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What if 1,000 true fans is already a power law? Doesn’t seem a lot on a global scale, but yet, who can claim to have 1,000 true fans with a paid newsletter? For

by WA 7y ago

What if 1,000 true fans is already a power law? Doesn’t seem a lot on a global scale, but yet, who can claim to have 1,000 true fans with a paid newsletter? For 1,000 true fans, you probably need 10,000 customers and be exposed to 100,000 people. Because 1% conversion rate to true fans seems about right. Note: this isn’t about strict numbers. 1,000 true fans paying 10 bucks a month might be enough. The same paying $2 a month? Doesn’t pay the bills of a family. I like the concept as well, because it seems a lot more approachable than trying to build a unicorn, but what if only the top 0,1% really get 1,000+ true fans? Still a power law.

bryanrasmussen 7y ago
the 1000 true fans concept is people who will buy anything you put out though, so they should not just be buying your $2 a month newsletter, but also your $15 t-shirts, $2000 speaking engagements and so forth.
OnlineGladiator 7y ago
> For 1,000 true fans, you probably need 10,000 customers and be exposed to 100,000 people. Because 1% conversion rate to true fans seems about right. The rule of thumb for email subscriber to paying customer is actually closer to 1% (compared to your 10%) which just means it's that much harder. I don't think there is a rule of thumb for "true fan" conversion, where it might be as high as 50% for something like Tesla and 1% for something like Comcast.
the_watcher 7y ago
> Note: this isn’t about strict numbers. 1,000 true fans paying 10 bucks a month might be enough. The same paying $2 a month? Doesn’t pay the bills of a family. Really? Maybe not every family (and definitely not in the Bay Area), but those numbers work out to $120-240K/year, with no requirement on where you live. EDIT: I can't be trusted with mental math. Leaving the above unchanged, but it's answering a comment that used different numbers that never actually existed. The correct numbers are $24-120K/year, which is obviously a very different discussion about feasibility.

by WA 7y ago

bryanrasmussen 7y ago

the 1000 true fans concept is people who will buy anything you put out though, so they should not just be buying your $2 a month newsletter, but also your $15 t-shirts, $2000 speaking engagements and so forth.

OnlineGladiator 7y ago

> For 1,000 true fans, you probably need 10,000 customers and be exposed to 100,000 people. Because 1% conversion rate to true fans seems about right. The rule of thumb for email subscriber to paying customer is actually closer to 1% (compared to your 10%) which just means it's that much harder. I don't think there is a rule of thumb for "true fan" conversion, where it might be as high as 50% for something like Tesla and 1% for something like Comcast.

the_watcher 7y ago

> Note: this isn’t about strict numbers. 1,000 true fans paying 10 bucks a month might be enough. The same paying $2 a month? Doesn’t pay the bills of a family. Really? Maybe not every family (and definitely not in the Bay Area), but those numbers work out to $120-240K/year, with no requirement on where you live. EDIT: I can't be trusted with mental math. Leaving the above unchanged, but it's answering a comment that used different numbers that never actually existed. The correct numbers are $24-120K/year, which is obviously a very different discussion about feasibility.