When the voice personals business was going strong, Kerry Farley, ad director at NUVO newsweekly in Indianapolis, estimates that a well-written "Woman seeks Man" ad was worth $267 a week to him. That's because it would motivate a string of eager men to spend several minutes on the 900 phone line checking out women's voicemail messages. In terms of minutes on the phone, money was no object for these ardent would-be Romeos.

But lately, the personals business has been bleak. Farley knows why. He blames the free personals on Yahoo! and America Online for stealing his revenue. After all, why pay to find the lady of your dream if you don't' have to? Save it for the date. business in conventional, newspaper personals is off at lest 25% for most publications, estimates Peter Brennan, Director of development at TPI Group, a company that sets us personals systems for papers.

But whining won't put money toward the bottom line, so what's the solutions? How does a newspaper revive the personals product and keep the cash flowing?

At the Orlando Weekly, conventional personals are up 57%. Publisher Alisa Cromer credits several factors, but her favorite is a personals' personality known only by the unique name, Michelle Valentine.

Valentine was hired to promote a variety of Weekly project but soon settled into the business of giving the personals class and pizzazz. She has her own cable show that interviews personals users. She offers seminars in finding romance, and she devises and  attends promotional singles social events, often co-sponsored with radio stations and/or clubs.