Gidraltar on Travel Channel

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On sale at bookshops and newsagents in Gibraltar at £15,00 (€25.00). Worldwide airmail order service at £25.00 sterling (€35.00) or equivalent from GFSH, PC Box 555, Gibraltar. Please make cheques or money orders payable to "The Gibraltar Financial Services Handbook".

The Gibraltar Tourist BoarHhas launched its sponsorship of the European Weather slots on the digital Travel Channel television network.

The 10-second adverts, which can be seen 18 times a day, also feature the Tourist Board logo.

while illustrating Gibraltar as thriving Mediterranean destina Hon. The recognisable voice-ove has been provided by well-knowi British weather forecaster lai McCaskill.

Each of the adverts highligh the variety of activities and at tractions on offer, and capture th diversity of Gibraltar's histor and culture.The campaign starte earlier this month and will ru for a year. Transmission Hmes ai between 7am-lam daily.

Minister Joe Holliday saic "Television presents a new mt dium for us to reach our ever d versifying audience. We are lool ing forward to this campaign,an hope that it succeeds in capturin the imagination of the viewer prompting them to find out mo about our destinaHon."

Travel Channel transmits over 2 million viewers in the U1 attracting the ABCl adultover-3! audience.

A lot of money with minimal outlay can be made if you or your company are not Gibraltarresident.

"It's not a get-rich-quick scheme,"Mike Fitzgerald told me, "but with a committed long-term application there is a lot of earning potential. Some of our affiliates, both corporations and individuals, are making up to £20,000 a month, depending on their experience and input."

Mike and his partner Graham Hampson were telling me about their three-year-old internet busi ness which they started in Stockport, Greater Manchester in 2001 and which they have moved to Gibraltar's friendlier offshore tax regime due to the enterprise's phenomenal success.

So, what is it? "It's your ownfully-automated dating agency," explained Graham, "all you need is a website and some advertising to bring the customers to it,"

That's all? "Yes," Mike con firmed, "the whole system is automatic and managed by us. You don't have any contact with the customers nor do you have to collect any money.Simply generate the customer interest and we pay out half of the income."

Although the idea has been copied in other parts of the world, it was Mike and Graham who came up with the original concept and then set about designing the soft ware to make it all work with mini mal intervention. The two had be come friends while doing business degrees at Manchester Metropoli tan University."We weren't what you would call computer literate, but after a spell in the world of work we both felt we wanted to do something really worthwhile." By chance, they read a report on e-commerce wfiich predicted that computer dating was one ofthe big future markets and decided to see if they could make it work.

How much does it cost to be come an affiliate? Presumably something so potentially valuable must come at a premium? But no: "There is no charge at all. You just ask to become an affiliate and we set you up. There are no monthly targets to meet either; if you make money, fine, but if you don't do anything after you've registered then someone else will."

You do need to promote the service by advertising on the inter net or in the press, although spam and other unethical methods are not allowed. People who respond to your adverts do not have to pay anything initially (which makes it more attractive), but can look at the lists of over one million members, divided into categories such as Christian, Disabled, Forces, Gay, Lesbian, Romance, Age Groups and so on."This gives a better con version rate," said Mike,"as people can narrow their choices down and feel more confident about finding a suitable date."

It is only when the customer decides there is someone he or she would like to contact that they sign up, and it's not expensive. They pay a monthly registration or mem bership fee according to their status and category, starting at about £10 for disabled or unemployed and rising to around £30 for top profes sionals, half of which is automati cally paid to the affiliate.

The affiliate does not have to attend the business in any way, except to advertise, and payments are made automatically to their bank account in their country of residence. A reminder here: because of Dating Central's non resident tax status,they cannot take on companies or dividuals who are resident in Gibraltar except for other tax-exempt companies. But otherwise, everyone is welcome and they won't have to pay any sort of fee or commit themselves in any way to joinup. Dating Cen tral will also provide useful tips on how to promote the business under your own chosen website domain name. At present there are about 6,000 affiliates, of whom just 300 are active, working easily from home or as a bolt-on to their existing businesses.

If you have a non-Gibraltar inter net connection and bank account, you could be earning anything from a good part-time wage up to a very high full-timeincome simply by placing adverts and spreading the message.And there is the bonus of knowing you'd be making a lot of other people happy.

Full hiformation can be obtained from the website, www.dating-central. com, email:affiliates®dating-central. com, or by tellfax to Gibraltar 40335 between 9 and 3, Monday to Friday. leading the worldfrom Gibraltar bone-fish.com

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