There’s an obsession with growing an audience as quickly and as humanly (or robotically) as possible.

I get it.

The more followers or subscribers or upvoters you have, the better the vanity metrics — and presumably, the better the engagement & increased potential for sales.

But maybe you shouldn’t focus on the quantity.

Maybe — just maybe — you should focus on the quality of your audience instead.

This is the core principle behind Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans concept and also the main topic of ConverKit’s The Future Belongs To Creators podcast episode I recently listened to.

One of the key points: if you can increase the “quality concentration” of true fans in your audience, you don’t need hundreds of thousands of followers — you just need 1000.

The general principle is: if you have 1000 fans willing to spend $100 on your brand per year, you can earn $100,000/year.

1000 fans actually feels achievable, right? Which means a 6-figure income from being a creator could be, too.

So how do you get there?

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A FEW WAYS TO GET SOME NEW FANS

Building a relationship with your audience is key for them to become true fans of you and your work. Here are a few ways you could start building these important relationships and growing your fanbase to that 4-digit pinnacle.

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#1 JOIN A COMMUNITY

One way to meet new and interesting people who could potentially become fans of your work is through online communities. People involved in these communities are typically:

→ invested in improvement
→ ambitious to excel
→ eager to learn

Many will become your peers and friends, and some could become your true fans — particularly if you’re sharing your skills and your knowledge to help others. Be willing to give and provide value, and it will likely be returned to you.

Ship 30 For 30 is a great example of a community filled with people who are aspiring to create online. I’ve witnessed many Shippers launch products while receiving tons of support from their Ship 30 peers.

Get involved with an online community!

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#2 START A COMMUNITY

Maybe you’re feeling ambitious and have a great idea for a new community — why not start one yourself?

There are dozens of online community platforms for you to leverage to build, you just need the people.

The key here is to 1) start small, and 2) solve a need.

Start your community off by creating a challenge, like Dickie Bush from Ship 30 For 30 did with 50 people. Or like I just kind of accidentally did with my 3 Goals Crew.

Another example: Justin & Jennifer Welsh saw a need in the market for a LinkedIn community and they started Audience & Income where they teach professionals how to grow just that — their audiences & income online.

By starting & building an online community, you can foster relationships, develop some authority in your space, increase your credibility, and have more intimate & focused discussions than in a public, social forum.

This is how you build up to 1000 True Fans.

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#3 BUILD PERSONAL RAPPORT

Maybe community isn’t feeling right for you. Maybe you don’t have time to manage a community. We’re all busy.

Instead, you can increase the quality concentration of your audience by building personal rapport.

This one is simple enough. Leverage DMs and thank your new followers for following you, and ask them something about their journey, or what they’re working on right now, or something exciting in their lives right now.

Break the ice, be grateful, be curious — and obviously… don’t be creepy.

Once you’ve established rapport and comfort, connect over a Zoom call. I’ve had a number of Zoom calls with people I now call friends whom I’ve never met in person. At the least you’ve made a new friend, at the most, you’ve made a friend, earned a true fan, and become a true fan of theirs as well.

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SO…

To get to 1000 True Fans, you’re going to have to do things that don’t scale.

You can’t automate honest conversation and community building, nor should you try.

These strategies will cost you time as there is a lot of heavy lifting up front. But once you’ve built your solid fan base as a creator, the biggest obstacle is done, and selling your products will be a much easier task when people are lining up to support you.

Connect with me if you’re interested in support for your marketing, promotional, and content strategy.


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