Kevin Kelly's Theory of 1,000 True Fans

Wired cofounder Kevin Kelly, whom I love reading and sourcing ideas from, looks at marketing from a perspective that maximizes revenue per follower (or brand loyalist, or artist loyalist if you will). He calls this the theory of 1,000 true fans:

The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

In a word where finding an audience and publishing really is as simple as a tweet, a Tumblr post, or a Squarespace website turned into an ecommerce business, the possibility of having a long tail of "lesser fans" is real. The challenge then is to make those lesser fans True Fans. And people and companies do that by personally connecting, again through various channels of social media or dark social. 

One final a-ha from Kelly's idea that I find important:

But the point of this strategy is to say that you don’t need a hit to survive.  You don’t need to aim for the short head of best-sellerdom to escape the long tail. There is a place in the middle, that is not very far away from the tail, where you can at least make a living. That mid-way haven is called 1,000 True Fans. It is an alternate destination for an artist to aim for.

Young artists starting out in this digitally mediated world have another path other than stardom, a path made possible by the very technology that creates the long tail. Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum hits, bestseller blockbusters, and celebrity status, they can aim for direct connection with 1,000 True Fans. It’s a much saner destination to hope for. You make a living instead of a fortune. You are surrounded not by fad and fashionable infatuation, but by True Fans. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.

The difference between writing a manifesto and keeping a manifesto

I've talked plenty about my interest in manifestos and even talked about my concerns with some of the most popular ones out there, like the Holstee manifesto. ​Seth Godin has a point of view on manifestos that breaks down exactly why finding the right one can be so difficult: 

The essential choice is this: you have to describe (and live) the difficult choices. You have to figure out who you will disappoint or offend. Most of all, you have to be clear about what's important and what you won't or can't do.

In other words, saying yes to a manifesto also means saying no to something (or someone) else. According to Godin,  real manifestos are manifestos with "no platitudes, merely a difficult to follow (but worth it) compass for how to move forward."

He goes on to cite the Acumen manifesto as an example:​

Acumen: It starts by standing with the poor, listening to voices unheard, and recognizing potential where others see despair.
It demands investing as a means, not an end, daring to go where markets have failed and aid has fallen short. It makes capital work for us, not control us.

It thrives on moral imagination: the humility to see the world as it is, and the audacity to imagine the world as it could be. It’s having the ambition to learn at the edge, the wisdom to admit failure, and the courage to start again.

It requires patience and kindness, resilience and grit: a hard-edged hope. It’s leadership that rejects complacency, breaks through bureaucracy, and challenges corruption. Doing what’s right, not what’s easy.

Acumen: it’s the radical idea of creating hope in a cynical world. Changing the way the world tackles poverty and building a world based on dignity.

Starts, demands, thrives and requires. Four words that are not in the vocabulary of most organizations.

Starts, as in, "here's where we are, where few others are." Most politicians and corporate entities can't imagine standing with the poor. Apart from them, sure. But with them?

Demands? Demands mean making hard choices about who your competition will be and what standards you're willing to set and be held to.

Thrives, because your organization is only worth doing if it gets to the point where it will thrive, where you will be making a difference, not merely struggling or posturing.

And requires, because none of this comes easy.​

I can't say that I have my own manifesto nailed down. And it's definitely something to consider working on. The best case scenario? Putting in the time and energy to develop one that I believe in and am willing to live out. The worst case scenario? Developing a manifesto so general it dilutes the value.