By Mary Beth Hislop

Linx Dating client Marv receives a wardrobe consultation from founder and CEO Amy Andersen, one of the many services she offers beyond matchmaking.

For women who are always the bridesmaid and never the bride – and for men who are no longer attending bachelor parties because all their friends are married – Amy Andersen offers hope beyond blind dates and Match.com that singles will find that special someone.

Using old-fashioned interview techniques and intuition, founder and CEO Andersen established Palo Alto-based Linx Dating LLC to match high-caliber, educated professionals who are seeking another for a committed relationship.

Andersen developed her matchmaking concept while living in San Francisco in 2000.

“I first witnessed an odd disparity between the ratio of women to men,” she said. “I knew a lot of smart, successful men who asked me, ‘Amy, where are the women?’”

Andersen found the same problem for educated and professional women in Silicon Valley and began building a professional and social network of individuals seeking life partners.

“This is based on my network of friends and their friends,” she said.

Andersen carefully screens all potential clients, which makes her services more reliable than Web dating services, where “there is a lot of fabrication” – such as people posing as singles when they’re married, she said.

“I have a valued and trusted network,” she said. “We have a pretty good B.S. detector.”

When individuals are referred to Linx through Andersen’s network, she conducts an initial screening for age, education, occupation, title, company, interests outside of work and something exceptional they’ve done in their lives. Above everything else, potential clients must want a long-term relationship.

“We ask, ‘Are you marriage-minded and comfortable with commitment?’” Andersen said.

Other information required: weight, height, clothing size and recent photos, including a full-body shot and portrait.

And that’s just the initial screening. Potential clients seeking membership for Linx’s matchmaking services must fill out a 13-page questionnaire – what is their ideal relationship, what worked and what didn’t in past relationships and “what they’re looking for in their match,” Andersen said.

“Sometimes, people come in knowing exactly what they want,” she said.

Many clients have specific requirements for a potential mate in the areas of religion, politics, ethnicity, occupation, education – and whether someone was previously married and has children.

With the equivalent of a graduate degree in finance and 40 years old, “MJ” (not her real name) found herself ready to sacrifice time spent with hobbies and transfer that time to developing a committed relationship. She had been to another matchmaking service and, after screening with both, was impressed with Andersen’s process.

“Linx was really thorough in the time they spent in screening and getting to know me,” MJ said.

Andersen relies on the screening process, application questionnaire and information from a one-on-one interview to match her clients with each other. She also relies on intuition. She said she has wakened at 2 a.m. thinking, “Oh, so and so would be perfect for each other.”

“I met someone on the first match,” said MJ, who joined Linx in February. “I immediately thought it would be great to get to know him better. There’s interest on both our parts.”

Clients may have a mental image of the physical characteristics they want in a partner. When Andersen determines a potential match, she offers both parties a brief biography of the other – name, age, work industry, interests or hobbies and self-submitted adjectives describing the client – but no pictures.

“Humans can be pretty judgmental based on appearance,” she said.

MJ said her match is someone she never would have otherwise chosen.

“Maybe (Andersen) has a little better intuition than me,” she said.

Once both parties agree to a match, Andersen instills the ideals of old-fashioned courtship and chivalry in her male client – he must call the woman within five days to schedule a date. She always recommends a simple meal at a bistro with a casual atmosphere.

“Nothing formal, nothing fancy,” Andersen said. “I would never suggest a movie on the first date – you can’t get to know each other.”

Andersen estimates that on average, clients find their perfect someone after three matches. One female client met her match on the sixth introduction – it was the male client’s first match.

“Talk about a good investment – he proposed nine months later,” Andersen said of her clients, who married last May.

MJ said she and her match are taking things slowly, but she does plan on freezing her membership, a formal request for no new matches when couples decide to date exclusively.

Interestingly, Andersen found herself back on the dating scene in October 2004, and despite first dibs for the picking, was frustrated not to find a match.

“I found it to be extremely ironic,” Andersen said.

Through a mutual friend, Andersen said she met Alex last year and hit it off. She plans to marry in June.

Andersen doesn’t stop at matchmaking services. Linx offers five levels of two-year memberships, in which she offers dating coaching and strategies. At the fourth level, “Prive,” clients see Linx’s dermatologist, fitness trainer and celebrity hair-stylist and undergo a three-hour wardrobe consultation.

The $10,000, two-year membership includes 15 introductions to potential mates. For VIP members, the highest level, Andersen will go outside her client database and attend dinner parties and networking events, strategically searching for a potential mate in the community.

In May, Andersen will host an intimate cocktail party for two male VIP clients, inviting 20 eligible women to meet them and have a mini-date.

“It is kind of like ‘The Bachelor’ in some ways,” Andersen said of the TV series.

A “Silver” membership guarantees nine introductions in two years, for $6,000.

Today, Linx has a proprietary database of 650 active clients involved in the matchmaking process – with a 50-50 ratio of men and women – and at least 8,000 people who subscribe to her newsletters and attend quarterly Link & Drink events, formal get-togethers for social and professional networking.

Andersen guesstimates the three currently matched couples will become engaged soon, and with her fiance, Alex, has knowledge of gem stones and diamonds to offer engagement ring consultation.

Andersen said clients range in age from 22 to mid-60s, and though Linx membership usually relies on another client’s referral, she does make exceptions.

“This is so ultra-personalized,” Andersen said. “My clients can always get ahold of me. It’s vital that I know everybody.”

For more information, visit www.linxdating.com.

Contact Mary Beth Hislop at marybethh@latc.com.