2 builders who never spoke to each other

Bank the front page wave as reputation, not revenue

A single placement produces a spike that dwarfs a small site's normal baseline, and three builders describe the same shape of return: ten thousand visitors and a few extra sales, or a top slot that paid in three job approaches and two dozen emails. Decide in advance what you want that attention converted into, because it will not arrive as a sales number.

The method

1. 01

   The top spot on an aggregator pays in reputation and inbound conversations rather than sales, so plan what you want it to convert into

2. 02

   Writing up how you ran a successful promotion can itself become your best-performing content, sending a large one-off wave of traffic that converts thinly.

3. 03

   A single front-page placement on Hacker News produces a traffic spike large enough to dwarf a site's normal baseline.

What it returned

• 3

  Outcomes were 3 job offers or interview requests and 25 emails alongside the traffic

• 10,000

  Zue's Black Friday sale write-up hit the front page of Hacker News about two weeks later, bringing roughly 10,000 visitors to his site and a few additional Pegasus sales.

• The author's own piece on how Nike sold its first shoes reached the front page the previous month, producing what he describes as an absurd spike.

Sources

• How to get 30,000 Hacker News visitors to your websiteHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · How to get 30,000 Hacker News visitors to your website · undated
• What Does the #1 Spot on Hacker News Get You?Nathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 2011-12-06
• Riding the Indie Business RollercoasterCory Zue · coryzue.com · December: R&R · 2020-12-30