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Sorry :-( As for traffic, we initially got retweeted a couple times by people with a few thousand followers in the design space. Both products also were on new

Sorry :-( As for traffic, we initially got retweeted a couple times by people with a few thousand followers in the design space. Both products also were on news.layervault.com as a result for some time, as well as BetaList a bit later on. Our conversion rate to beta signups is around 30%. We've had nowhere near 10,000 or even 100,000 visits.

StavrosK 13y ago
Oh wow, 30% is a great conversion rate. However, step #1 of "how to get 1000 signups" is "get 3000 views" :P
- goldvine 13y ago
  Absolutely, some well-timed retweets can go a surprisingly long way. Especially if backed by the promise of a well-designed, potentially useful product that is relevant to someone/group of people. My Twitter is public, dig around :-) It was much easier than we thought it would be.
- josh2600 13y ago
  To add a bit of info on this, we had over 6000 signups in our beta (month 1) using LaunchRock as the landing site with a 28% conversion rate. I would say that we could've driven more traffic to the site and increased the absolute conversions while lowering the conversion rate BUT I'm comfortable with having our beta site a little more hidden than say a general marketing splash page. My two cents are that if you have a compelling product, your beta launch page is a pretty trivial commitment and you should expect conversion rates much higher than Ecommerce. 30% is not unreasonable if you're not spamming. If you're spamming, 10% is achievable but hard. Traffic sources: Our Portal, Twitter, Launchrock virality. I have to say the Launchrock virality techniques worked much better than I thought they would. It made my job as a marketer much easier.
deadmike 13y ago
This is the critical information that these articles never mention. It's always "We emailed a few friends and the next morning we had $100 billion in VC funding and a private island!" I wish more blogs would include the "luck" details in their success posts. It's practically lying to say that all that happened was that you tweeted to ~100 followers. I'm not trying to criticize, it's just an interesting bit that makes the startup sound much more down-to-earth when they're willing to admit where they got their luck from. Because let's not forget: all success is due to some luck, and that's sometimes the most interesting part of the story.
- ollieglass 13y ago
  Where can I read more about "luck" and startups? Is anyone collecting these stories? I'm familiar with the lean startup gospel. I find it too neat; it's too close to the protestant work ethic to be believable. I'd like to hear more about the "luck", grease, handshakes and other details that don't fit into the usual startup narrative.
  - nashequilibrium 13y ago
    Some good reads, the list is up to 33 now. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-best-startup-fail-stories-of-all-time-2010-10?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-best-startup-fail-stor...
  - jacques_chester 13y ago
    I've harboured my suspicion about luck being the silent partner in most successful startups. http://chester.id.au/2012/03/02/does-leadership-matter/ http://chester.id.au/2012/03/02/does-leadership-matter/

StavrosK 13y ago

Oh wow, 30% is a great conversion rate. However, step #1 of "how to get 1000 signups" is "get 3000 views" :P

goldvine 13y ago
Absolutely, some well-timed retweets can go a surprisingly long way. Especially if backed by the promise of a well-designed, potentially useful product that is relevant to someone/group of people. My Twitter is public, dig around :-) It was much easier than we thought it would be.
josh2600 13y ago
To add a bit of info on this, we had over 6000 signups in our beta (month 1) using LaunchRock as the landing site with a 28% conversion rate. I would say that we could've driven more traffic to the site and increased the absolute conversions while lowering the conversion rate BUT I'm comfortable with having our beta site a little more hidden than say a general marketing splash page. My two cents are that if you have a compelling product, your beta launch page is a pretty trivial commitment and you should expect conversion rates much higher than Ecommerce. 30% is not unreasonable if you're not spamming. If you're spamming, 10% is achievable but hard. Traffic sources: Our Portal, Twitter, Launchrock virality. I have to say the Launchrock virality techniques worked much better than I thought they would. It made my job as a marketer much easier.

deadmike 13y ago

This is the critical information that these articles never mention. It's always "We emailed a few friends and the next morning we had $100 billion in VC funding and a private island!" I wish more blogs would include the "luck" details in their success posts. It's practically lying to say that all that happened was that you tweeted to ~100 followers. I'm not trying to criticize, it's just an interesting bit that makes the startup sound much more down-to-earth when they're willing to admit where they got their luck from. Because let's not forget: all success is due to some luck, and that's sometimes the most interesting part of the story.

ollieglass 13y ago
Where can I read more about "luck" and startups? Is anyone collecting these stories? I'm familiar with the lean startup gospel. I find it too neat; it's too close to the protestant work ethic to be believable. I'd like to hear more about the "luck", grease, handshakes and other details that don't fit into the usual startup narrative.
- nashequilibrium 13y ago
  Some good reads, the list is up to 33 now. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-best-startup-fail-stories-of-all-time-2010-10?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-best-startup-fail-stor...
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  I've harboured my suspicion about luck being the silent partner in most successful startups. http://chester.id.au/2012/03/02/does-leadership-matter/ http://chester.id.au/2012/03/02/does-leadership-matter/