For the last month, I’ve been attempting to get someone to cover us from Techcrunch. We’re a new product that just recently launched in beta and I’m hoping the coverage will drive new users.
I’ve heard mixed reactions on what it’s done for for traffic/sign-ups.
If you’ve been covered by Techcrunch in the past, what did it do for you? Traffic, interest, investors, etc.?
Aaron Levie from Box here. My guest posts on TechCrunch has been single handedly responsible for getting us on track to IPO. You can't imagine the amount of new business we get when I write an article about how Microsoft sucks and that they should trust a startup who is bleeding money hand over fist to store all their precious data.
NotAaron
Haha.
Firstly, you have pitched them and they are not interested at present. Remember your startup has a life cycle greater than beta and a peak in traffic for 24-72 hours will not define you.
Be careful what you wish for as you could get hammered. Not all press is good press and a lot can go wrong at beta stage.
Back off for a bit and re pitch again later with a new angle.
Also, split test your press releases and go outside your loop for feedback.
Key things to remember here are as follows:
They may not be interested in your product, period
You are pitching the wrong guys and or going to far up the food chain
They maybe have a pipeline of editorial and it don't fit the theme
Finally
Don't let a Techcrunch post drive you nuts. It's a blog… go dig deep and find real customers. Alternatively, get some people on odesk to systematically go through techcrunch comment section and build a database of commenters you can send beta invites too.
Most importantly. Good luck ;-)
Dude/Dudette - (1) do you know how many startups who have a beta contact TC? (2) Have you received any funding? (3) Do you have a unique story and know how to tell it convincingly? (4) Do you have any name companies in place who are beta'g your product? Contact TC once you have strong answers to questions 2-4. Otherwise, stop bugging them.
Signed,
Startup who has been covered by TC and is alive to tell you about it
Google it because there are a couple of founders who blogged this exact topic in the past. Can't remember their names but one post included details down to traffic figures before, during, after and effect on sales/signups.
That said, a lot depends on if TC readers are your target market. If not, don't bother. If yes, note that effect will likely be temporary traffic spike with low conversion rate, especially now that there are so many other tech news outlets for readers.
We were covered by Pando about 24 months ago. Helped with traffic, but ultimately the readers of that site are not our customers. The attention feels good but if you aren't ready for it you'll have a pile of distractions from people who want to "help," your competitors will learn what you're up to, and you need to be focused on getting paid customers. That's the path to success.
<p>I agree. I had a similar experience and my startup was covered by TechCrunch. There was a good uptick in visitors, but that uptick quickly died down within a day or two. Also, I got lots of emails from people who said they wanted to help but I think they were just competitors trying to gather information about my business, since they were asking very specific questions.</p>
<p>Anyways, long story short I think the TechCrunch coverage actually hurt more than it helped since it exposed my startup to the world of competitors before I had a strong base of customers. It's actually pretty easy to get press coverage; I've done it several times on several major sites.</p>
<p>You just have to know what each site is looking for, and target specific journalists who cover certain types of companies. But, getting press coverage is not the same thing as succeeding in business; the amount of customers you get relative to the amount of visitors you get is very tiny, and your competitors will all read the article and have you on their radar.</p>
<p>I'd rather fly under the radar until I'm strong enough to pose a viable threat to any competitors, rather than have them sniff me out while I'm just starting out. I'm currently working on a new startup, and I'm actually going out of my way to avoid press coverage. I don't want any, nor do I need any. I'm focusing instead on building a sustainable business that can scale; if I do that the press coverage will come eventually along with investors; at which point I'll be ready for both.</p>
Pros go stealth. Period.