Crossover: Getting beyond your TechCrunch users
- November 7th, 2006 /
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
One of the things we have been thinking about quite a bit recently is what I call the TechCrunch Problem. In launching our new web application, SiteMighty, we are anxiously hoping to get traction within the Web 2.0 community, and our fingers are crossed that we get TechCrunched, meaning our servers get hammered in the hours and days after we get a glowing review for SiteMighty by Mike Arrington. But, traction within our own community is not enough to build a business on. To succeed, you’re going to need more than TechCrunch’s 137,000 readers.
I’m sure there is a typical lifecycle of getting TechCrunched. Here’s how it might go:
- Your web app gets written up on TechCrunch. Yeah! We’re off to the races. - 137,000 potential users
- 33% of TechCrunch readers like the story and click through to your site. - 45,666 curiosity peaked potential users
- You’ve got compelling copy, and a unique product that is really going to make people’s lives easier. You convert 50% of the curious because hey, we’ll all sign up for anything we think is the next big thing. – 22,833 actual registrations
- The product is decent, there is some residual buzz in the blog echo chamber, and 33% of those registered users stick around and use your web app for the next month. – 7611 stick around users
- Whoops, trial period is up, time to put down your credit card, now is the real evaluation time. I like the service, but you know, life was pretty good before I read about it on TechCrunch, I can do without. For 10% your web app is life changing, and they are converted to actual paying users. OK, Good start. – 761 paying users
So, there you are, just 1/2% of the original TechCrunch users are now paying customers. It’s a great start, but you’ll need more.
Who else is out there beyond our fellow TechCrunch readers?
- 207,161,706 internet users in the US (it would be a major mistake to focus on the US alone, but for this calculation)
- 137,000 TechCrunch readers
- 207,161,706 – 137,000 = 207,024,706 who are not in the Web 2.0 community
- 70% of households have broadband access now. 70% x 207,024,706 = 144,917,294 potential web app users
- After all if we convert 1/2% of them, we’ve got 724,586 paying users.
- 724,586 vs 761 – clearly we need to crossover beyond the TechCrunch crowd
The focus of our next post in this series will be on achieving the elusive goal of Crossover for your web application and tracking the companies that have and those that have not. Help us figure this out so we all can benefit together.
Random Posts
- categories: All, Entrepreneurship, Featured /
Nov 07, 2006 at 11:00 am
I wonder what the ratio is for startups submitting and making it to TechCrunch versus startups that submitted without being posted. I am sure that there is a fair share that make it due to the buzz they’ve created themselves without even submitting.
Nov 07, 2006 at 11:04 am
That’s a good point, and clearly if you can get TechCrunched without begging for it, you probably have more going for you.
Nov 07, 2006 at 7:28 pm
Fantastic post Chris, a very realistic projection. I read a article a few years ago written by a web startup company (with a “free-mium” business model) stating typical conversion rates of 1-2% as well. I wish I could find that article again..
Nov 08, 2006 at 12:29 am
Great post.
Nov 08, 2006 at 9:38 am
Mark & Scott – Thanks for your comments. We’re hoping to have the TechCrunch problem to begin with, but it really is important to think beyond it because it will take more than all of us (Web 2.0 / TechCrunch crowd) to make a Web App or new site a success. You need that “crossover hit”.
Nov 09, 2006 at 10:19 pm
What to Do If You Don’t Get TechCrunched | The Celebrity Cowboy says:
[...] So your a company who is hoping to get TechCrunched. Let’s take Voodoo Ventures for instance. You develop a great product called SiteMighty which helps users create great looking affiliate sites. Guess what you dont get TechCrunched. Oh no. Now all that hard time and work is down the drain. You can try resending that email to Mike Arrington at TechCrunch. Most likely unless its a hell of a lot better than the 9 other emails you sent him your most likely not going to get a review on TechCrunch. [...]