HOW TO START A DATING and ESCORT SERVICE

    Starting and operating a successful Dating and Escort Service can
    bring in $60,000 or more per year for the sharp, aggressive,
    imaginative business person.  The secret to success with a business
    of this kind is advertising that presents your services with a "show
    business" flair - while still maintaining good taste.

    Most successful Escort Services are natural expansions of businesses
    begun originally as Introduction and Dating Services.

    To get started, you need an impressive looking application form.
    Research into a number of successful operations seems to indicate
    that a four-page application works well.

    This should be typeset with an attractive letterhead or company
    masthead on 11 by 17 inch paper, folded in half to give the
    impression of a "personnel file."  Your best paper colors are either
    pale blue or ivory.  The better paper stock you can afford, the more
    impressive your application will be - giving a greater aura of
    credibility to your business, and thus to prospective clients.

    In addition to the usual questions such as name, address, telephone
    number, marital status, place of employment, hobbies, likes and
    dislikes, your application should contain:

       ****     A short personality test which can be obtained with a
                bit of research at your public library.  For ideas,
                samples, and even tests you can use intact, be sure to
                check some of the modern women's magazines.  And don't
                discount the idea of registering at an already
                established business of this type; or possibly you can
                see their application form without actually involving
                yourself any further.  Or inquire among friends and
                acquaintances who have registered with a dating or
                escort service.

       ****     Near the end of the application, you should include a
                short paragraph pointing up the fact that your
                organization, in addition to bringing people together as
                a dating service, also provides an escort service for
                out-of-town visitors and local non-members.  You then
                pose the question:  "Would you be interested in these
                kinds of dates, which would include all expenses, and a
                minimum fee of $25 for what usually amounts to a very
                delightful time with an interesting person.  Your only
                obligation ever is to be your usual charming self, and
                enjoy."

       ****     Just before or above the blank for your applicant's
                signature, include a legal disclaimer to any
                responsibilities or promises implied and/or not
                specifically stated within the application.

    The building in which you locate:  For this one, you'll need a
    store-front office, and it should be in a better part of the
    business district in your city.  Try to select a site that is upbeat
    and attractive without being "jivey" - one that would appeal to the
    more conservative or mature as well as the younger generation.  Many
    of your clients are going to be mature, and be reminded, the mature,
    intelligent sector of our society is "getting younger" and more
    vigorous, "still interested in life" more than in years past.  In
    other words, the section where you locate should reflect a modern
    attitude, but with solid values.

    The  reception area of your office should be large and comfortable,
    with as expensive a look as you can manage.  Your receptionist is
    very important - very.  She should be attractive, with a vivacious
    and outgoing personality.  She should be able to quickly put your
    prospective clients at ease, and generally make them feel that
    belonging to your group is going to be the beginning of happier
    times, fun, and lasting friendships.

    You should have at least two expensive looking picture scrapbooks on
    the coffee table in your reception room.  These you can fill with
    portrait or candid shots of your members and clients.  These
    pictures can pose a problem for you while you are in the beginning
    stages - so don't hesitate to gather pictures of various relatives,
    friends who are not necessarily located in your area - or even visit
    a nearby campus and ask if you can take pictures of some of their
    best looking men and women.  You will need to get a release signed
    by each one, and you simply explain that you are putting together a
    picture display book of terrific looking people in the area for the
    promotion of your business, and their names and any other
    information will not be publicized or released.

    After your prospective client has filled out the application, the
    next step is a personal interview.  Your office should be cozy and
    comfortable, but business-like, and you should arrange for
    un-interrupted time  in complete privacy with each person.

    You should use the interview to go over the application, answer any
    questions, and close the membership sale.  You also use this
    interview  as the basis of your estimate of the kind of person most
    likely to match this client.  Be empathetic with your clients; you
    are going to meet people who are tired of the "dating game" as it is
    usually played out in singles bars and unproductive groups they had
    joined before.  You might get added help in the area of interviewing
    by writing for advertising material and bro-chures from similar
    services in other areas, adapting any techniques you like to your
    own interviewing process.

    Most escort services we looked into publish a monthly newsletter
    with tidbits of information and gossip about members. Who's doing
    what; job changing; who's travelling where; plus a listing of
    upcoming events and activities.  Listing the names of new members is
    also a good idea, and quotes from members who are active and
    enjoying the service.  Some of these newsletters feature "girl and
    guy of the month," with lots of pictures - "on the town," involved
    in hobbies at home, and candid shots in everyday life.  Usually, the
    escort service itself will sponsor an "all membership" party about
    once every three months to introduce other members and project a
    sense of "family" and belonging.

    As we said earlier, advertising is the key to your success with this
    project.  A small classified ad, run for about a week in the
    "Personals" column of your area newspaper, should start the ball
    rolling for you.  Some ideas for pulling inquiries from men might
    read like this:  "Career woman, new to area, seeking dates with
    honest, fun-loving guys.  Call Barbara 123-4567;" or, "Young recent
    divorcee ready to start dating again.  Call Linda at 234-5678."

    And for attracting inquiries from women:  "Young business executive
    wants to meet eligible ladies.  Call Ron at 345-6789;" or, "Active
    and ambitious young man wants to meet wholesome, All-American kind
    of girl.  Call Brian at 456-7890."

    At the time you have an ad of this type running, you'll want to have
    bulletin board ads and notices on all the college campuses, in as
    many company newspapers as you can get into, and wherever people are
    most likely to take notice.  This ad should be a straight
    advertisement inviting people to "get out of the rat race" of the
    singles game by joining your organization.  You'll of course
    emphasize confidentiality, respectability, and the fact you deal
    only with people who are really serious about meeting new friends
    and forming lasting relationships.

    Your ads soliciting new members should tell readers you'll help them
    meet new friends and enjoy dates with people especially matched to
    their own likes and dislikes.  A sense of fun and excitement should
    be conveyed, but at the same time, honesty, respectability and
    trust.  You cannot use flashy headlines or pictures of models that
    give a connotation of an invitation into the bedroom.  Write your
    ads from the point of view of the people you want to sell to - build
    from what you believe to be their special wants, and visualize their
    thinking.  Put yourself in the place of a prospective new member,
    and understand that it takes a great deal of nerve, we might even
    call it COURAGE, to make that move to ask for help in dating.  (It
    is generally easier to just let things slide along - stay in that
    same old "lonesome rut" than to ask for help - and risk
    disappointment.)

    You'll have to have a "planned explanation" when people call in
    answer to your ads.  Quickly get the name and phone number, ask a
    few questions, then set up an appointment for him or her to come
    into your office.  When you are in the interview, be bright,
    inviting, but factual and brief - and don't lose control of the
    conversation.  Best to have your questions and answers written out
    in the order that works best to pull the prospect into your office,
    and then follow it to the letter.

    When you're ready to expand with Escort Services, get the word out
    to all the likely places where people wanting these services will
    see your ads or hear about you in friend-to-friend conversation.
    Have  some interesting posters made up inviting people to call
    asking about your good-looking, friendly and charming escorts for
    every  occasion - dinner dates, banquets, parties, theater dates,
    dancing, special occasions.  Try to get one of these up on the wall
    at the airport, train and bus stations, and in the better hotel and
    motel lobbies in your area - anywhere else that travelers are likely
    to notice them.

    Run a regular ad in your Thursday and Friday papers, and also in the
    yellow pages of your telephone directory.  Pass out business cards
    to all the car rental agencies and the restaurants near the travel
    centers and to anyone and everyone having any thing to do with
    convention or tourist arrangements in your area.

    You will have to experiment and test to determine the right fee to
    charge for providing an escort, but with most escort services, the
    minimum is $50, plus all expenses.

    This is a business that will provide pleasure and profit to a person
    who is out-going, fun-loving, gregarious, but who is sensitive to
    the needs of others, and enjoys seeing people "get a new start," or
    seeing more reserved ones "come out of their shells."  It takes more
    to get started in this business than it does for some other
    endeavors, but this is one that can start small and grow, improve,
    and even spread to franchising size.