Media Man Australia - The Online Home of Greg Tingle

Interview: Joanna White, director and founder - The Real Deal: 9th October 2006

Media Man Australia continues to explore the world of relationships.

What's your background?

How to make this sound interesting? I've been an aspiring Marketing diva all my working life. My current role is Marketing Director with Universal Pictures. Before this I was Marketing Director with PlayStation where I launched PS2. It was a fun job and definitely made me more attractive to the boys :o)) Before that I was marketing hair care to women with the jingle "You Can Tell a Wella Woman anywhere". The Real Deal is my own venture, and allows me to channel my passion for marketing into something I believe will benefit women.

What is The Real Deal www.therealdeal.com.au?

The Real Deal is a website designed to give women a better understanding of men. Women receive relationship advice and information from real guys, on issues specific to them. It offers women alternative sources of advise to their girlfriends. They can ask the opinion of real single guys, a boyfriend, a married man, and a divorcee, and receive honest answers without the sugarcoating.

I understand there may have been an event that triggered this concept...How did "The Real Deal' come about?

Yes. The idea sprung to mind after when I was trying to find the answer to one of my own dating dilemmas.

I had received tickets to a concert in the very early days of a new relationship. The question was, "Should I ask him along or not?"

It doesn't sound like a difficult decision to make, but when it came to men, I had no idea what was the best thing to do. Girls hear that guys like to chase and be in control, but on the other hand, I knew it would be a fantastic concert so I wanted to invite him along.

The first thing I did was send an email to my two closest girlfriends. The both said NO…wait for Chris to make contact and let him organise our next date. At the time I thought this was reasonable advice. I then spoke to one of my really good male friends and his view was completely different. He suggested I text message Chris and say "Have something fun for us both on Sat night... two VIP tics…are you interested?"

I received a text response from Chris within minutes, saying he would love to go. I excitedly rang my male friend to thank him and he said, "I told you he would love it... I know I'm a Guy". He was right!! As a man he knew exactly what to do and the likely reaction I would get. From that moment I knew I wanted to create a place where women could get a male opinion on anything…whether it be how to ask a guy out on a date, how to act around his mates, how to handle his parents etc.

What makes it unique?

1. You know who is providing the advise (the guys are real and they all have profiles on the site)
2. The only person seeing the response is YOU (its completely confidential)
3. You only ever get a male opinion (eliminates all those women who think they know how a man thinks)

Why is relationship advice so hot at the moment?

For a start, relationships are something all of us have an interest in - be it finding one, keeping one, fixing one, or getting out of one. Until recently, most people kept their relationship issues behind closed doors, or only discussed them with close friends. In the past few years we've seen a lot of new books, films and TV shows addressing a wider range of relationship issues. The internet has opened up a whole new means of communication and access to information such as dating sites, advice sites, blogs, chat rooms, etc. It's the perfect environment for people explore in anonymity. In less than six months The Real Deal has received more than 20,000 unique visitors to the site, traffic is growing at 50-100% every month, and more and more people are coming back time and time again. Our audience is quite diverse too. Most visitors are Australian women between 18 to 30, but we have women from all over the world from 15 to 60 years writing to us.

Who have been your biggest supporters to date?

I have been overwhelmed by how supportive everyone has been to the concept of The Real Deal and in helping me gain exposure for the site. So many people have given their time to the business because they believe in the concept and want to see it succeed. This has been the overwhelming motivation for me to keep going.

I want to thank all five of charming The Real Deal Men; Alex, who writes the juicy diary; the celebrity men (Geoff Barker, Matthew Nicks and Stephen Corby) who have appeared on the site; the wonderful guys who have written their opinion articles on a whole range of subjects; my beautiful girlfriends who have written book and movie reviews (yes, I owe you all ha ha); my developer Matthew Knighton from Eyedentity; and Simon Hillier who helps write the monthly "You Have Male" newsletter.

Most importantly, I want to thank all the members who have supported us.

What's the main advantages of the membership option with The Real Deal?

Registering to The Real Deal is FREE. Members receive:

· The latest insights into MEN on a regular basis via an email newsletter
· Access to the Real Deal Men
· Access to our Celebrity Male
· Two questions free of charge to trial the service

There is a huge amount of content on the site. Its worthwhile checking out our Men's profiles, getting to know Alex, our single guy in Brisbane by reading his diary, and delving into all the interesting articles and research on our favourite topic, MEN!

What media coverage have you attracted to date?

We launched the site 6 months ago. The innovative concept of Real Deal immediately captured the interest of media.

We have had full page exposure in Take 5, Oxygen and Cleo magazines as well as the Northern Beaches Weekender. We have also done radio interviews on "The Late Date Show" on the Today network nationally (thank you Bessie Bardot) and received online exposure with Girl.com.au, femail.com.au, efragrence.com.au, and www.littleblackbook.com.au

What's your favourite "mushy" / romantic movie?

Love Actually. For me that movie perfectly conveys all the issues surrounding love and relationships; fragility, trust, persistence, passion, commitment, novelty, friendship.

What's your ideal man?

The BOYFRIEND on The Real Deal is my ideal man. He believes in me, and all my crazy ideas (even if that means getting a ribbing from his mates about The Real Deal). He chooses to protect me yet lets me flourish and grow and makes me smile all the time. It's hard to believe he only cost me one VIP concert ticket!

Do you have many girlfriends as gorgeous as you?

Thank you. I think as a woman you feel very protective about your friends. I certainly always want the best for my friends and that's why the topic of men is often so frustrating. I have some absolutely gorgeous (inside and out) girlfriends who struggle to find a male partner. Some have even resigned themselves that they are just "BAD' with men and will never have a relationship again. If The Real Deal can help any woman out there navigate her relationships better and feel more confident about how they approach certain situations, then I will be rewarded for all my efforts in launching the site.

What star sign are you?

Capricorn. I am a typical goat, always finding a mountain to climb, and make sure I enjoy the journey on the way up. I was born on Christmas Day and my mum tells the story of my dad finishing his Christmas lunch before coming to the hospital to see me…MEN! Just goes to show they've always been baffling :o)))

Editors note: Joanna White is certainly The Real Deal, and so is her website. Get real with your relationships today and check out the website.

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