Digital Identity: PersonalsTrainer.com

Personal ads have long been used as a "reliable" method of meeting people with similar romantic, and sometimes social, interests. In many ways, the online dating industry flourished by moving that access online and improving on the searchability for everyone involved.

Regardless of the medium, however, the manner in which we portray ourselves is critical. The need to "sell" oneself in the most compelling manner is undeniable, be it while looking for a car, a job, or a date. For years, there have been a number of different forms of "coaching" available, from style consultants to "success" trainers. It only seems natural that something should exist for your profile -- and it does.

These services are not new, andPersonalTrainers.com, as spotlighted in the WSJ today, is definitely not the last. What is interesting about PT.com, though is the "all-star" lineup they're recruited to their forces.

As noted in the WSJ article:

First impression? "Definitely needs some work," says the team of Emma Taylor, 31 years old, and Lorelei Sharkey, 32, co-authors (as Em & Lo) of a sex manual called "The Big Bang." They're coaches at PersonalsTrainer, a New York personal-ad tuneup shop whose advisers include a former writer from HBO's "Sex and the City" and radio relationship therapist Dr. Judy Kuriansky. For $59.99, Em & Lo smooth out their clients' faux pas by e-mail.

[...]

While dating advisers have been around for years, the recent uptick in the cottage industry of dating-ad counseling is a reaction to the explosion of online profiles pouring into services such as Match, Yahoo and Nerve. Last year, Web sites accounted for about 43% of the $991 million U.S. dating-services sector -- which also includes off-line operations, independent matchmakers and print and radio personal ads -- according to Marketdata Enterprises Inc. That's up from 34% in 2002.

Source: WSJ.com, "Get Me Rewrite! Personal Ads Are Big; Big on Clichés, Too" (subscription required)