New Romance Site Woos Lovers With Creative Ideas

Scott McClure of Chapel Hill has launched LoveLifeMatters.com, a site designed to provide people with information about relationships.

"The mission of the site is kind of like a one-stop shop for information about romance," said Ashley Sharp, a freelance media relations coordinator for the company.

McClure said he found it very difficult to find information on the Web about romance without it being pornography or information in some obscure scientific article.

"To me, it was very frustrating to find anything about romance or sexual intimacy on the Web," he said.

Although anyone can visit the site, Sharp said the site is primarily geared for people in relationships.

"We're targeting, ideally, adults 25-40 (years old)," McClure said.

"We don't want to go after the teenage (crowd). We're trying to deal with romance in a mature fashion for those that are trying to maintain the passion."

McClure said he started the site because of some statistics he considered scary concerning intimacy and relationships.

"Society has a lot of real issues with family values and relationships," he said.

Plus McClure said he gets to combine business with pleasure. McClure moved to Chapel Hill last year to complete his master's in business administration. He has since postponed his education to start LoveLifeMatters.

"I've always been interested in romance," he said.

"I get to combine my passion with my business."

The site offers a variety of information and creative ideas for flirting and dating, including a secret admirer section, forget-me-nots and a stories and poll section where visitors can contribute ideas or comments.

Right now the company is self-funded, but the site has the potential to make money through its product sales, McClure said.

LoveLifeMatters is also partners with about 50 product partners where participants can purchase anything from flowers and lingerie to jewelry and vacation packages, McClure said.

The site also will publish articles relating to romance and intimacy beginning on a monthly basis, then becoming a weekly feature in the near future.

Sharp said she hopes the site will be successful.

"I think it provides really valuable information," Sharp said. "I think it will be a good place to build a community of people looking to build stronger relationships."

McClure agreed, saying there should be nothing more important in people's lives than the relationships with their significant others.

"Too often sex and relationships become a routine," he said.

"If nothing else, it's a way to get neat ideas of how to spice up your love life."

McClure said he feels that relationships and intimacy are becoming less taboo.

"People are becoming more open to talking about relationships and intimacy," he said.

In the coming months, the site will offer romantic coupons for a backrub or a candlelit dinner that can be e-mailed to one's significant other and a way to help people remember their significant other's measurements, McClure said.

"Romance is more than just Valentine's Day."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.