Newsletter: Friday 31st October, 2008

88 Reasons Why Bone Fish is the Best

This week we would like congratulate a very special Bone Fish affiliate. However, unlike other weeks when we`ve merely praised an affiliate for his/her enthusiasm and creativity, this week our reason is very different. We would like to bring Colin (from the UK) into the limelight for being the first affiliate to set-up an astounding 88 sites in just over a month. Yes, that`s right - 88 SITES.

According to our files and considering that all 88 sites have been completed from start to finish FROM SCRATCH, this is most certainly a record and feat that Colin should be very proud of indeed.

Upon purchasing a number of varying domain names, this affiliate proceeded to work with Bone Fish Ltd to produce a comprehensive portfolio of sites that would pretty much cover each and every niche market out there. And he has certainly achieved it.

To give you a rough idea of what Colin is capable of, take a look at one of the following sites: http://www.idesirepassion.com/, http://www.pixel-partners.com/, http://www.blackloving.co.uk/ http://www.adulterate.co.uk/ and http://www.someone4everyone.net/, or any of his other 83 Bone Fish portals.
Colin tells us: "I was looking at creating a number of affiliation sites across a broad spectrum and seeing how they performed. I could see that online dating was likely to be a growth area because it is an industry whose main aim is to make people happy. I searched online and found that Bone Fish Ltd offered a white label option that I liked the sound of because I could add my own branding. Also, the site looked good and some of its portfolio and user sites looked very impressive.

"I myself have a large portfolio of domain names and wanted to create a network of dating sites. Then, when I was online looking at the affiliate control panel with a view to cracking on, I got a call from Mike and had a long chat about my plans. I have found Mike to be extremely helpful, communicative and good humoured, and have found over the last couple of months that the affiliate support that is given is second to none".

One site in the portfolio that particularly stands out is Colin`s http://www.findalesbiandate.com/. Aimed at the exceptionally-converting niche network, "Lesbians" (12.5%), this elegantly designed portal is set to be one of the most popular lesbian services on the Bone Fish programme. Take a look and see for yourself.

In the meantime, Bone Fish would like to give Colin a big "thumbs up" - he`s done a truly fantastic job with getting EIGHTY EIGHT SITES off the ground in such a short space of time, and we really do very much appreciate his ability to look outside of the box and see the larger picture. These qualities are bound to help him succeed.

Until next time....


The Bone Fish Affiliate Department



Employee Spotlight: Suzi Langley

Who are you and where do you come from?
My name`s Suzi. I was born in Essex, raised between Gibraltar and Spain, and am now living in Sotogrande on the Costa del Sol. As you`ve probably guessed, I cross the border every day to come to work, and (depending on how lazy I`m feeling), walk to Gibraltar`s town centre where I reunite with the rest of the Bone Fish team. I can be contacted during normal working hours at: suzi.langley@bone-fish.com.

What is it that you do at Bone Fish?
Here at Bone Fish I look after any marketing, PR and content issues. My job is to spread the good word about Bone Fish and it`s services, ensure that it receives good press coverage, market the company and its products to the rest of the world and create any and all content for both the corporate and the member sides of the business.

If you weren`t working in this industry what would you be doing instead?
Due to my love of writing and the fact that my career has always been heavily-based on the written word (editing, subbing, copy writing and magazine editorial), if I wasn`t working in the online dating industry I would be a full-time novelist, trying to complete my first bestseller so that I could become a lady of extreme luxury and leisure.

What`s the best thing about working at Bone Fish?
Working at Bone Fish Ltd has allowed me to immerse myself in an industry that is not only extremely lucrative, but also a lot of good fun too. At this moment in time it`s extremely big business and as such, it`s great to be part of such a buzzing market that just keeps sprouting out in all directions.

Aside from this, I would like to point out that Bone Fish is a hip, young company with a strong vision and great determination to succeed. The team behind it is made up of very different individuals who have completely different personalities, turning Bone Fish into a mini microcosm of the world. Working here certainly makes life a little more interesting!

What are boss Mike`s good and bad points?
Given his young age (10 brownie points achieved with just four words), I have to say that I admire both Mike and his partner Graham for what they have achieved over the last few years - and all from scratch.

In my opinion, their success should be put down to their personalities. Both have a fantastic sense of humour and know exactly what they want and just how to get it. They are determined to succeed and never let anyone or anything get in their way. This, I find impressive.
In terms of qualms, the only real derogatory issue I have to say about Mike is that standing beside him makes me feel rather insignificant. With his 10-foot presence, my 3-foot excuse-for-human-height, my seemingly lack of vision and my refusal to wear specs, only a step ladder would ever place me on his level.

Explain to the world why Bone Fish is the greatest white label dating provider ever!
Think about it - 15,000 affiliates can`t all be wrong!!!

And with a 90% referral rate, 28 niche networks, 4 million members and tax-free commissions, why would any of our affiliates want to ever work with anyone else?



The Bone Fish Guide to Online Marketing

How to go about adding a sub domain to your site

Regardless of whether you`re a newbie on the Bone Fish programme or an affiliate that`s been around for quite some time, why not take a look at the two videos that we`ve found on You Tube regarding setting up sub domains.

Hopefully these videos should be good guides on how to go about setting up sub domains for Bone Fish brand sites, and should help to get affiliates moving all on their own. However, if you do need a helping hand or would rather be assisted by an actual member of the affiliate team, then simply let us know by emailing affiliates@bone-fish.com.


*Sub Domains with Go Daddy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5mi8ihA5A

*Creating a Sub Domain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJBwD-K64sI

PR: Interview with David Evans - Online Dating Post

October 28th, 2008, David Evans

Bonefish is the oldest white label dating provider. Online Personals Watch talked to Bonefish CEO Mike Fitzgerald about online dating scammers. About 90% of the scamming on Bone Fish’s sites has come from Russian and African scammers and they have had only one affiliate scammer.

.....Many a time I’ve looked on the internet for places that work like a “scammer central”. I’ve managed to find a few websites that list 5,000-7,000 members who are known scammers. However, I do not think that this is the right approach as it lists the names of the individual members (the scammers) that are contacting the members – not where they come from!.......

This is a topic I have discussed with many online dating executives over the years. iovation has a massive database of scammers and I’m working with a company that’s going to add additional layers of protection that can be integrated with a centralized database.

DatingAdNetwork interviewed Bonefish as well, going into much greater detail about how Bonefish operates. The Bonefish affiliate program is mentioned, specifically it’s ability to address very specific niches, something Mike says other white label providers are not as good at.

...…with Bone Fish all affiliates can benefit from our complete customization tools too. Each and every site can be fully branded to suit an affiliate’s needs, and when we perform a site integration (where an affiliate integrates a dating site into their existing site), we adhere 100% to their brand and identity. Perhaps this is why we have a 90% referral rate from our affiliates…...

Mike makes a good point about new webmasters spending too much time tweaking the site and not enough on marketing. I spend a great deal of time talking to dating startups with tiny marketing budgets, helping them to devise plans for driving traffic without breaking the bank. These days, traditional banner advertising is out of reach from almost all dating sites. Widgets, affiliates, banner exchanges and social networking apps seem to be driving the lions share of traffic these days.

Bonefish offers a 50% tax-free commission. 15,000 live sites, 4,000 webmasters.


http://onlinedatingpost.com/archives/2008/10/bonefish-interviews/

Newsletter: October 24th, 2008

Happy Friday from all of us here at Bone Fish!

With some 46% of men and 32% of women classified as clinically obese in the UK, without a doubt there is a huge untapped market for plump-ish people looking for love. However, the majority of BBW sites out there are adult-orientated and not romance-based, hence why there is a huge gap in the market right at this moment in time.

But not for long. This week sees the launch of a new affiliate site, BBW Partners - a premier portal that`s aimed at those looking for big beautiful women for friendship, romance and sometimes something more. Targeted at English-speaking men and women of all ages and from all around the world, this is one of the few BBW romance sites on the Bone Fish service, and one that looks set to flourish and blossom in a very short space of time.

Why not take a look for yourself and see how it`s all coming together at www.bbwpartners.net. Essentially, those behind this project see it as an ideal hub for larger ladies and fun feeders that find the real dating world a little too daunting for their size, and hope that it will thus fill a much-needed gap in the BBW sector.

We would like to wish both the site and the affiliate the very best of luck, and hope that they can both achieve their targets and goals.

Until next time....


The Bone Fish Affiliate Department



Getting us down

Admittedly it`s been a long week and unfortunately, not an easy week. As many of you will have noticed on the night of Tuesday 14th October, Bone Fish experienced some significant downtime, causing great disruption to the service and admin centre.

Due to a serious technical issue with our ISP, we lost connectivity between our database rack and data storage devices. Unfortunately, this was completely out of our control and although our network team worked tirelessly throughout the night to get the system back up-and-running, it didn`t happen quite as fast as we`d have liked.

As such, this week we`d like to apologize profusely for this downtime, and reassure you that measures are being taken - as we speak - to ensure that we have a productive and efficient solution should this ever happen again. All we ask is that you be patient with us as sometimes, matters such as these are out of our hands. Nevertheless, whether this is the case or not, you should know that Bone Fish always endeavors to resolve any issues as soon as possible. Let`s hope this doesn`t happen again - or at least, not for quite some time.



Employee Spotlight: Maxfield Pierce

Who are you and where do you come from?
My name is Maxfield J. Pierce and I was born and raised in Luxemburg.

What is it that you do at Bone Fish?
I work in the web/graphical department, creating websites to promote Bone Fish and all of its services, plus other promo material such as online marketing amongst others.

If you weren`t working in this industry what would you be doing instead?
I`m not too sure. I suppose I`ve always wanted to be a designer of some sort, and if not, some type of car sales man.

What`s the best thing about working at Bone Fish?
The people here at Bone Fish are not only extremely professional at their jobs, but they are also some of the nicest people I have ever worked with! We all work hard and always achieve our goals - but at the same time we also have a lot of fun along the way. Really, we all get a long great and so I wouldn`t change a thing!

What are boss Mike`s good and bad points?
Mike is truly a great guy and a great boss to work for - and I`m not just saying that because he`s my boss, because in the past I`ve worked with some really horrible people who were always fuelled by the power that their directorship gave them, talking down to staff and treating people like scum. But with Mike it`s not like that at all. He`s very down to earth and always helps you out if you get stuck with something. He`s very funny and always makes us laugh. He understands exactly what everyone does here at Bone Fish, and never disrespects anyone - EVER. And he`s very understanding as a person. In fact, whenever you need to talk to Mike on a personal level, he`s always there for you and is ready to listen and help.

Explain to the world why Bone Fish is the greatest white label dating provider ever!
When it comes to white label dating providers, you need to look for a service that you can trust and rely on. Bone Fish has a great team of experts working non-stop to get the "best of the best" out there to its affiliates. And here, we`re constantly working on improving what we have and getting new features added along the way.

So if you`re looking for a company that`s reliable and has a very successful commission turnover, look no further than Bone Fish!



The Bone Fish Guide to Online Marketing: YouTube Overlay Ads

Need New Ideas? Try Advertising on Videos

About a year back Google made two big video-related announcements: that they were going to begin including videos in Google News content, and more importantly, that it was finally time to roll out their overlay ads on YouTube. And it is the second of the two that we would like to draw your attention to.

Google`s overlay video ads work by displaying a semi-transparent ad on the bottom fifth of videos, 15 seconds in. The ads animate for up to 10 seconds, and when clicked, launch a video advertisement inside the player (pausing the video the user was originally watching).

With this in mind, and if you`re comfortable with managing your own ad campaigns on AdWords and AdSense, then in Bone Fish`s opinion the CPC model for YouTube`s video ads could be for you.

Granted, creating video ads is not as simple as creating text ads, but YouTube proves that 1) amateur videos can be entertaining/worthwhile forms of advertising and 2) people are more than willing to make and watch them.

Why not give it a go!

To find about more, take a look at the article and video below:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-art-of-creating-youtube-free-website-traffic.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWFE9UDCPEE

Newsletter: October 3rd, 2008

Comissions are Coming

As we move out of summer and dare I say, into autumn, the memberships are heating up again and new affiliates are signing up by the dozen. When it comes to applications and sales, this month has been very positive indeed - as you`ll soon see when you receive your commissions shortly - and so we certainly can`t grumble.

This month, we`re once again pleased to inform you that commissions are going to be paid relatively early. Those that receive their monies via a BACS transfer should find their accounts replenished on October 8th, those that normally receive their commissions via PayPal, on the 10th, and those that prefer to be paid by cheque, on the 16th.

Once again we remind you that the fastest way to receive your commissions and bonuses is via a BACS transfer - however, if you aren`t receiving your monies in this manner and want to, you still can. All our accounts department needs to perform an immediate payment via BACS are your UK account number and sort code. And remember, if you haven`t got your own bank account, we can always transfer funds into a family member`s, close friend`s or associate`s account instead. Simply send us through the details to affiliates@bone-fish.com.

WANTED:
And finally this week, those of you that are pondering on the where-abouts of Mike (the director of Bone Fish Ltd), will be delighted to know that he is very much safe and well and has merely gone into hibernation for the start of the autumn season. He shall be back with a vengeance on October 14th, ready to assist you with all your queries and needs as usual.

In the meantime, his right-hand woman - Andrea White - will be holding the fort and can be contacted at andrea.white@bone-fish.com. To find out more about her and to see why she`s stepping into Mike`s shoes over the next two weeks, keep reading. Because this week, despite her pleas to remain anonymous (and with very clear instructions that under NO circumstances are we to publish her photograph), she`s this week`s employee spotlight.

Enjoy!

Kind regards,



The Bone Fish Affiliate Department


Employee Spotlight: Andrea White

Andrea joined the Bone Fish Team in 2006 as a Fraud Operations Manager and as such, she oversees all risk elements of the business. Her main priority is to keep the chargeback rate down in order to maintain a good working relationship and reputation with the banks, affiliates and members. If you wish to get in touch with Andrea regarding this matter or any other, she can be emailed at: andrea.white@bone-fish.com.

Who are you and where do you come from?
Born and bred in Blackpool, I`m a typical northerner. I began my career in 1990 as a "PA to the Commercial Director" in the leisure industry. I worked my way up the ladder but then realized that I actually quite liked my other half and my weekends off, so I left. I then diversified to the hair and beauty industry, again starting as a " PA to the Managing Director" working my way up the ladder, and then once the pitter patter of tiny feet arrived, I decided that a change in climate was needed. In 2005 I decided to move out to Spain with my husband and two kids, took on a new career challenge in fraud, and have never looked back.

What is it that you do at Bone Fish?
I was employed some two years ago as the Fraud Operations Manager. Essentially, this means that I stop scammers before they have the chance to do any damage, and keep an eye out for any other fraudulent activity. Aside from this, I also oversee the Customer Services Department so I have regular one-on-one contact with all of our members. I`m available to answer any of their questions and on the odd occasion, listen to their moans. (Members usually moan about issues such as not receiving any mail - however, this is usually due to the fact that they haven`t bothered to fill out the advert profile or to upload a photo. I mean, how can they expect to make a match when no one has a clue what they`re like?).

If you weren`t working in this industry what would you be doing instead?
I would happily be doing absolutely anything else except being a full time mother (hats off to those that are, though). Schools are a blessing! And even though I love my two little rat bags and wouldn`t swap them for the world, I need to keep my sanity. What`s the best thing about working at Bone Fish? Our team is made up of a random group of people from different places and backgrounds who get on relatively well, despite their very different tastes in music. What`s more, they`re very committed to the job that they`ve been employed to do and are very enthusiastic with how the company is evolving and developing. It`s great to work with people on this level.

What are boss Mike`s good and bad points?
With us both being from the North West, we have a similar sense of humour and really do have a great laugh every single day. However, I can`t really pinpoint any good or bad points that he has because I do actually believe that he`s genuinely a good boss and a really great person to work for. (Note from the Editor: As yet, Andrea has not received the pay rise that she was hoping this answer would afford her - but we`ll keep you posted).

Explain to the world why Bone Fish is the greatest white label dating provider ever!
The team that work for Bone Fish are 100% committed and passionate about their work. And it is because of this they give 110% to the work that they produce. As such, Bone Fish is able to provide an unparalleled service to both its members and affiliates, which has gained it a very solid positioning in the online dating marketplace. In my opinion, no other white label provider even comes close.



Did you miss out on last week`s FREE traffic?

Last week we introduced you to Dating Ad Network - a fantastic banner network that combines a structured team, unparalleled customer support, proprietary ad-serving algorithms and a very smart marketing approach. Dating Ad Network provides free traffic for your dating and relationship websites and blogs, and really can do wonders for your online businesses!!!

It can benefit you in two ways:

1) Its ad exchange drives singles to your websites at no cost;
2) Its publisher`s platform gives you extra revenue.

So, if you didn`t take a look last week, why not check it out this week at: http://datingadnetwork.com/. Because with Dating Ad Network you really can TRIPLE your CTR and visitors pretty much over night, so it`s definitely worth a look.



The Bone Fish Guide to Online Marketing

And once again, this week we`ve got another two videos for you to help you on your way with your online marketing campaigns - one regarding additional SEO tips and strategies and the other regarding how to add meta tags to a web page. Take a look for yourself at the links below.

Google On Page SEO Tips and Strategies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_1kfMR11wQ

How to Add Meta Tags to a Web Page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY7dy9GogVg&feature=related