A friendly, easy-to-read website that helps singles over 55 find nearby social events where they can meet other singles — local bars and restaurants hosting "Singles & Mingle" nights, speed dating, and similar neighborhood gatherings. The product is a curated local events directory that answers one question: "Where do I go this week to meet people my age nearby?"
How it makes money (the core model)
SecondAct Socials makes money through the venue, at the moment of sale. Every listed event carries a direct link to its ticket; when a visitor books, a service fee is generated on top of the ticket price at checkout. So the site isn't just advertising events — it's the booking path, and we earn a fee for every ticket sold through it.
Each event card links straight to the ticket (source/booking URL).
A service fee is added to the ticket at checkout — the site's revenue.
Future levers that build on this: featured venue placement to drive more paid bookings, and negotiated fee rates with partner venues.
Sponsored / featured venue placement (owner-approved, DESIGNED — targets):
A paid option for a venue to appear more prominently in the directory. Every placement is clearly labeled ("Featured" / "Sponsored") so readers can always tell paid placement from organic listing — non-negotiable for our trust-first 55+ audience.
Format: a pinned, labeled Featured event card at the top of the relevant neighborhood/category view (and, for the tier above, a homepage + monthly-email feature). Featured slots still link to the venue's ticket, so a placement compounds the core fee revenue.
Pricing (targets, not results): a standard featured placement at ~$200–$300 / 30 days as the starting rate. A launch sweetener: our first venue partner gets featured placement included as part of the partnership — already granted: Ocotillo's Oct 8 Singles & Mingle is the first Featured placement, live on the site.
Honest sequencing (owner-sanctioned): we will not sell placements until real visitor traffic exists — the launch-sweetener slot is active, and paid slots open once the directory is being seen.
Deferred: third-party display/banner ads — only once real traffic supports them.
Current focus — the MVP
Build and publish the first working version now: a clean landing site that
tells visitors what SecondAct Socials is and who it's for,
lists a starter set of real, verifiable singles events (venue, date, time, type — Mingle / Speed Dating / Social), organized by neighborhood, each linking directly to its ticket,
lets a visitor filter or browse by event type and neighborhood,
collects email signups so we can notify people about new events in their area.
The MVP is one clickable site — no accounts, no app yet. Content quality matters: the listings must be real and accurate (this audience values trust), so we'll source starter events carefully with a link for venues/readers to submit or correct events. The MVP site is live and published, and the Featured-placement capability is built and active for our first partner event.
Next up
Prove the fee engine end-to-end — FIRST EVENT LIVE (2026-09-08): Ocotillo Restaurant (Phoenix) confirmed Thursday, October 8, 2026, 5:00–7:00pm, ~60 guests, $500 F&B minimum. The $35 ticket payment link is live (created 2026-09-08) and the event is listed as the Featured placement on the site. No tickets sold yet (balance $0) — proving the engine is the next milestone; the moment the first ticket sells, the service-fee capture is demonstrated for real. Ocotillo's info@ email route remains dead (no MX record) — venue communication via phone; Hearsay (602-791-2687 + Event Request form) remains the verified alternate partner route for future events.
Who it's for: women and men over 55 looking for companionship and social connection close to home.
Revenue mechanics to build out: ticket service-fee capture at checkout, partner/venue negotiated fee rates, featured placement that drives more paid bookings, and — per owner direction — clearly-labeled sponsored placements once real traffic exists, with third-party display ads only later.
KPIs
Visitor signups, events listed, tickets sold / service-fee revenue, and partner venues — once real data exists. First data point: 1 listed Featured event (Ocotillo, Oct 8); 0 tickets sold; balance $0.