This strikes me as a very good idea, an online dating site where the women are in control: HerWay.com.

According to HerWay, it is at least five times more likely that online daters will successfully connect when a woman initiates contact. By letting women make the initial connection with their potential suitors, HerWay creates an environment where women’s intuition rules and connections therefore have a much better chance of turning into love. This concept is mutually beneficial as it also relieves men of the pressure of having to compete for a woman’s attention, allowing them to sit back and let the ladies come to them.

For the men, they are offered tips on how to make themselves more appealing to women, how to behave on dates, and personal hygiene tips (OK, I added that one :)

Since men love statistics, the site offers "detailed profile performance reports that illustrate how their profile success rates stack up as compared to other men on the site."

Here’s how it works:

The HerWay registration process takes less than a minute as users build full profiles and post pictures of themselves. Once their profile is built, female users can search the entire database of male profiles on the site and are encouraged to send free invitations to connect with men they find appealing. A woman’s profile is only revealed to the man of her choosing after she has shown interest in him with a connection invitation. Once the connection is established, the male user can view, flirt and message his match.

[Editor’s Note: Tom cross-posted this on Silicon Valley Watcher.  And on a personal note, it’s a good thing this site didn’t exist before my wife and I met. This is a concept made with her personality in mind, greatly reducing my chances at suckering her into marrying me. –mrh]