By Minal Bopaiah

Venture capital-backed contests can be a godsend for start-up tech firms, as TechCrunch Disrupt NY  winner  Enigma well knows. The subscription database that makes public data more searchable won $50,000 and a massive amount of publicity back in May of 2012.

But publicity is a double-edged sword. Since winning the TechCrunch content, Enigma has received 10,000 requests for a free trial of their subscription products, which combines and streamlines data from more than 100,000 sources, such as SEC filings, patent application, state and federal records, lists of frozen assets, and even CrunchBase.

The volume of requests allows Enigma to eschew SEO, PPC and other marketing tactics. But the company is also having trouble meeting those requests.

To top it off, many of the requests are from curious people, not qualified leads. That leaves Enigma with a 5% conversion rate on free trial to paid subscribers.

Granted, 5% of 10,000 is still a hefty business, especially when you have a high price point like Enigma. But the trade-off to volume is always quality, and start-ups can often end up struggling to meet consumer demand with the limited resources at their disposal.

So what’s the lesson learned? First, if you’re going to do anything that may bring you explosive visibility, make sure your tech department and customer service department has a plan to meet increased demand. Second, if you serendipitously find yourself with such a abundance of PR riches, don’t be afraid to create more friction in your conversion funnel, such as asking prospects to give more qualifying information.