Are you over 30 and not found Mr Right? Maybe you're not selling yourself right. US book The Program tells you how to get into the marriage market, but can we Brits get with it? Rachel Roberts reports

The basement room of the fashionable London club is in darkness, save from the glint of desperation flashing from the whites of the eyes of 60 women.

They're not members of Alcoholics Anonymous, but members of a much more secretive - and more taboo - club. They are all over 30 years old, and - whisper it - single and on a mission to find Mr Right...

The group has gathered here tonight to hear the woman dubbed the singleton's saviour, Rachel Greenwald speak. Author of The Program: Fifteen Steps To Finding A Husband After 30, tonight, Rachel's divulging the secret of how to meet and marry a man.

Rachel goes for maximum impact to get the women's attention. 'This is marriage 999 - it's an emergency. There are more single women after 30 now than ever before, and fewer single men.'

You can almost hear the despondent inner-voices of 60 females saying, 'Tell us something we didn't already know, love'.

Most of the attendees of the seminar are here because despite their best efforts to meet and marry a man, they're still looking. And they are impatient for Rachel to get to the Holy Grail of The Program. It's seductive stuff: she claims that 80 per cent of her private clients who have stuck with The Program have tied the knot within 12-18 months.

The book was born after Rachel decided to apply the principles of marketing she learnt at Harvard Business School to the unpredictable business of love.

'I was happily married, and all of my single friends - either they'd never married or were recently divorced - were asking for help. I realised that I could use the same advice from my day job as a marketing consultant to help them with their dating lives.'

When Rachel then asks 'Except for something illegal or immoral, would you do ANYTHING to find the right partner?', little does her eager audience realise that she really means it.

The Program is not for the faint-hearted and it should come with a warning: send your pride on holiday. Her theory is simple. You should see yourself as a Brand - or a Product - to be marketed to potential husbands.

Firstly get your all-important Packaging right. According to Rachel, this means no bum-skimming short skirts or killer cleavage - they scream 'easy lay', not 'potential wife one day'. And your Halle Berry crop might look stylish but apparently 90 per cent of men prefer longer hair.

Then it's time for the all-new-improved-you to target your male market. It's this step of the Program that we British women can't get our heads around. Rachel tells us that we have to go through our contact book and get in touch with everyone we know - that even includes your childhood dentist.

A look of horror crosses 60 women's faces as they think about phoning their dentist for help with their dating life. In anticipation of the terror most sane people would experience, Rachel has helpfully provided a script to read from. It goes like this: 'I have a special favour to ask of you. This year, I would like to find someone wonderful to spend my life with. Do you know any single men you can introduce me to?'

Rachel swears that this method has proved successful in the past. At this point, there are several mutters of "We're British, we can't do that", but they are shot down mid-air by Rachel's steely glare.

'That's just an excuse. Sure, there are cultural differences between you and American women. The main one I see is that you British women are more reserved. The Program is exactly what you Brits need: a kick in the pants to be proactive about going after what you want.

'We all want to find happiness and if a loving relationship is what you want, then I say go after it using any methods that aren't illegal or immoral! After all, if what you've been doing so far hasn't worked, what have you got to lose?'

Perhaps it's that British stiff upper lip making a reappearance, but when Rachel says that you shouldn't see a night class as an opportunity to do something you enjoy but as an opportunity to meet men - think fly fishing rather than photography - there are stifled giggles of embarrassment around the room.

But with The Program flying in at No 6 on the Sunday Telegraph's best-seller list, Rachel is confident she can crack the British woman's cynical attitude.

'There has been some scepticism, but the feedback overall has been phenomenal. Emails to my website from British women have been incredibly positive, telling me how they were shy at first but tried something from the book and it worked.'

It's the end of the seminar and the 60 women leave clutching their copies of The Program. You can't knock the expressions of inspiration and hope on some of their faces. Me? I still believe that love calls for a bit of luck and magic: it's not something you can go looking for. Don't tell Rachel, though: she'll just say I'm not ready to get with The Program...

The Program: Fifteen Steps To Finding A Husband After 30 by Rachel Greenwald (Time Warner Paperbacks, £6.99)

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