Online daters, disappointed by potential partners lying about their age, weight or marital status, are paying thousands of dollars to matchmakers to discreetly "headhunt" and vet the perfect partner. "So many people have had nightmare experiences with people misrepresenting themselves," said Christie Nightingale, principal of New York-based Premier Match LLC. Her agency employs a team of women to scour social and business events for potential matches. Nightingale hand outs a list of "do's and don'ts" to her clients before they head off for dates -- such as turn off your cell phone and don't talk about former partners. Some top-end US matchmakers -- who charge up to $25,000 -- also organise makeovers and relationship coaching for clients. The US-based Matchmaking Institute also trains matchmakers. FULL ARTICLE @ CHINA DAILY



Mark Brooks: Real world matchmaking services are severely flawed due to a lack of selection. Online dating services are severely flawed due to a lack of service. Who will get the marriage of the two right, first? The race is on. LoveAccess is working on it. Match is working on it. Great Expactations would love to do a deal. GE is making good money from converting leads generated from dating sites. Building a matchmakers infrastructure throughout the USA is no easy feat. But, the phone is your friend ;-) It's possible to roll out a quality, well priced phone-borne matchmaking service nationwide. I would love to see a hybrid service offer a ~$2500 a year service with a money back guarantee. Crazy, but possible, and very viral.