2 builders who never spoke to each other

Do not mistake coverage for customers

Three measured cases say the same thing: newspaper, magazine and blog coverage that converted nobody, a launch press push that showed up as a search spike and fell back to baseline within weeks, and a product with the loud press launch being overtaken in revenue by a quieter sibling launched nine months later. Publicity is attention, and attention is not adoption. Never read a wave of articles as proof the idea works.

The method

1. 01

   A launch press push shows up as a search spike that returns to baseline within weeks, so treat it as attention and not as adoption.

2. 02

   Never read press coverage as validation of the idea; publicity can arrive in volume and still produce no paying customers.

3. 03

   A loud press launch does not settle which of your products earns more; the one with weaker coverage and a later start can overtake it.

What it returned

• 2020

  Mailbrew launched in March 2020 with press on 9to5Mac and MacSparky plus Reddit and Hacker News attention; the same team's Typefully launched nine months later, only began earning in June 2021, and now earns more.

• Search interest spiked around launch and stayed near the baseline afterwards.

• An early company of Justin's picked up newspaper, magazine and blog coverage, and none of that attention converted into revenue.

Sources

• Checking in on FastChris Frantz · chrisfrantz.com · Checking in on Fast · 2021-03-12
• How (not) to validate your ideaJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How not to validate your idea · undated
• Why didn't my project take off?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Why didn't my project take off? · undated