1000 True Fans

With the explosion in sheer volume of written content due to the internet, it’s rare to find an online essay that withstands the test of time.

1000 True Fans is one of the rare exceptions.

Written in 2008, Kevin Kelly captures a revolutionary idea about the Creator Economy that is still applicable (perhaps more applicable) almost 20 years later.

To be a successful creator, you don’t need millions of followers. You need 1000 True Fans.

Today, we’ll be breaking down:

• The Key Takeaways from the 1000 True Fans essay

• How to be a Creator that optimizes for True Fans instead of Followers

• What I’m doing at Wealth Potion to achieve this, and how you can follow along

As always, feel free to watch along on YouTube:

Let’s dive in.

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Cultivate Direct Relationships With Your Audience

The core thesis is simple.

If your goal is to make a decent living as a Content Creator, you only need 1000 True Fans.

This relies on a few things being true:

1. You can earn, on average, $100 of profit per year per fan

2. You have a direct relationship with your fans (e.g. not through a music label or agency that takes a cut of revenues)

3. You consider $100,000 per year a decent living

Kevin Kelly emphasizes that the 1000 True Fans is a guideline, not a hard-and-fast rule.

You can tweak these numbers based on your content niche, your goals, and your cost of living.

But what makes the 1000 True Fans essay so mind-blowing is not the math, or how “easy” it is. In fact, getting a thousand people to pay you one day’s wage per year is not trivial.

The gamechanger is the 2nd point highlighted above.

The internet has enabled you to not only reach billions more people than ever before, but it’s also allowed you to develop a direct relationship with them.

This allows the creator or entrepreneur to keep more of the value generated, and thereby reduce the number of fans needed to earn a living.

Kevin Kelly then takes things a step further.

The Rise of the Long Tail

Kelly goes on to explain that there is another revolutionary aspect of how the internet and digital platforms work.

The internet enables the existence and flourishing of niches.

In this section, Kelly describes the concept of the “Long Tail”.

In any normal statistical distribution, there is a “tail” of data beyond the average. This applies to sales data. And early on in the evolution of the internet, online retailers like eBay, Amazon, Netflix, etc. noticed that there was plenty of money to be made in the long tail.

So what did they do? They created recommendation engines and algorithms that would suggest more of the “Long Tail” products to customers.

This doesn’t just apply to online retailers. This also applies to creator platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

This is why so many Content Creators are saying now is the best time to become a content creator.

The social media algorithms want to promote more Creators. If your content is good (it keeps people watching), then the platform will blast your content out to more people for you.

Last but not least, Kevin Kelly clarifies that although these small niches are being shown to new audiences via recommendation engines, the niches themselves aren’t being served by big companies.

So to recap:

• The internet allows you to have a direct relationship with your fans

• The internet makes it easier for your fans to find your content

• These niches are hungry for creators and entrepreneurs to serve them

How to Cultivate 1000 True Fans

Let’s shift from theory to tactics. Because I know some of you are probably thinking…

Here’s how I’m doing it at Wealth Potion:

1. Aim for Depth, Not Breadth

Most creators are trying to go viral. 

They focus a ton of their energy on how to appeal to the most amount of people possible.

Instead, a True Fan creator would make their content so useful and meaningful that someone wants to come back tomorrow, again and again.

This is apparent if you use TikTok. You can frequently find super-viral videos with millions of views, but the Creator only has a couple hundred followers.

The content was appealing to a ton of people… but it didn’t convince many of them to come back for more.

And True Fans don’t just come back to watch. They bookmark, they share, and they buy.

2. Own Your Audience

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube are great for discovery, but you don’t own the relationship.

To cultivate True Fans, you need a home base that you own:

• A newsletter

• A membership site

• A product hub

This is why I'm building Wealth Potion around my email list and website. It’s the foundation for a direct relationship that isn’t filtered by an algorithm. YouTube is awesome, but I don’t own my audience there.

3. Treat Your Fans Like People

Focusing too much on the “1000” part of “1000 True Fans” is a mistake. Because at the end of the day, your True Fans are people.

People with desires, fears, wants, needs… lives of their own.

It’s very tempting to treat followers like metrics, especially if you come from the corporate / tech world like I did. But True Fans are your early believers, and they should be celebrated.

Ask for their feedback. Share your behind-the-scenes journey. Give them a stake in your growth. Provide them with special bonuses.

And although I haven’t created any paid products with Wealth Potion yet, I fully intend to give my early True Fans discounts, early access, and bonuses. It’s the least I can do to thank them for their faith and trust in me.

Thank You For Your Support

I want to wrap by saying thank you.

My goal with Wealth Potion has never been to just become a YouTuber with a million subscribers. I genuinely hope that I can help change the financial lives of my True Fans.

But I’m not perfect. I sometimes look at my 500 subscribers on YouTube and start thinking “How do I reach 10x as many people?!”

But then I remind myself… that’s 500 people who deeply care enough about what I’m building, that they decided to follow along. That’s the point.

I’m not trying to win the algorithm lottery. I’m trying to serve a very specific group of people: young professionals who want to master their finances and build real wealth in the digital age.

If that’s you, I appreciate your support, and I look forward to serving you.

To your prosperity,

Brandon @ Wealth Potion