it's not gonna take much time, why not try it? You could make 1,000 bucks. You could end up getting a new job. You could end up eventually going out on your own just from trying something different, and that's what you saw in the story with Emma.

Now here's a bonus lesson from Emma because I wanna make sure you're always learning something on side hustle school. So in this case, I asked her for her number one dating profile tip. Maybe this'll help somebody out there. She says when it comes to mobile dating, basically people using their phone to scroll through lots of profiles, the photos matter more than anything. However, in her opinion, it's not just whether mobile or desktop, people have always struggled with what to say in their profiles.

So one of the tips she gives is to be specific and to add in little anecdotes or stories. It's as simple as listing three books you loved and why you loved them, rather than just saying I like science fiction or I like Westerns. Does anyone actually read Westerns? I guess if you did, you could stand out. Anyway, Emma said on her online dating profile, she told people that she was currently trying to not eat candy and asked them to come ask her how she's doing with that.

It gave people an easy way to reach out by saying like, "Hey, how much candy have you eaten recently?" She calls this giving people hooks. So if you're in the world of online dating, maybe you need to liven up your profile and give people a hook. Like I said, bonus lesson for you there today as we begin a new week. Got lots more stuff coming up. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/443. That is for episode 443. You can also follow me on Instagram at 193 countries. That's 193 countries.

And that represents every country in the world, which is a project I did a few years ago. But now I'm focused on bringing you these stories and I'll have another one for you tomorrow. Thank you for listening. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.