It’s an honor and joy to put together a panel of female dating CEOs at Silicon Beach Fest, being held at the Marina del Rey Hotel on August 24 – 27th.

Our panel will include Kelly Steckelberg, CEO of Zoosk; Jennifer Kelton, CEO of BOD Dating App;  Talia Goldstein, CEO of Three Day Rule, and myself Julie Spira, CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert.

The Dating CEO panel will be held at 4pm in the Waterfront Room and you’ll learn all the best tips for dating profiles and hear directly from industry pros.

SPEAKER BIOS

Julie Spira – CEO and Founder, Cyber-Dating Expert

Julie Spira is the CEO and founder of Cyber-Dating Expert, an online dating coaching, advice and consulting business in the dating industry. As an early adopter of Internet dating and online dating expert, Julie has been coaching singles for over two decades on finding love. Her dating advice has been featured in over 1000 media stories and she’s the author of the bestseller, “The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online,” which was re-released this year on Audible, where she narrated audio book version. Julie is the creator of “Mobile Dating BootCamp” and “Online Dating BootCamp.” Julie graduated from the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, where she received a B.S. in Television-Radio. She started her career in broadcasting as a media personality. Always on the leading edge of technology, become the first female executive at RKO Radio Networks, the country’s first digitally delivered satellite radio network. She ranks as the most influential person in “dating” and “online dating” on social media influence site, Klout.

Site: CyberDatingExpert.com Twitter @JulieSpira

Talia Goldstein – CEO and Founder, Three Day Rule

Talia Goldstein is the CEO and founder of Three Day Rule. After studying communication at Tulane University, Talia worked as a TV producer at E! True Hollywood Story, where she quickly became the office dating expert, setting up many co-workers with matches and handing out insightful dating advice from her cubicle. Recognizing her hidden talent for matchmaking, Talia quit her full-time job and began hosting popular singles events and offering personalized matchmaking services. Three Day Rule was officially created in 2013, allowing Talia to turn her lifelong hobby of matchmaking into a thriving business. Leveraging her extensive network of successful, attractive singles, Talia has found matches for hundreds of clients, including top executives, entrepreneurs, and everyday young professionals. Among her clients, Talia has been recognized for her strong instinct for what drives lifelong connections between two people. She has made it her mission to help clients on their quest to find true love, and is thrilled that her work allows her to make a difference in people’s lives.

Web: ThreeDayRule.com Twitter: @TaliaGoldstein @ThreeDayRule

Kelly Steckelberg – CEO, Zoosk

Kelly Steckelberg is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Zoosk. Kelly joined Zoosk in March 2011 from Cisco, where she held various roles including divisional CFO positions for the Consumer Segment and WebEx. Kelly joined Cisco through the WebEx acquisition, where she served as Controller, Chief Accounting Officer (CAO). Prior to WebEx, Kelly held executive positions with Epiphany, Inc. and a variety of finance positions at PeopleSoft, Inc. in the U.S. and Europe. She started her career at KPMG in both tax and audit. Kelly holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.  In addition to her work at Zoosk, Kelly also serves on the board of Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS), which helps provides housing, jobs, shelter, and essential services to homeless and low-income people in San Francisco. When not working, she loves to travel and has been to over 60 countries.

Web: Zoosk.com Twitter @ksteckel @zoosk

Jennifer Kelton – CEO and Founder, BOD Dating App

Jennifer Kelton is a dating industry expert and Founder & CEO of the recently launched bod (Bad Online Dates) app. She is also author of the acclaimed dating book, Don’t Use My Sweater like a Towel and creator of dressforthedate.com.  The bod (Bad Online Dates) app is a geo-location-based dating app where users can move on from a bad date and potentially meet someone new, in real-time.

Web: boddatingapp.com  Twitter: @BadOnlineDates

Selfies. Love them, love them not.

While selfies aren’t your best photos to appear on your online dating profile, your potential dates do want to know exactly who you are and if you resemble your profile pictures.

For this reason, our friends at Badoo have created a new feature in their mobile dating app called the “Selfie Request.”

According to their press release, the new selfie feature allows women to request a photo from a male user after they have received an initial message to confirm that their potential match is genuine and using a real photo. From there, a male user can either send the requested selfie or decline.

Women who come to us for Irresistible Profiles and Dating Coaching are fearful at times that the date will be like someone they’ve viewed on MTV’s ‘Catfish,’ or their potential date will be misrepresenting themselves in some way. While we believe online dating is mostly safe for both men and women, any feature that adds comfort to the process is one where we’ll give a thumbs up to!

A Pew Internet Research survey showed that over 54 percent of online daters have felt that someone misrepresented themselves on their profile. So ladies, go ahead and request a selfie from a potential date.

Online and mobile dating safety is important to both men and women. Currently the selfie request feature is only available to women, but in time we hope they add the feature for men to use as well.

So request away and have fun with their new mobile app feature.

Guys, don’t decline the rest, or your chances of getting a date with her will be zero.

Are you using selfies on your dating profile?

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and sign up for our Free Weekly Flirt for dating advice.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating and Mobile Dating Expert. She’s a bestselling author and as an early adopter of the Internet, has been coaching singles on finding love online for over 20 years. Find out more about how our Irresistible Profiles will help you find your dream date.

Photo credit: Fotolia

Click here for more on our Irresistible Offer, but hurry, as this is only valid until midnight on June 27th.

Read our blog post on Match on how to have a great profile for the summer.

Follow @JulieSpira on Instagram and Twitter for online dating advice and sign up for our FREE Weekly Flirt newsletter.

Customer testimonials

Cosmo Radio girls are always asking how to date online. Julie knows her stuff like no one else. She is truly the pioneer of online dating.”
~Diana Falzone, Cosmo

“Thanks Julie for putting me on OkCupid! I finally got married this weekend to the first man I had a date with in my dream wedding. He’s my soul mate. Thank you and I send you so many blessings and love your way. You have been so important on my journey.” ~Bonnie, 38

“Thank you Julie for your wisdom and advice. I would not be marrying this wonderful guy if I didn’t follow your Playbook!” ~Courtney, 39

Read more testimonials

Quote of the Day

It’s the first day of summer and is sizzling hot in many places. Let us help you fill your summer with love and joy.

@JulieSpira

Online Dating Expert

Check our our Irresistible Profiles to help fill your date card.

Quote of the Day:

“The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” ~Oscar Wilde

The beginning of romance is exciting. Going on a first date can be nerve-wracking, as you aren’t sure if you’ll get to a second date or have any romantic chemistry.

Oscar Wilde knew this years before digital dating, texting, and mobile phones, yet the feelings still hold true.

Be open to the possibilities while dating and let the anticipation be something to embrace.

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam.

xo Julie Spira, Online Dating Expert

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

via Giphy

Do you have dreams of being a June bride or groom?

Have you ever wondered what the secret is to turning digital love into eternal love?

It appears the answer lies in the first message you send to your online crush.

In a recent study, our friends at PlentyOfFish surveyed over 1,000 of their former users in the United States who are now married to their partners whom they met online. They shared with us what made them think they’d found “the one.”

You Had Me At “Hello”

In their survey results, POF found two common first messages respondents received. The most popular first message (17%) highlighted something in a user’s profile that caught their crush’s eye.

The second?

“Hey, what’s up?”

This may be a sign we should rethink looking past this simple message, as it could turn into something long term.

Respondents also said they kept things relatively simple for their first date. The most popular first date among the married couples surveyed was dinner, followed by coffee or drinks, and finished up with an evening stroll.

How Long Until You Know They’re “The One?”

When it came to the first date, men fell hard for their dates faster than women.

More men also reported falling in love at first sight  (17%) than women (11%).

Overall, 40% of respondents said they knew they found “The One” after only a few weeks. Sometimes you just know.

Most Online Daters Are True Romantics

An impressive majority of POF users stated they believed in soulmates, with over 76% of married respondents agreeing (72% of men and 78% of women).

Final Advice From the Happy Couples

POF asked the respondents their best piece of advice they wish someone had told them during their online dating days.

Most of the couples said they wished they had said “yes” to more dates, sent and replied to more messages, and allowed themselves to have more fun (22%).

The most popular piece of advice (44%) the would have given themselves is to ditch the idea of having a “type” online. You never know, by expanding your type and opening up your preferences in a significant other, you could end up meeting someone you never would have met otherwise!

Are you looking for love online?

Find out how our Irresistible Profiles will help you find your dream date.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and the founder of Cyber-Dating Expert. She’s the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online and has been coaching singles for over two decades.

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

via Giphy

Looking for love online can be challenging and tedious.

Sometimes you’ll find yourself getting burnt out with online dating or tired of swiping right or left on your mobile phone.

When you’ve tried every mobile dating app and website out there and feel you’ve exhausted all of your options when nothing works out, it’s time to switch things up a little and move on to something a bit more unconventional.

The next best place to find a great date online is through your social media accounts, where you’re hanging your digital hat more often.

That’s right, by dating and flirting using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you can connect with friends, long lost friends (and loves), and even friends of friends.

Related: Love Reunited: Our Second Chance at Love

Aside from the most popular social media sites, there are a few you might be missing. Here’s a list of five non-traditional dating apps to help you find a new digital crush.

1. Yelp

Yelp is an extremely social website and easily allows you to connect with singles in your area. All you have to do is search for your favorite bar or restaurant and scroll through the reviews until you find a particular reviewer that piques your interest. Yelp allows you to look at reviewers’ profile pages, which is good for finding out a little more about your potential crush. If you find someone who looks interesting to you, send them a message through Yelp and you could just end up on a date at that bar you both reviewed!

Available on Desktop, iOS, Android

2. GolfMatch

This new app is designed to help golf lovers connect to each other and go golfing together. GolfMatch helps you find like-minded golfers at local courses to share your experiences with. You can even set up a golf game within the app! You can find golfers you’re compatible with based on age, skill level, location and home courses. Your profile will display all of your posts and your golfing background, and you can even post pictures and videos of your golf experiences – think of it like Instagram for golfers!

Available on iOS

3. Snapchat

Snapchat is a fun messaging app for sharing moments with your friends. You can take photos or videos, add a captions, and send it to a friend or add it to your Story to share with all of your friends. Snaps sent directly to friends can last up to 10 seconds, while posts on your Story last up to 24 hours. Snapchat may not seem like a conventional way to find love, considering most of the people you may have on Snapchat are your friends, but just think about if a friend of yours has ever posted or sent you a Snap and you noticed someone cute in the background…what would have happened if you’d Snapped them back and asked for that person’s name? Maybe they would’ve added you on Snapchat if they were single and thought you were cute too. You never know until you try!

Available on iOS and Android

Related: 5 Dating Apps That Aren’t Tinder

4. Yik Yak

Popular on college campuses, Yik Yak is a free social networking app that lets users post brief comments to a message board accessible by any user within a 5 mile radius. The app is completely anonymous and you don’t have to create an account to use it. Yik Yak is perfect for missed connections! Maybe you walked past someone cute on campus, you smiled at each other and kept walking, but you noticed they were wearing a shirt supporting your favorite sports team and wanted to connect. Post a “Yak” and say “To the girl wearing a Dodgers shirt I walked past in the quad earlier, I thought you were really cute. Wanna meet in the same place tomorrow to grab coffee?” You might think this wouldn’t work, but Yik Yak does have some success with unintentionally helping potential couples meet up through the help of the Yik Yak community.

Available on iOS and Android

5. Venmo

Andy Verderosa from Thrillist says that “In addition to being one of the most game-changing apps of the last half-decade, Venmo boasts arguably the best social feed on any network.” Venmo allows you to send and receive money with friends quickly and without charging you a fee, making it easy to split dinner, send a birthday gift, pay your roommate for bills, or pay friends back for buying you drinks.

The platform operates like a social media feed and shows you your friends interactions with each other, as well as with their friends that you don’t know. Switch over to your friend feed and look at interactions between friends of friends. When you find someone that suits your fancy, check to make sure they’re in your area, then send them a private transaction. The only way to message someone is by sending them money, so you’ll have to send them a small amount (maybe enough for them to buy coffee), then say they caught your eye and you were wondering if they’d be interested in meeting. There’s always the possibility they could deny you, but at least you tried! And you can always get it refunded they turn you down, just make sure you set the transaction to private so that all of your friends don’t see your attempts in case it doesn’t go well.

Available on iOS and Android

At the end of the digital day, any social media platform can be a dating platform if you like. Just remember to be respectful toward others and make sure you don’t come across as weird or creepy. Also, keep in mind, you might not know someone’s relationship status from these sites and they might not have an interest in being approached anyway.

Don’t get your feelings hurt if they don’t respond or if they turn you down – just keep trying again.

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam. xo

Find out how our Irresistible Profiles will help you find your dream date.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and the founder of Cyber-Dating Expert. She’s the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online and has been coaching singles for over two decades.

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

If you missed our radio interview on “Hacked” on the Charles Tendell show on Denver’s Talk Radio 1690 KDMT in Denver, here’s the replay for your listening pleasure.

In this one hour segment I provided tips for online dating profiles, safety, how to spot a “catfish” and how to create an irresistible online dating profile to find your dream date.

Listen Here

You’ll hear how I told Charles the story of how I became the pioneer of online dating, even before the days of Match and eHarmony. I also provided listeners with tips to be successful with Internet dating with the enormous amount of members flocking to dating sites and mobile apps.

Since many singles are looking for a different type relationship, whether it’s a long-term relationship, or casual dating, we discussed which sites are the best for you. Is Tinder just for hookups? Hear my explanation.

For the best online dating advice, I do recommend truth-in-advertising, as these days daters are hopping over to Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, and other social networking sites to see if your photos and profiles match up.

Read the full transcript here:

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Sign up for our Free Weekly Flirt newsletter!

It’s Mother’s Day weekend and time to take a digital peek at the single mother’s who are dating online and what their kids think of their dates.

If you think being a single mom reduces your chance of finding love online, this is a misconception among many others. Read on.

According to dating site PlentyOfFish, a survey of their users revealed that 44% of women dating on the Internet are single moms and their reasons for going online and what they’re looking for may surprise you. With almost 28% of single moms admitting they’ve been dating online for over three years, this survey states that they might not be looking for a knight in white armor.

What’s exciting for single moms, it is turns out they’re finding love 10% faster than women without children at home. Does this mean you should post photos of your children in your online dating profile?

As an online dating expert and dating coach, I’m not a fan of having your children appear as your primary profile photo, but believe it’s important to state within the text portion of your profile that you’re proud of your children (and list their ages). It turns out that an overwhelming 76% of single moms do indeed mention their children and/or post photos of them in their profiles.

According to POF:

Like many online daters, single mothers are looking for partners they can relate to. Accordingly, they are 3.4 times more likely to date a single father than childless women are. In contrast, single moms are half as likely to date childless men as women with no children are.

But what do the kids have to say about their mom’s dates?
According to POF, 63% of moms said they’d consider their child’s disapproval of a potential partner as a major red flag or a deal-breaker.

Related: 10 Mother’s Day Quotes to Warm Your Heart

Other key findings include:

• 1.2% are interested in meeting a clone of their ex, while 60.28% said they didn’t have a type.
• 51.81% will introduce their date to their children once they are in a monogamous relationship.
• 54.98% said that with their busy schedule, there was no time to meet anyone anywhere else.
• 53.99% said that online dating allowed them to get to know someone without sacrificing time with their kid(s).
• 56.97% are dating online to find a partnership, as compared to less than 1% who are looking for financial support.
• 62.29% will go online whenever they can find a spare second, followed by weekday nights when their kids are asleep.

On this Mother’s Day, we wish you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam. xo.

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and Digital Matchmaker. She was an early adopter of the Internet and has been helping singles find love online for over 20 years. To find out how you can have an Irresistible Online Dating Profile, visit CyberDatingExpert.com and follow @JulieSpira on Twitter for dating advice.

Tumblr

Instead of spending your time just swiping to find love on your phone, now you can swipe to find your new favorite show to watch with your digital crush.

A new app called MightyTV has been dubbed the “Tinder for TV” by the Daily Mail, because it gives users the ability to “swipe away the frustration of what to watch next.”

But what’s so great about MightyTV compared to streaming services like Netflix? Well, MightyTV uses artificial intelligence to learn your personal preferences as you swipe through their selections. The AI is so good, that it learns your preference after 100 swipes and continues to get smarter at recommendations the more you swipe.

Related: 5 Dating Apps that Aren’t Tinder

According to the Daily Mail, the app was created by an ex-Google employee named Bryan Adams, who’s been trying to figure out a way to make discovery easier. Since people spend so much of their time searching for what to watch and less time streaming what they love, the MightyTV app solves this problem and is perfect for date night.

How to Use MightyTV App

1. Download the app, create a profile, and begin swiping!
2. The app will start to recognize your preferences and make suggestions specifically tailored to movies and TV shows you’re interested in.
3. After creating your profile, you select which streaming services you have an account with (Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, HBO Go, Showtime, etc.).
4. MightyTV will let you know which streaming service to use to watch the titles you’ve swiped right on.

Currently, MightyTV offers 11,000 videos in its inventory and is looking to grow over time with the goal to create a more personal experience centered around behavior and personal taste, versus genre-based suggestions. The app also aims to be predictive about what a user wants to watch instead of basing suggestions on what the user has previously watched.

Related: Bumble Dating App Now Helps You Find Your BFF

“We’re not trying to figure out if you love rom coms and then hit you with a lot of rom coms,” Bryan Adams said to AdExchanger. “We’re trying to create an individual taste profile for each person who uses it.”

This could also be a step to reuniting couples who’ve stopped watching TV together because they can’t decide what to watch. A feature called Mashup allows up to 10 people to combine opinions and swipe together. Mashup takes everyone’s preferences and places them all into a collective video playlist full of titles relevant to the group’s interests. This is perfect for couples, and even groups of friends, who have trouble agreeing what to watch find something that interests them both.

Keep swiping on your dating apps and start swiping on MightyTV, and you might just find a new digital crush AND a new show to fall in love with.

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter

Sign up for the Free Weekly Flirt newsletter

Find out how Swiping Right and other Dating Apps will help YOU find LOVE