I wasn’t going to write about this, because I don’t like to jump on the same bandwagon as everyone else, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m talking about the article in Inc. Magazine a couple of months ago written about Markus Frind, founder of the PlentyofFish.com matchmaking site.
I usually take the headlines and compelling pictures with a grain of salt. They are designed to appeal to suckers like me who get drawn in all too quickly. If you haven’t seen it, on the cover of the magazine there’s a picture of Frind surrounded by 5 beautiful women all looking up at him and laughing, kind of like the scene in Lloyd’s dream in Dumb and Dumber where he’s lighting his farts on fire with the high class people around him laughing. The line under the headline on the first page of the story reads “Markus Frind works one hour a day and brings in $10 million a year.”
We are always drawn to these types of claims, but I think we’re a bit conditioned to be skeptical as well. Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting too much when I picked up the article. I was very surprised when it actually held my attention all the way through, was very inspiring and even a bit thought provoking.
The basic gist of the story is Markus Frind, an average guy living up in Vancouver, BC, started a very basic matchmaking site called PlentyOfFish.com. He did the coding himself and keeps things simple. In fact, up until recently, he didn’t even have an office or employees. Now he’s got a pretty big office space in Vancouver’s Harbour Center and has a whoppin 3 employees. One of the best pictures in the magazine spread is one of him sitting in the corner of a huge office with a big glass wall on one side and windows overlooking Vancouver on the other. He’s sitting behind a small desk. Nothing else in the office. Almost completely empty.
Plenty Of Fish was on pace to book $10 million in revenue in 2008 and is anticipating continued growth into 2009. Profit margins are a nice fat 50%. Let’s see, 3 employees, an office and some servers…I’m pretty sure $5 million should cover it and leave a little left over for Frind. The kicker is Frind’s claim that he can accomplish what he needs to run the site in only about an hour a day. “Actually, in the first 10 or 15 minutes.” he says after a little thought. “The site pretty much runs itself,” says Frind. “Most of the time, I just sit on my ass and watch it.” Is he livin the dream or what?!
Three things struck me about Frind and his cash cow of a web site that I think apply to all of us running sites, are blogging, or are working to make money online:
1. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Frind intentionally doesn’t add a lot of requested features or improve things you and I might get hung up on. He doesn’t want to get in the way, or have one of the features get in the way, of what the site’s main purpose is: matching people up. Sometimes we tinker to the point where we’re happy, but our sites lose their purpose or are negatively impacted.
Back in the day, I had a buddy who ran a job hunting site. It was actually a site who’s sole traffic came from the poor marketing efforts of a big dotcom startup. Long story short, the site was butt ugly and he was always trying to improve the look and feel to make it more visually appealing. The crazy thing is, the more he worked on improving the look, the lower his conversions were. Finally he gave up, reverted to the ugly old design that worked and enjoyed serious monthly income for no work for several years until he sold the site.
Sometimes that’s just the way things work. Don’t get too hung up on something that is proven to be working and trying to fix what is only broken in your mind.
2. Keep things simple. One of the great things about PlentyOfFish.com is it’s simple. But it’s simplicity is the beauty of the site and what drives the traffic. In fact, from a hosting standpoint, Frind has only 8 servers to serve over 1.6 billion page views a MONTH! To put it in perspective, Digg serves up about 250 million page views on a monthly basis or 1/6 of the traffic PlentyOfFish.com is serving. How can he accomplish such a feat? By keeping things simple and his code base optimized.
Our “problem” may not be traffic, but it might be some other aspect of our blogs or online business we need to quit trying to complicate. We should be asking ourselves, “What is the simplest most effective way we can accomplish the site’s purpose?” Then go after that diligently. 37 Signal’s approach to products like Basecamp and TaDaLists are another great example of this.
This works even more to his favor in that his overly simplistic design generates even more page views for him than something more complex would. Take the ugly pictures on the listings pages. The formatting on most of them is jacked up and all squishy, but that entices people to click on them to see a better resolution version of the picture in a person’s profile. Ingenious! I would think of that as a bug to fix, but by leaving it as is, Frind has generated a ton more traffic for his site.
3. Don’t try and grow too fast. Sometimes smaller is better. I’ll admit, I’m a big dreamer. I like to think of how big things can get when I start a project. That’s not always the best approach though. I was really really surprised to hear PlentyOfFish.com only had 3 employees.
At one point last summer, Frind rented the 3,700-square-foot suit he’s currently in and decided he was going to hire 30 people. So far, that hasn’t happened, and it hasn’t really needed to. If I had that kind of money rolling into a business, I’d be really tempted to go on a hiring spree. But in reality, that’s one of the reasons big corporations have so much fat. You end up with with wasted money and inefficient personnel.
For all of us “little guys”, I think this can apply to the number of things we have on our plates at any given moment. For me, one of the problems with being a dreamer is I’m a great starter, but not a great finisher. My attention tends to get divided and I have too many things in the hopper at one time. This leads to the feeling of being overwhelmed and a half ass approach to many things rather than working hard on one or two things.
I need to slow things down a bit, not try and grow my project base too fast and instead give a couple of things time to mature before adding more things into the mix. 9 times out of 10, you’ll end up doing much better (make more money) if you identify a project worth doing and work on it until it’s producing.
That’s what I took away from the article. Leave your thoughts in the comments section and let’s hear what you took away from the article.
If you want to read the article, you an find it here: Inc. Magazine
April 4th, 2009 at 2:35 am
You know I picked up the issue as well and the article was quite good with some sage teachings on web and marketing lore. As a female it wasn't because of the girls or the $10M bank roll. To me it was the human interest element: down-to-earth-British Columbia-nerd has one of the biggest dating sites on the web.
Makes for a great story about an intriguing personality. I've still kept this issue and haven't purchased one since. You too have a great insight on the article so thank you for writing about that.
April 4th, 2009 at 10:51 am
nice post.i like it.really good thought dear.keep it up.
April 4th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I read about him from affiliateconfession.com, he's a legend, his on facebook but very soliatire
April 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
The story is inspiring and the lessons drawn from it, combined with the other story, makes sense. There are times when one has to leave things be, though another business maxim is to constantly innovate to keep improving. One is always wiser by hindsight in these matters. Keeping it simple can work as well as innovating can. I guess that chance plays a major role in all success stories as well as failure stories.
April 4th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
What am I taking away from the article? I can dream too!! Just as you do, but I tend to be finicky and get stuck in details rather than do too many things at the same time.
April 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I posted two comments here and the first one has not been published, whereas the second one has been. Any glitches somewhere?
April 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Okay, perhaps, I did something wrong. My first comment was that there are two ways of looking at this phenomenon. One keeping it simple and not tweeking it can succeed and the other famous maxim to keep innovating succeeds too. I suppose that chance has something to do with success or failure.
April 4th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I was checking out that site recently, and noticed that the concept is so simple yet they make so much money. The founder isn't trying too hard to make things look "perfect".
April 4th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I read that article on the web months ago, or was it in a local paper? Think it was the internet, the important thing a lot of people don’t see is that this guy is extremely smart and knows what he does, that’s one of the reasons why his websites need only so few servers.
April 4th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Oh and what happend to your monthly recaps? Didn’t you make any money last month?
April 5th, 2009 at 2:02 am
Number two can't be stressed enough. We tend to over complicate things is life when the easiest way usually works the best.
April 6th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Thats awesome he can keep the number of servers down to 8 with that many page views. More power to him and his company for keeping a simple mind frame when everything seems to be so overly complicated now a days.
-R
April 6th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Keeping it simple is very hard, we always want to complicate it to make ourselves look good!
April 6th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I never got a chance to read that article in the magazine, but Plenty of Fish is a phenomenon. I'm often amazed when people bring it up in conversations. It's amazing how successful a basic site like that can be.
April 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Great post! Very interesting, thanks for sharing and keep on posting.
April 6th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I think Twitter only employs 20 or so people. A lot of big companies in the next 10 years will be run with a ot of technology but limited staff numbers.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I just wanted to post here that whenever I check your feed in my feed reader I always see the post of your january income report and none of the new ones. Is maybe working well for all those click through rates, but it’s annoying tbh.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:13 am
good article , thanks
April 7th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Sorry about that. Would you do me a favor and delete the feed and try subscribing again? If that doesn't fix it, let me know and I'll track down what's going on.
April 8th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Big numbers always meant for attraction and most of it end up scamming us or ripping some money from us.
April 9th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Enjoy reading your post
April 9th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I also read the article a while ago and it's really actually very inspiring – just hope to get my million dollar idea soon
April 9th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Thanks to sharing this informative and nice post.i really like this post.i thought ,we always want to complicate it to make ourselves look good!
April 9th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Good Article but how much real?
April 10th, 2009 at 6:02 am
There is no problem with the dream but need ti execute that in physical ground.
April 11th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I really enjoy to read this post.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I agree with you about not having too many things on the go at the same time and build slowly.
But the "gurus" don't seem to do it that way.
A short while ago, mini sites were the in thing. It was suggested that to make it big on the net, you
needed to start a new site very few day, and usually about non related topics. How did they do it?
Search me.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Have fun, dream away….plenty of room, i want to read what you want to be…:)
April 19th, 2009 at 12:27 am
I have found that simple sites do make a difference. I had a premium blog theme on one of my sites and the traffic was awful, the conversions for advertisers didn't do too good, and no one was reading my free ebook. But then I converted to one of the world's most simplest somewhat ugly themes and now traffic is better and so are my earnings. I'm not making millions though by any means yet…but maybe some day i will
May 11th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Really superb post. need to get some lesson from this story.
Thanks for the post. Michelle.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Inspiring post! And you are right if something isn't broke don't fix it.
June 9th, 2009 at 2:03 am
I especially love POF because it totally worked for me. I found someone special on my first search.
Utterly free.
June 9th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Why is it that you are so good with your review and others really bash the guy?
June 11th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Bottom line is he's giving people what they want. No cost dating site that obviously works for the users. And that is The Story.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
I have done multivariate testing for international dating services. I don't profess to sit around just because it is simple and working. You need to test everything to push your conversion higher. With testing, you can know always the correct move forward and not worry about shooting your foot.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
at first i thought that this post was about to teach me how to fish
, but anyway i love the way you write 
July 14th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
let us all find our ways to become rich!!!
July 14th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Has anyone heard about the new dating site 71flavors that was founded this year
July 15th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I actually went to school with Markus. His story is basically true. He happened to be one of the first big free dating websites and managed to get it growing virally by word of mouth. Once the ball got rolling it was easy enough to invest some money back into advertising to spread the site in new regions. This strategy definitely doesn't work with every site though. He happened to be offering a decent product for free at a time when everyone else was trying to charge for the service.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
“The site pretty much runs itself,” says Frind. “Most of the time, I just sit on my ass and watch it.” Now this is really funny… but it does underline a very important point: KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
When doing something – online or off line – let us keep focused on the result, keep it simple, and have the discipline to not deviate from our original vision!
July 21st, 2009 at 8:58 am
This was probably the most well written article I have ever read,on the internet or print. I have never been able relate so much to every single sentence. I just wanted to applaud you article, it was awesome.
August 1st, 2009 at 3:52 pm
"The site pretty much runs itself" — let me enlighten all of you on how the site "runs itself" — Markus does NOTHING — he doesn't provide support for his members; he doesn't screen out users who are "unfit to date" as his site advertises; he doesn't sceen for pedophiles are those who are misrepresenting themselves.
Markus doesn't even have the basic security confirmation by email system other sites used to assure themselves that they are dealing with a reputable person.
And let's not talk about the forums, which are run in a Nazi like fashion, where racists and bullies are allowed to target newcomers and attack them at will.
Markus has "rules" posted but his Moderators (if there are any — I personally believe Markus has a number of aliases he uses in the site to post comments and provoke users so that he can ban them) the Moderators don't follow the rules and they don't ask the most abusive members to follow the rules either.
And did I mention banning? Yes, the moderators will ban you for mysterious infractions like stating that racism is wrong or abuse is wrong or bullying is wrong.
Once you are targetted by the "Moderators" (Markus) your days of free speech are over — and remember (or if you didn't know) any posts made in the forum are linked to your profile page — so Markus can set people up to participate in arguments where he triggers them and makes them look bad. Then he bans you.
I know people who have been banned for 20 -30 years!!!
If you've been targeted by Markus, he WILL spend an enormous amount of time chasing you down — through his sock puppets — in the forums and targeting you for attacks, libel and slander.
Just do a google search on POF and see what the members have to say. I know that everything goes when we're making the all mighty dollar and since POF is "free" (is TIME free???) the members should just accept whatever Markus dishes out, but creating a site where members are abused and treated like they have no rights is not what I call GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.
So sorry ot interrupt while you guys sing Markus' praises. Markus is a "success" ? Making money off of deceiving and abusing people is what people now call success?
Un – believable.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
“Actually, in the first 10 or 15 minutes.” he says after a little thought. “The site pretty much runs itself,” says Frind. “Most of the time, I just sit on my ass and watch it.” Is he livin the dream or what?!
August 21st, 2009 at 7:45 am
I am also a "20 windows open" kind of guy and I always have been. I've accepted the fact that I can't zero in on one task and finish it all in one go.
August 28th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Wow this is an interesting read. Especially about keeping things simple, and optimizing the code.
Thanks!
September 7th, 2009 at 7:03 am
The ebook is free, but there is a catch – you have to actually download it, read it, and implement what it teaches. I'm not giving you this book for intellectual stimulation; I'm giving it to you so you can make money. Hundreds of my readers have used these principles to either create or increase their online income. You can do the same.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
great article.. he definitely is living the dream
October 8th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Dating sites are one of the fastest gorwing niches on the net. A lot of lonely people out there.
October 10th, 2009 at 6:10 am
Useful information…….thanks
October 10th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Good post. I have trouble keeping my focus on one task. which for me requires discipline which would be worth it since you can accomplish a lot more
October 11th, 2009 at 9:33 am
I have been following markus for many years. Even checked out his site just after it was started and remember writing it off as a total joke because it really did suck. I even sent him an email offering to help with adsense placement and site design. never got a response.
Markus is both very lucky and very talented/smart. Lots of people just as smart will never get anywhere. Markus hit it just right. Markus has millions of eyes every day. He could start almost anything and make it work. He has only to just get the initiative to do it.
I have a successful business directory and have used it to launch many other sites. I hope he gets better at enjoying his success. I'm sure his girlfriend will help with that. I hate to think of all that cash going to waste.
I would be running/funding my own racing team and sailing my yacht and collecting muscle cars. Markus, find something to be passionate about , you only live once man.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Wow. That is a very interesting read!
October 27th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I think this is a GREAT article…. I was checking out that site recently, and noticed that the concept is so simple. Thank you for posting so we can view and comment on your article and website.
October 27th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I have to agree as some times when I set up a new site I try to build it too quickly. This can only hurt the site; now I just set it up do a little bit of link building and then let it sit for a while.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Bottom line is he's giving people what they want. No cost dating site that obviously works for the users. And that is the story and he is sticking to it.
December 27th, 2009 at 8:21 am
revenue is 1 million dollars?that is impressive.i wonder what it is this year
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
thank you for this great information
March 8th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
your right man! keep it up!
psp