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Internet dating is now being outsourced

By Elle Blakeman on Monday 7 June 2010

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Couple in bed, health news, Marie Claire

If you've recently met a charming, witty man on a dating website, it could be good to know that several men are now outsourcing their online chat to ‘Virtual Dating Assistants' in order to secure a date.

Virtual Dating Assistants is the brainchild of co-founder Scott Valdez, who for $600 will guarantee two dates a month, whilst $1,200 will ensure five.

Writers are employed to help the 56% of men who have tried online dating but have never managed to get even a single response.

Valdez first hired a writer to handle his personal profile on three dating websites, when he discovered a real interest in his approach.

‘People loved talking about how outsourcing my dating was going for me, and I had an epiphany,' he says. ‘I realised I could make a lot of money doing this for other people.'

Today his team of 46 writers offer everything from a makeover of your dating profile, to witty ‘openers' to attract women for face-to-face dates.

‘You have to strike a balance between not being boring and appearing to have dashed it off,' says virtual dating assistant Rory McClenaghan,

‘If someone says in their profile that they like Coldplay, don't say, ‘Oh I see you like Coldplay. Reply with one of their lyrics,' he says.

The online dating world is worth an estimated $4 billion, and claims to be responsible for almost one in six marriages in America last year.

Valdez has also posted a list of ten online dating tips for men, including the all-important profile picture and not telling a woman how attractive she is ‘because she already knows'.

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