what are your suggestions

[jim c]

Besides the obvious!!

I'm outa here. The plane leaves the 25th and I will be grumpy no more. That is until I come back.

   What I am interested in is, how you would set up an agency.

What are the bad parts of the agencies that you would like to change. What should the services be and what should they cost?
How would you change the industry.
Is it fair to sell addresses or does the Latina expect that the men who contact her are members of a organization who are screened.
Should she be told that her address will be sold to anyone who has ten bucks.
Is there a new practice of "salting the mine" with photo models who are only there to sell the addresses for ten bucks a pop?
Is the presentation of galleries a form of soft porn simular to the bikini sites and model sites.
Which are the most successful agencies.
What separates the successful agencies from the others.
Do you think all the women on the sites are real and interested in meeting a man like you.

It is up to you if you name names.

It is getting quiet again. jimc

[Pete E]

... in response to what are your suggestions, posted by jim c on Feb 21, 2004

Jim,
I have not posted back on this because I didn't read the other responses and intended to.But I will go ahead and give my suggestions which may be redundant to what someone else has said.
First you need someone that almost certainly has to be a Colombiana,to recruit the girls.Having a good selection of girls is the number one thing you need and I don't think you or any other non Colombian is going to be good at this.
Back in the original Latin Love Crystall Palace days Bud hired Rubby,who I thought was excellent.I believe he hired her away from Latin Internet and hgave her alot more money.I heard something like $1100 a month which is huge for Colombia.Then I think he decided  he couldn't afford her because he overestimated income and underestimated expenses like utilities which are huge.I think when she left it was the begining of the end of Latin Love as we knew it.
2.  You probably need to advertise to attract the girls.It probably won't get ging without that.Word of mouth refferals,which are very important,will happen later.
3. which ties in to part of number one,is you need a good location with the ability to make money renting rooms.Guys will only pay so much for the introductions,they might balk at a certain price but then be paying $100 a night to stay in a hotel because thats sort of a expected price for them.You need to make money on the rooms as well,and I think there is more profit in this part.
4. You need to have a projected income and expense.You need to consider all aspectys of expense.Utilities can be huge with a big place,lots of guys using the phone and computer.You then need to be able to make it with a fairly conservative estimate of income.If more great,but don't get in trouble thinking it will be higher than it turns out to be.Along this line you need to have cash reserve to get through the stasrt up and lean times.
5.You need to make sure you do not violate local laws or if someone need to get paid off you need to plan that in.certain gratuaties to the right people might cause them to ignore possible complains.Look at the neighborhood.Will the neighbors get upset with what you are doing?
6.Consider the competition.Forget Cali I think,too much good competition I think.Cartergena just might be the number one place that could use another better agency.
7.Don't get too caught up in consuming the merchandise.I don't think you will have a problem here.This is not to say you can't date the women,but not lots of them at the same time.The women and the customers will get pissed if they figure it out.

Good Luck,Cartegena is the place I think.You moght even consider adds to try to get women who are onlt there on vacation to sign up.
I personally would not try this without a very good Colombiana partner or employee.For some guys that has been there Colombiana wife.

Pete

Pete

[zack]

... in response to what are your suggestions, posted by jim c on Feb 21, 2004

Jim,

If I were starting an agency, I would definately choose Cartegena. There are no agencies in the city itself, only tours and internet dating services. It is also a beautiful and romantic city with lots to do. I am surprised that nobody has opened an agency there yet.

When you start your agency, keep in mind that there are a lot attractive ladies in Colombia who would make wonderful wives but don't want to join an agency because of the stigma involved. But they very much want to meet American men. In addition to the photo catalogues, I would also have a private database of ladies who don't want to be in a catologue but want to meet American men. Margareth has been doing this with some of the ladies. This will allow you to increase your total database significantly, which will obviously attract more gringos.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Zack

[pablo]

... in response to Re: what are your suggestions, posted by zack on Feb 23, 2004


Zack,

Not as endorsement but there is another agency in Catagena besides AFA:

http://www.loveincartagena.com

Pablo

[zack]

... in response to Re: Re: what are your suggestions, posted by pablo on Feb 26, 2004

Glad to hear that. It's about time )  
I wonder how long they have been there.

[pablo]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: what are your suggestions, posted by zack on Feb 28, 2004


It looks like LIC is fairly new.  A whois search reveals they registered their site in October of 2003.

[lswote]

... in response to Re: what are your suggestions, posted by zack on Feb 23, 2004

Hey Zack, how does that work?  Does Margareth just look through her list of ladies that aren't in the catalogue and contact them directly and then if the women are interested she pitches the women to the gringo or what?  Seems to me the second you show a picture to a gringo you are in effect showing him someone from a catalogue, albeit a more private catalogue.

[zack]

... in response to Re: Re: what are your suggestions, posted by lswote on Feb 23, 2004

That is a good question. The last time I spoke with Margareth she told me that she knows a lot of ladies that are not in the catalogues but want to meet American men. I didn't ask anything beyond this so I really don't know how it works. Perhaps she sets them up with with men and they meet at a restaurant or something. I don't know if she keeps pictures of these ladies.

Zack

[HeyNow]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: what are your suggestions, posted by zack on Feb 23, 2004

This is an interesting topic.  I was told Luz Amparo will pull some photos out of a drawer for gringos she decides are worthy.

[zack]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: what are your suggestion..., posted by HeyNow on Feb 23, 2004

It would also be interesting to see how the selection of  ladies in the drawer compares to the selection of ladies in the catalogues.

[HeyNow]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: what are your sugges..., posted by zack on Feb 24, 2004

From what I was told the ladys in the drawer are attractive working professionals looking for the same.  They tell Luz something like, "If you see what I am looking for then show him my photo."

[zack]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: what are your su..., posted by HeyNow on Feb 24, 2004

That makes sense when you think about it. The more professional ladies are trying to maintain their professionalism and they think that being in a catalogue would hurt that image. But there are a lot of professionals in the catalogues as well.

[HeyNow]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: what are you..., posted by zack on Feb 24, 2004

Next time you go make sure you ask about the "ladies in the drawer."

[wizard]

... in response to what are your suggestions, posted by jim c on Feb 21, 2004

You sure you got the temperament to run an agency Jim??? I can see you going ballistic on some poor gringo who wasn't as experienced in "life" as you... I think you would have alot to offer in the Colombian experience department, if you can knock the edge off the repartee... Not being harsh, just my observation...

It would be fun though and give you something to do... You might think of it as being a gentlemen farmer, cultivating relationship between couples... Perhaps you could use that angle to provide a more personalized service to gringos...

After experiencing the services of many agencies and some solo trips, the one thing I would have appreciated was a more personal, friendly service... More of a romnatic tour guide instead of the hardcore agency mentality... You could charge by the day for personal introductions / assistance and not have to worry with the hustle & bustle of a full blown agency thnking of how many girls / gringos you have to run through the door to keep your head above water... Think quality over quantity...

I'm with Bruce with respect to LAI providing the best experience... The reason for that is their attention to detail and a genuine concern for each members experience... Integrity mean alot...

Mark

[Seeker]

... in response to what are your suggestions, posted by jim c on Feb 21, 2004

The challenge: Agencies fail to consider the women's perspective.

An example: In Medellin I met the woman of my dreams; however, she had no interest in seeing me again.

Possible Solution: I know this will be controversial, but...

An agency ought to have male galleries that parallel those of female members. Ideally, prior to the "cita", the woman is able to look up the guy and make a decision as to whether or not she wants to meet him. Imagine how many times a beautiful 20 year old arrives for an appointment only to think to herself, "There is no way in hell...". Would it not do everyone a favor, by preventing this in the first place? I think this scenario plays itself over and over again and has negative consequences for everyone. The women become less enthusiastic and committed to being on time and making their appointments. The guys waste their precious time meeting women that have no interest in them. The agencies lose credibility and loyalty from female members.

On the positive side, once the female member agrees to meeting a guy she has seen in pictures and has read a brief profile, I think there is a much greater chance for success. Personally, if I don't find a woman attractive after seeing her pictures and reading her profile, meeting her in person would rarely change my opinion.

Of course there are many logistical problems. For example, the female members need access to the internet. If I was setting up an agency, I would reimburse my female members for 30 minutes of internet access at the going rate for checking out a male customer and getting back to me as to wheter or not she wants to meet him. When you consider how much it costs a guy to be in Colombia per day, including airfare, etc., I think it would be worth the cost. This would be a fraction of the cost of paying for a round-trip taxi fare for a woman that has no interest in you.  

Also, I've seen most guys arrive in Colombia with maybe one or two women in mind that they want to meet. Only then do appointments begin to be scheduled. I think it would be most efficient if a guy selected potential dates a week or two in advance. The agency could then ascertain the female's interest and schedule the appointments for mutual convenience. Of course the agency would have to have accurate and updated galleries for this to work.

Lastly, do everyone a favor by immediately honoring a member's request to be removed from the agency.