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I know this is just a fun article, but to get more serious for a minute; the missing thing here (what most people seem to forget when they're attracting traffic

I know this is just a fun article, but to get more serious for a minute; the missing thing here (what most people seem to forget when they're attracting traffic) is that neither of these audiences are part of his target market. He mentions his call to action is attracting votes, and maybe that's all he really cares about, but it's worth remembering that the target customer of this app is neither reading HN nor r/programming. I don't have a good alternative for how to reach "iPhone-owning NYC cab riders who care enough to review drivers"; I'm just trying to make a general observation about these kinds of traffic-from-A-vs-B tests. Of course, I've assumed his objective is app sales, not attracting hacker/VC attention. Nothing wrong with the latter!

untog 15y ago
They sort of are my target market, given that my current objective is getting votes. If there were taxi discussion boards out there I'd give them a try, but it's not the kind of thing that communities form around. I figured other programmers/hackers would be more likely to help a fellow programmer out than the average person. My long-term goal is, of course, to attract taxi riders. But right now the app is only just functional (and is a spare time side-project), so I'm not looking to get thousands of users just yet. Hacker/VC opinions on the app and/or concept are of course welcome, though :)
- deleted 15y ago
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AznHisoka 15y ago
I guess it does build some long-term equity with the search engines - getting those links as soon as possible can't hurt. But you have a valid point. I'm not sure how he can reach his target audience in a scalable way, to be honest. It sounds too niche of a product.
- untog 15y ago
  It sounds too niche of a product. Well, it's intended as more of a starting point. Both Seamless and Groupon had to start in one city before branching out- it makes sense. If you tried to scale out to every city simultaneously it would fall flat on it's face. As for reaching target audience, well, the NYC-centricity of it is an advantage when it comes to advertising. If Taxonomy was an actual backed business (right now it's little side project idea) it could even advertise on and in NYC yellow cabs some day. Expensive, but the target audience is looking directly at them.
dminor 15y ago
Patrick Mckenzie has mentioned this a few times: hackers put links onto the web disproportionately more than the general population, so you should try to attract their attention, even though they're not your target market.

untog 15y ago

They sort of are my target market, given that my current objective is getting votes. If there were taxi discussion boards out there I'd give them a try, but it's not the kind of thing that communities form around. I figured other programmers/hackers would be more likely to help a fellow programmer out than the average person. My long-term goal is, of course, to attract taxi riders. But right now the app is only just functional (and is a spare time side-project), so I'm not looking to get thousands of users just yet. Hacker/VC opinions on the app and/or concept are of course welcome, though :)

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

AznHisoka 15y ago

I guess it does build some long-term equity with the search engines - getting those links as soon as possible can't hurt. But you have a valid point. I'm not sure how he can reach his target audience in a scalable way, to be honest. It sounds too niche of a product.

untog 15y ago
It sounds too niche of a product. Well, it's intended as more of a starting point. Both Seamless and Groupon had to start in one city before branching out- it makes sense. If you tried to scale out to every city simultaneously it would fall flat on it's face. As for reaching target audience, well, the NYC-centricity of it is an advantage when it comes to advertising. If Taxonomy was an actual backed business (right now it's little side project idea) it could even advertise on and in NYC yellow cabs some day. Expensive, but the target audience is looking directly at them.

dminor 15y ago

Patrick Mckenzie has mentioned this a few times: hackers put links onto the web disproportionately more than the general population, so you should try to attract their attention, even though they're not your target market.