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I happen to read your interview with your client who is black and is attempting to contact Russian Women. I have had correspondence with several Russian Women. One woman I was particularly fond of, actually came to visit me here in the United States. She was a woman from Estonia.  Although she told me that her family had expressed some concerns about her being involved with a black man, she was not bothered by the prospect of becoming involved with a black man.

I know that two people do not make any sort of statistics, but apparently there are some Russian Women who find black men attractive.  I believe that I could meet and possibly marry a Russian woman and be very happy.

Thanks
Reg (USA)

I am not a client of yours however I steer quite a few individuals towards your web-site. I am an American black man who's married to a Russian woman from Saratov. I am e-mailing you thank you because your company provides men similar to my ethnic background the ability to search for a woman for possible marriage by entering their ethnic background.

It would be nice if other Russian Women marriage agencies would provide this added search criteria, you have no idea how much easier it is for a non-white male to find someone. Continued to success to your company.

Samuel (USA)

(Since the publication of the interview in 2001 I had several other black clients. While most Russian women do prefer men of their own race, there are some women that would consider interracial relationship and marriage. I also know examples of such marriages.)

Q: Did you try any of other services before?

A: Your service was one of the first one that I chose to use along with Interglobe and St. Petersburg. I am actually using several right now, and the results have varied.

a) Interglobe www.e700.com
b) Maksim's www.yoshkar-ola.com/e
c) St. Petersburg www.gimeney.com/eng

I actually decided to begin corresponding with women in Russia somewhat on a whim. I am realizing that there are several different business models that the agencies use. Some are better than others. Although it is somewhat 
difficult to know up front, I would tell men to choose your agency carefully. There is nothing free in this world, and the so-called "free" profiles have a way of adding many hidden or expensive costs into the transaction.

Q: What kind of results you had?

A: a) Interglobe - I chose to use them due to the fact that you are allowed to place a free advertisement. I have had approximately a dozen responses in a month and a half. The costs are prohibitive however. They require you to pay not only to receive email, but to send as well. This can quickly get very expensive (which I am sure that the Company likes) I am finishing up my last few correspondences and then closing my profile and account with them. They do not allow you to give your email address to your correspondents and actually go so far as to strip it out of your emails to the ladies. I know they are trying to protect their business, but I feel that they are taking advantage of people due to the fact that the meter is constantly running, especially if you meet someone you like.

Of the dozen or so women who have contacted me, only one has written more than once or twice. Again, I think the costs of the service may be a limiting factor. For the amount I have paid just for sending and receiving emails, I could have joined another agency for a year! Still, it has been a good learning experience, and I wanted to get a sense of different approaches.

b) Maksim's - For a full service agency, Maksim's is one of my favorites. Since I was dealing with women in a big city, I decided to try to see if there were any differences with women in the provinces. Maksim's is in the Mari-el Republic. They provide a very personalized and high quality level of service. You set up an account with them, and funds are withdrawn as needed to pay for correspondence, gifts, etc. I have written to about a dozen women there. Only one has chosen to actively engage in correspondence with me, while many others I have never heard from.

One of the benefits of their service is that it entitles me to a "free" profile as well. Like yourself they are very interested in learning how it goes for me, as I am the first African-American/person of color to use their service. My profile ran with them this week, and I have received one inquiry so far.

c) St. Petersburg - I think that they have a very good selection of women, and they were one of the first agencies I chose to participate with. I also think that the ladies they feature have many suitors. With this service I again actively contacted the ladies first. In this case, I did not send my picture first. Of the two dozen or so ladies I wrote to, about ten wrote back. Of that ten when I followed up with a photograph, only two chose to correspond. My guess is that they are in a big city and can afford to be very selective in whom they correspond with.

d) Your Service: Your service has by far been the best. I am still receiving new letters from women at a rate of 3 or 4 new ones a week. I think all total I have heard from about 35-40 women. I was tracking it, but I have actually lost count. No one has written me [by mail], only emails.

Q: Why did you decide to use my service?

A: Your value proposition appealed to me more than any others. For a one time fee you are eligible to place your ad which runs all the way across Russia and CIS. If it does not work out you are only out your initial payment. As I mentioned in question 2, some services I continue to pay fees to whereas I have had very little success. Also, most of the women who have contacted me based on my profile with you have some form of Internet  access, whether via a service or directly. This is by far the easiest way for me to communicate with women and to receive photos. I am still benefiting from the profile I have placed with you, and it has not cost me any additional money. That is a GREAT deal.

Q: What kind of response you had?

A: I have had very good responses to my profile. Many of the women I can tell very quickly are not what I am looking for, although as you suggested I have been trying to contact every one and thank them for writing to me. You will hear me repeat over and over, that the best success has been coming from women who have expressed an interest and chosen to contact me in comparison to my selections.

There are some days where I get no emails at all and then suddenly I receive 3 or 4 in a day. It has by far exceeded my expectations and their are one or two women that I would not mind meeting in person at some point.

Q: What kind of women contacted you?

A: I have had women contact me from the age of 19 - 42 [I am 32]. The average age is about 26/27. I think the fact that I am close to the age of women in their late 20's and early 30's is appealing to many women. Some women are highly educated, while others have only a high school education. A slight majority do not have children although I have been contacted by many women with children as well. Some are single while some are divorced. I have been contacted by engineers, teachers, doctors, shop girls and "housewives".

I think that those women in their late 20's or early 30's that are unmarried, may still be considered "Old Maids" in your country. In America people are getting married at later, and later ages, so it is not a problem. Many of the women (particularly those in their early 30's) who are unmarried have remained unmarried for a reason. I think that they are more concerned with marrying the right man for them, than they are for just getting married. They are potentially based on that fact, more open to communicating with me.

Q: What is Russian women position about interracial marriages (in your opinion)?

A: I think like in most countries, it takes a certain type of person to consider an interracial relationship. Their are still social stigmas that exist in the world, and a great number of nosy people who feel it is their business to but into the affairs of others. With all of the difficulties in life and with such a high divorce rate, some would say that an interracial relationship is just adding fuel to the fire. Others would see in such a relationship a tremendous opportunity for diversity of experience. Many women have told me explicitly that race is not an issue for them.

I would differentiate between the women who have contacted me, and the women I have contacted. The women who have contacted me have seen my photograph so they are aware right up front that I am a person of color. Some women are writing me perhaps merely out of initial interest or curiosity. Many seem to get "cold-feet". I hear from them once and then that is it. This is actually okay with me, as I barely have enough time to correspond with more than a few anyway.

One thing I did do, was purchase Anatoly Neverov's "Russian Women Speak" CD-Rom. A group of women are asked questions about western men, and question specifically addressed the issue of race. When queried about race, most women said that they were looking for a "White" man. As the discussion continue however, when asked about men of color from the United States, they all made an exception and said it would depend. I think America is viewed as a very similar country due to its European origin. For those women interested in men of color, I believe that they would look first to America as a viable option. Anatoly however mentions that he has seen several women choose men of color from other parts of the world. I guess at the end of the day, it all comes down to individual choice. Some women may see me as a "colored" American, while others may view me as an American who happens to be colored.

I have not had a tremendous amount of success in contacting women directly (although I am in a deep conversation with a young woman at another agency who I did contact). Typically I would say, only 1 in 10 actually reply to me. Of these only 50% who reply continue for more than one or two emails. Part of it may have to do with race, part of it may have to do with them being overloaded with other emails. I also think that many of these women are being flooded with inquiries from men, whereas the ones who have chosen to contact me have made an active decision to do this.

Q: Do you think it will work for somebody else (a black or colored guy)?

A: For men of color interested in meeting women in Russia, I would highly recommend that they consider placing an advertisement along with their photograph as their primary means of generating interest. I would also highly recommend your service as having the best value, being the most affordable and of the highest quality. My belief is that it is best to pursue women that have an interest in reciprocating, rather than chasing women who have no interest. Your fee is reasonable and although results will vary from person to person, I believe that it is a reasonable way to test the waters.

I have already decided that if things do not work out for me this time around, that I will wait a few months and then most likely run another profile with you in a few months.

My final word of advice to another Black/Colored gentleman would be, that there is only one way to find out how Russian women will react and that is to take a chance and run your profile. I would also suggest to them, that with the amount of mail that many of these women receive, do your best to differentiate yourself and ensure that you are a good "catch" to any woman, not just one from Russia.

PS: Just logged on, and there is another two emails waiting for me! Sigh..., better start writing.

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