The Tycoon Report

More Bang for Your Buck: Whoever said "love don't cost a thing," never found love on the Internet.

One thing that I have learned from meeting women is that Dr. John Gray said it best when he said, "Men are from Mars and Women are From Venus." I know that you all know what I am talking about.

That being said, the reality is that people fall in and out of love every single day; and there are people who are profiting big time from this.

(I am not talking about the illegal kind of love for all of you naughty people out there. Remember, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.")

What I am talking about today is profiting from the human heart … from investing in a "love broker."

And while I haven't finished doing all of my research yet, one company that's caught my eye is Spark Networks plc (SYM: LOV). By the time you read this, the price should be around $6.70 per share.

Some of this company's more popular websites include JDate (a dating site tailored specifically to the Jewish community, Black Singles Connection (a dating website for African Americans), and they just launched a brand new website for the Christian community called Relationships.com.

This company is growing. According to comScore Media Metrix, Spark averaged approximately 3.4 million total unique visitors per month to its web sites in the U.S. during the first nine months of 2005, which ranked the company as the third largest provider of online personals services in the U.S. in terms of total unique visitors.

They have well over 200,000 paying subscribers, and did over $65,000,000 in revenue for the period ending 12/31/05. Their chief competitors are Match.com LP, Spring Street Networks, and Tickle Inc.

The reason that I like this company so far is because I think when it comes to dating, there are two primary types of dating sites. One focuses on the mass market (such as match.com) while others focus on niche markets (enter Spark Networks).

I think that the niche market arena has huge upside potential (anybody remember the success that Passion of the Christ had among Christian groups?).

And as the biggest provider of niche services, I think Spark Networks will only continue to solidify its spot as the market leader.

In closing, as I always say "the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes." This is true … but I believe that LOV may be a good addition to any portfolio ... especially for those among us who want more from one of these websites than a potentially broken heart.