If you're a business owner/creator/artist, can you earn a living with only 1000 followers?
The answer is yes, and here's the math to prove it.
Hey everyone, Kan from Social Wave Marketing Agency here for another
video to help your business with your digital marketing strategy.
Today, I want to talk about a concept called 1,000 true fans by Kevin Kelly.
As a business owner, marketer, artist or creator,
the internet's given us this incredible ability to create, distribute and earn.
If you're old enough like me to remember what the pre-internet days were like,
then you'd probably know that it was pretty damn hard for you to get any attention
without going through some sort of middle man or distributor.
So for example, if you're a music artist, back in the day you'd have to sign with a record label
who had all the connections to radios, promoters and events to get your name and music out there.
Most artists would have to pay them a hefty amount or a sizeable royalty.
But now? You don't even have to and by sticking your music on YouTube,
Spotify and Soundcloud, you could earn money from your music creations directly.
The same is true for painters, electricians, accountants, lawyers or real estate agents.
Just like how there's Spotify for music artists, there's a platform for distribution and marketing
for every profession.
So the problem isn't so much in gathering attention, its that we tend to get stuck
in arbitrary, ridiculous numbers that have no significant meaning or value assigned to them.
When I ask business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs how much they want to make,
they usually pull the number $1 million.
And most don't even know why.
What Kevin Kelly argues is that you don't need to make a million dollars or have
millions of raving fans to be a success.
You just need 1,000.
Now, don't get fixated on this as an arbitrary number either.
What Kevin argues is that by having enough true fans, meaning fans that'll buy
anything you produce, you'll be able to make a living off of creating.
And is that not what everyone's aspiration is? To be creators of something?
And having the freedom to do it when they want, how they want and wherever they want?
So when we talk about true fans, we're talking about diehard fans that are
willing to buy your hardback, paperback and audible versions of your book,
pay for the director's cut DVD or fly across the other side of the world to see you perform.
For the average business owner, you're probably thinking that
unless you're a rockstar or Justin Bieber, it's probably very unlikely.
But what's important for you to understand is that
the magic is in your brand and relationship with your fans.
Kevin argues that there are two factors that need to make this work.
First, you need to be content about making a living, but not a fortune.
Second, you need to make enough profit from each true fan of about $100 net
profit each after expenses for it to be sustainable as a living with 1000 true fans.
Having the internet makes this a whole lot easier because you're not paying fees to publishers,
studios, retailers or any other intermediaries.
But let's say an accountant makes $500 per year in net profit
for each of their true fans or most loyal customers.
Having 1,000 of them means that they'll generate
$500,000 - more than enough for one person to live off.
This is why the numbers aren't significant.
If you're earning $500 per true fan,
then you probably only need 200 true fans or loyal customers to earn you $100,000.
If you think about this graphically, the higher the profit you make per
true fan is directly correlated to a lower number of true fans needed.
And so the magic is in understanding that you don't need to make millions to be considered
successful and be able to sustainably do this for the foreseeable future.
To tie it back to how this all works with marketing is that your marketing
activities should be driven by realistic and achievable goals.
Most business owners get bogged down with the enormity of the task but just
don't realise that they don't have to shoot for the stars a lot of the time.
What I love most is how Kevin summarises it.
He says: 1000 true fans is an alternative path to success other than stardom.
Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum bestseller hits,
blockbusters, and celebrity status, you can aim for direct connection with a thousand true fans.
On your way, no matter how many fans you actually succeed in gaining,
you'll be surrounded by faddish infatuation, but by genuine and true appreciation.
It's a much saner destiny to hope for. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.
Anyway, I hope that's given you some food for thought.
Leave a comment below and let me know what your thoughts are
and how you think local businesses can benefit from Kevin Kelly's concept of 1000 true fans.
See you next time!