Markus Frind, the 32 year-old CEO of online dating mega-giant Plenty of Fish enjoys his free time. And he has plenty of it now that he has made millions from his website. The irony is that he hasn’t ever put in more than 20 hours a week on the site since its inception in 2003. So, in fact, very little has changed in the amount of time he gets to spend on his own interests, like traveling and hanging out with his beautiful wife. The only difference is that now he has millions to spend along with the time.
Just a Regular Joe/Markus
It’s hard to be jealous of a man who is the opposite of pretentious. He went to the British Columbia Institute of Technology for a degree in computer systems. A friend suggested he check out an internet dating sites and one day he was bored enough to do it. He quickly concluded that spending money on online dating was a waste of money and he could come up with a model that was absolutely free and still make money at it. People can’t help but wonder- if Markus can become a millionaire, then why can’t I?
Finding his Motivation
After buying the plenty of fish domain name, Frind became distracted by real life and put the idea aside. A year later he was suddenly looking at unemployment and figured it would be a good time to continue his pet project. He did all the work from his home computer for many years. He never wasted time on anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. And now he is an example for every aspiring entrepreneur who hopes to achieve the same success.
Playing Against Type
Frind admits he was lucky enough to come up with a completely new idea that had no competition. Online dating sites were just coming into vogue in 2003 and nobody had tried to do a free membership site. But his tenacity kept him going when many people would have given up from sheer lack of knowledge.
The truth is, Frind had many strikes against him:
- He didn’t have a fancy degree.
- He had no business plan and no idea how to create one.
- He didn’t know how to program a website.
- He knew nothing about SEO marketing.
- He had no plan for financing the site.
What did he have?
- An original idea
- Moxie
- A LOT OF LUCK
Setting the Stage
Frind had to teach himself the programming language to set up and maintain the site. He then had to figure out how to monetize the site with no money to invest. He was smart enough to take advantage of online marketing forums where marketers freely share advice. That’s how he learned about SEO marketing.Once Frind caught wind of the then-new Google AdSense strategy, the money began rolling in. AdSense let’s bloggers put ads on their sites and every time they are clicked on, the site owner gets paid. But Frind didn’t just choose a few random sites and strike gold. He had to find the right sites for his target market and once again he was very lucky.
Playing the Part
Frind may have been lucky but he also has a knack for knowing what works in online dating. He added a paid membership to his site but it is very low-key and not that well-known. He listens to what his users want by checking out online dating site reviews. Then he figures out how to do it in a no-frills way. The Plenty of Fish website’s interface is plain but its user page is phenomenally large. A sizable dating pool obviously means more to relationship-seekers than aesthetics.
Plenty of Fish doesn’t advertise on TV and Radio like other well-known (yet fee-based) sites. Word of mouth does all the work for him. Online dating is a popular topic among singles and Plenty of Fish stands out because it doesn’t cost anything.
Writer Rick Mercado, 33, wrote this article after checking out www.dating-site-advisor.com and other dating review sites from a table in his favorite coffee shop. He likes to watch out the window and imagine he is hiking the trails of Nova Scotia with his wife, one of his favorite pastimes. He also enjoys kayaking.