Not only will the Stranger help hook you up with the right date, they will now help you save a few bucks while on those dates.

The Stranger is now offering “Lovelab” personals users a discount purchasing card in conjunction with local Seattle businesses. Stranger readers who purchase a 30-day membership on the Lovelab site www.thestranger.selectalternatives.com receive the “Friends with Benefits” discount card and a list of participating stores.

The Stranger contacted Stranger advertisers, stating: “We are launching a discount card exclusively for Lovelab members and we want you to be part of it! We want our Lovelab members to come to your business for all things related to love and dating. Whether it’s a two-for-one discount at your business while they’re on a date, or a 10% discount to buy clothes or accessories before a date, we want to bring our young, single daters through your door.”

Caroline Dodge, Promotions Director at the Stranger, commented: “It’s a great way to get our advertisers more involved in the paper, and it’s a great way for our Lovelab members to be more a part of the Seattle community.”

Participating retailers receive promotional banner advertising on the Lovelab site and, each week, one retailer is featured on the homepage.

The Stranger was an initial investor in SelectAlternatives and their Lovelab site was first launched in June of 2004. While the Stranger has consistently enjoyed strong personals numbers since their launch, 2007 is proving to be a banner year. Through the first five months, revenues are up 45 percent over the same period last year. In May, 2007, the Stranger had over 51,000 unique visits to the site; 134,000 visits; 2.2 million page views, and averaged 15.7 pages viewed per visit. Compared to May, 2006, unique visits were up 56 percent, total visits were up 46 percent and page views grew 38 percent.

Twenty-three AAN papers are now offering their readers the SelectAlternatives product. The latest AAN paper to choose SelectAlternatives is the Santa Barbara Independent.

“The key to success for alt-weeklies online is in building local communities with compelling user-generated content.” said Andy Sutcliffe. “SelectAlternatives should be viewed as a key contributor of user-generated content and as an important part of a smart online strategy.”

Contact:
Andy Sutcliffe
andy (at) sutcliffeassociates.com
520-631-6586