The beauty of 1,000 True Fans is just how tiny that number is in the grand scheme of things.
Gone are the days of needing to appeal to the mass market, of watering down your vision and voice to make yourself palatable to the lowest common denominator.
Now, you can target a microscopic corner of the internet, and still flourish both creatively and financially.
You can create what you want to create. Say what you want to say. Be who you want to be. All without compromise.
You can let your freak flag fly, loud and proud.
The trick is connecting with 100, or 1,000, or 10,000 people who carry similar freak flags. After that, you’re in business.
All of this brings us to today’s true fan tool.
It’s a hell of a lot easier to “find the others” when you’ve identified who you’re looking for. (This seems obvious, but it’s crazy how few creators do it.)
So here are some questions to start exploring who your ideal fan is.
- How do they self-identify?
- What do they love talking about?
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- Who are the other artists they love? Why?
- What do they do, both professionally and personally?
- What do they care most about?
- What’s their personality like?
- What do they stand against?
Once you’ve got a decent idea of who you’re trying to reach, start creating stuff specifically for them.
Write as if you’re talking to one person. Make it feel personal and organic. Say the things you’d normally keep between you and your closest friends. Be vulnerable. Be honest.
When you create content like this, chances are it’ll be invisible or off-putting to 99.9% of the world’s population. But that’s ok.
Because for the people who jive with it, your work will resonate in ways that most creatives could never fathom.
Define your ideal fan, then go out of your way to delight them.
