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Finding Your Niche: Online Dating Market

The online dating industry is said to be slowing down. According to Jupiter Research, the industry grew by 73% in 2002 and 77% in 2003. But in 2004, as the number of users actually started to decline, the market grew by only 19%. In 2005, the industry will grow by just 9%, to $516 million.

To capture the still-large numbers of new users that are flowing into the industry every year, some entrepreneurs are focusing on niche areas in the online dating industry. There’s MeetSingleRunners.com for morning joggers and marathoners. FarmersOnly.com focuses on farmers, ranchers and country folks. Even pets are getting in on the action with DateMyPet.com. I’m sure there will be sites focusing exclusively on mature daters as the number of mature folks go online to find their love match.

The dating industry illustrates that small businesses may stand a better chance sometimes by focusing on untapped niche opportunities within an industry, rather than compete head-on with the big boys.