1,000 True Fans, 15 Years Later: What Still Works?

Engagement

Why Kevin Kelly’s viral “1,000 true fans” essay is more relevant than ever.

Your brand doesn’t need followers. It needs fans.

In 2019, Arianna Renee learned this the hard way. At eighteen years old, she had amassed 2.6 million followers on Instagram, and wanted to monetize her following by launching a clothing line. Apparel often requires a minimum purchase order, and this influencer’s manufacturer was no different; she’d need a first PO of at least 36 units for production to begin. The influencer would need to convince 0.000013% of her followers to buy.

When Renee couldn’t hit the minimum, and then wrote about it in a since-deleted Instagram post, it led to debates. Had this influencer “shown her hand” regarding the market value of her audience? Was the influencer bubble bursting? What actually makes a personal brand sticky — and can we engineer that in our own online efforts?

In the age of influencers and shitty AI-produced content, I have good news: You don’t need a million followers to make it online. What you need are fans — true fans.

This is the theory behind an essay written by WIRED Magazine co-founding executive editor Kevin Kelly back in 2008. In this piece, Kelly explained that if you were to cultivate an audience of 1,000 true fans who each contributed $100 a year to your revenue, you’d have a healthy business doing six figures in topline revenue.

When creators have 1,000 true fans, they have a reliable source of income that allows them to continue doing what they love. These fans become the foundation upon which creators can build their careers, enabling them to expand their offerings and reach a wider audience in the future. “1,000 True Fans” influenced startups and creators for years, and also went on to appear in Tim Ferriss’ best-selling “Tools of Titans” book.