1k True Fans (2008)

You’re assuming a well-functioning SaaS business, which is decidedly harder to come by than a decent job.

What if I don't want brainless fanatics to be my fans?

I'm curious thinking about this. I'm a very strong researcher, mild-moderate software developer, and absolutely gridlock terrified of contracts, formalities, getting locked into commitments, etc.

Like, I think I could do it, but I'm on the autism spectrum so my budget for variance is _so_ much lower. I highly downbudget things in my life that are higher variance so I look more neurotypical a lot of the time but sometimes with unavoidable stuff I get very much the more classical autism negative stuff (meltdowns, subtle meltdowns, shutdowns (!!!), a host of destimming and de-stressing mechanisms, etc).

I guess that's the thing I'm concerned about. Any field I can eventually become comfortable in once I know the different situations and how to leave the bad ones/find the good ones/have healthy strategies that personally work for me for my worst case scenarios/etc. The main problem is that I don't have the 5-10 years to really sink into that comfortably to get there from raw experience, or the stamina to go through what would seem to be my own personal hell in the meantime.

I could be totally wrong so I'm up for learning (especially if there are resources that are specifically adaptive to autism &etc -- it helps a lot!). I could see how this all could be a good thing in a different light with a different set of strategies.

(Also, Merry Christmas! <3 :D :D :D :)))))))))))))))) )

> I think a true fan only applies to creative works that people consume for the sake of enjoyment.

That was my thought, too. And not all creative works, either—rather, creative works where the personality and individuality of the creator are clearly expressed. The author lists “craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor” as examples of people who “need only thousands of true fans,” but the first six seem to me much more likely to attract long-term true fans than the last three.

This essay has it all around backwards. 1k true fans is a recipe for destroying your own creative life and devoting most of your time to sales funnel building, fomo emails and clickbait offers and bribes for mailing list signups, running ads, etc. The true fan who spends $100/year wants you to be their therapist and to belong to your tribe, will stalk you, will send you unsolicited emails offering advice, etc. Don't hunt the whales.

It's better to aim for constantly increasing quality, and with the ease of reaching many people with modern technology, find some combination of your 10,000 mediocre fans willing to give you $10/year, 100,000 sh*t fans getting you $1/year. You put out music or writing or art for these fans, they spend a very reasonable amount on it per year without upsetting the household budget, they think of you occasionally but you o random creator are not constantly 'top of mind' for them and they can think about their friends and/or family and/or day-to-day work instead. And you aren't babysitting their feelings or constantly begging them for money.

B2B can be even worse, you're support, therapist, babysitter all the time. They pay you big bucks and think they own you. If you don't have enough customers, maybe they do. 1000k true fans, you're responding to emails all the time, trying to look cool on socials, sticking calls to action in every video or email. ~$10, these people are buying a print or an album or a t-shirt or a book once a year, ~$1 they're streaming your songs a couple hundred times a year. They've got a normal 'someone who makes something I like' relationship with you, you're not some big fan. You're not supporting your product, hopefully you're spending your time making the next thing you want to make.

Someone will probably jump in and yell about how you won't get to those numbers of meh fans without someone recommending you. Yeah, that's right -- but with quality people and algorithms will recommend you because of the _thing you made_, not because you took them on a customer journey from browser to fan to friend with your relentless hustle.

As someone making music, there's nothing better than the spotify algorithms recommending my music to people while I sleep and spending the creative time that I have making music and not marketing campaigns. Or production music I made showing up in netflix shows I love despite me never having been yelled at by a director. YMMV.