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I've Noticed a Major Flaw with Viral Coming Soon Pages

takara.posterous.com

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Re: I've Noticed a Major Flaw with Viral Coming Soon Pages

#21

Post by cema »

Joakal wrote: post #13
systemizer wrote: post #9

So here's one theory I believe: Facebook and other large social media companies today will evolve into universal login systems eventually. We've already seen it with "Connect with Facebook" or "Connect with Twitter" buttons, but I believe this will become more and more prominent as the year progresses. Why? Like the article states, people don't like giving out their email address. Why reinvent the login interface mil…

What is it about sign up forms that are too annoying? Just the email to put in?

Pressing a button feels easy. I do not know if this is a big difference; may be. Time will show.

Re: I've Noticed a Major Flaw with Viral Coming Soon Pages

#22

Post by jjm »

Tangaroo wrote: post #19

This is a great post with great comments as well. Currently, we are using launchrock as well and we've stagnated at 36 sign ups as we are trying to get to 100. We haven't spent a penny on marketing but I feel we have hit a wall. I know that the soft launch is supposed to test and validate our business idea but I feel it isn't doing it justice, not by far. Especially with the limited amount of words you have to use. O…

Well your first round of 36 is your early adopter group which you survey, and prioritize problems/solutions. You then iterate your product with what you just learned. The feedback loop. Infact, Ries and Ash say you could do it with just 5 ppl. So you should be testing a new landing page or product by now, not waiting for another 64 ppl to 'signup'.

Re: I've Noticed a Major Flaw with Viral Coming Soon Pages

#23

Post by systemizer »

movingahead wrote: post #16
systemizer wrote: post #9

So here's one theory I believe: Facebook and other large social media companies today will evolve into universal login systems eventually. We've already seen it with "Connect with Facebook" or "Connect with Twitter" buttons, but I believe this will become more and more prominent as the year progresses. Why? Like the article states, people don't like giving out their email address. Why reinvent the login interface mil…

I don't think there is any point in asking users to connect their FB/Twitter accounts at the pre-launch stage because it will make users uncomfortable in sharing their social media details with a site that they have not tested and know little about.

Again theoretical: you need to look at the bigger picture. If Facebook was a login service for startups, then ideally startups would have access to the social graph that facebook gives (via their api or a subscription service). So, if you get someone to connect to your new beta with a "connect with facebook" then you get a better idea of the demographic that you're dealing with.

Re: I've Noticed a Major Flaw with Viral Coming Soon Pages

#26

Post by sunir »

The more interesting hidden nugget in this post was the analogy to Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme primes their line up with free donuts and a visual display of how they make the donuts.

The lesson for startups is that put a teaser on the sign-up form so people know what they are getting excited about.

Re: I've Noticed a Major Flaw with Viral Coming Soon Pages

#28

Post by joshfraser »

If you don't want to share with your friends, then don't.

But if you are a startup founder, remember the reason you see these viral sign up forms everywhere is because they work. You'd be silly not to offer the opportunity w/ your visitors because a small percentage will indeed share with their friends. Of course, that percentage is going down as people get fatigued or get burned by other startups that don't follow through.

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