When I coach singles on dating and finding love, I always suggest casting a wide net, scheduling a second date even if there’s no instant chemistry, and expanding your social circle. It’s called social dating and with your mobile phone attached to your hip, you should leave no digital stone un-turned.
With this in mind, there are many dating sites and apps for the masses which can help with this quest.
Taking the opposite approach, some newer apps are considered exclusive, or as The Inner Circle CEO David Vermeulen calls his, “the selective dating app.”
The Inner Circle, launched in Europe in 2012, has now widened their reach by expanding into the U.S.
Now in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the app will help you find the best-of-the best, or at least ones with the highest of education or the coolest job.
Julie Spira and Inner Circle CEO, David Vermeulen
At their Los Angeles launch party, held at The Bungalow in Santa Monica, I sat down with Vermeulen to talk about the success of their app and how one can get off the wait-list and approved to start dating.
According to Vermeulen, The Inner Circle has 550,000 users spanning 12 countries. Their wait-list is about the same, with about 500,000 circles hoping to get accepted to the selective mobile dating app.
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I asked Inner Circle’s CEO about their vetting. How can one get approved, instead of getting sent to the wait-list, with the hope of moving to a full-member?
According to Vermeulen, The Inner Circle has a team of four full-time people who view the 4000 new applications every day.
Here’s How to Register and Become a Member
1. Download The Inner Circle App
2. Create a Profile Using Linkedin or Facebook to Sign Up
3. Make Sure Your Education is Listed on Your Social Media Profiles
4. Have Other Friends and Connections as Members
5. Upgrade to Premium for Additional Features for More Access
Getting an invitation to Inner Circle isn’t that easy, and neither is getting approved.
When you register, their team looks at your education, profession, how many connections you have on social media (numbers count), and your photos.
When I asked why half of the potential members get put on the wait-list, Vermilion replied with, “The goal of inner circle is focused on the quality and the people who are a bit more serious. We also focus more on people the like-minded people that are ambitious, and inspiring.”
He added, “Not everybody that registers takes it that seriously.”
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Does education matter?
I asked if someone didn’t go to college, do they automatically get put on the waiting list?
It turns out while 94% of their members are highly educated, there are many in creative positions as well as members of the app.
The Quest for Being on an Exclusive App
Exclusivity is hot right now. Many singles want to join the bandwagon of exlusive apps. How does Inner Circle differentiate themselves from The League or Raya?
With a community themed app, they are hosting offline events all over the world, so get your Passport renewed and be ready to meet like-minded travelers.
On Tinder
With dating in the Tinder world become the norm and mainstream, the Inner Circle CEO said, “Tinder opened up the dating markets. Everybody’s on Tinder, so that’s a good thing. What we also see is that most people become what I call “tinder-tired” with endless swiping and swiping.”
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Inner Circle believes dating should be about the quality, not the quantity of members, and with such a huge wait-list, perhaps it’s time to update your LinkedIn profile to make sure it reflects your current fabulous job.
FOLLOW @JulieSpira on Twitter and Instagram.
Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating and Mobile Dating Expert. She’s the CEO and founder of Cyber-Dating Expert, and as an early adopter of Internet dating, has been coaching singles on finding love online for over 20 years.
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Julie Spira is America's Top Online Dating Expert. She's an award-winning dating coach who's been helping singles find love online for 25+ years. Follow @JulieSpira on IG.
