Lessons on finding Mr. Right after 35
By Karie Atkinson
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The problem of women over 35 not being able to find husbands is an issue that society tends to shove under the carpet.
With the release of Rachel Greenwald's book, "The Program: Fifteen Steps to finding a husband after 35," in the U.S. and most recently in Britain, the dilemma is getting some consideration.
According to the online dating service Match.com, one in three adults in London are single and more than 60 percent of these people are over 30.
Greenwald, a Harvard MBA, encourages women over 30, who have not had the luck of meeting someone spontaneously and who are tired of waiting around, to be proactive and take action.
She proposes a 15-step program, similar to a diet program in that it requires commitment and discipline, which takes classic marketing tactics and applies them to the dating world.
Thirty-nine-year old Greenwald admits to finding her husband through using such marketing strategies. She says she is happily married, and she has three children.
The marketing messages of the book might be too much for some women -- devising a "personal brand," "packaging" yourself to improve one's appearance and maximizing chances of meeting men through "guerrilla marketing."
But for others the book could be the shove they need to get off their office chairs and start doing something about their single situation.
One of the tactics the book highlights is the importance of making the husband search the number one priority. Women are supposed to attack the husband search like a job search.
"People hate job hunting but they want a great job," says Greenwald. "But the happiness begins when the job begins. It's the same for romance. Romance begins after the husband is found and not during the search process."
Spending money on one's appearance is also an important step involved in husband hunting according to Greenwald. In her book she has created a "Dow Janes Index," which encourages women to track the improvement of their appearance in the same way they would check the stock market.
Greenwald also insists that women should date online to increase their chances of finding a husband. "A year ago online dating was not normal in the United States, however today it is completely accepted," she says.
"I predict that 6 to 12 months from now online dating will take off in Europe just as it has in the U.S.," she said.
However, not all women think finding a life-long partner should be treated as a business.
"Finding a husband should not be treated as business," said Annalisa Cotronei, a 29-year-old Italian lawyer living in London. "The mass media pushes the opinion that you need a husband when you are over 30, thus finding one can become a business if you are obsessive regarding this," she continues.
In Italy the majority of working women are not married before 30, she said. She would read Greenwald's book only if someone gave it to her as a present.
Florence de Navacelle, a 30-year old professional who lives in London, would not buy the book either, but would also skim through it by curiosity or if someone had it, or she received it as a present.
"I am sure there are a few tips in there, but I am not at the stage yet of being desperate to find a husband," she asserts. "I haven't been brought up to find a husband and be married by 30, but raised to be independent, have a career, and be happy, married or not," she adds.
