Crossover: Getting beyond your TechCrunch users
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 ½% 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 ½% 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.