Steven Wilson, @WatchMixer, and 1000 True Fans:

Today, I want to discuss the concept of 1000 True Fans.

Last week I went to a concert near Philly at the Keswick Theater.

I went to see an artist by the name of Steven Wilson. His former band, Porcupine Tree, is one of my favorites of all time.

The show was incredible.

Every person in his band is a maestro of their instruments.

I was in awe watching these amazing musicians all play together.

While I was sitting in my seat, looking at the people around me, it inspired me to write this article.

All Walks Of Life:

What I noticed were people from all different walks of life.

Steven Wilson is an artist of many genres. The most notable being progressive rock.

What was so cool about this was seeing people from all different scenes.

The Prog Rock fans, The Metal Fans, and the Rock fans… Hell even the pop fans.

You had the businessman, the goth rock chick. The young and the old.

I was fascinated by this because I have been to a lot of shows in my life.

This was the only one I have been to that I have seen the variety of people I saw. The cool part was we were all fans and were there for the same reason.

The experience got me to thinking…

Followers Counts:

We spend so much time worrying about follower counts or viewer counts.

Steven Wilson isn’t selling albums like Drake or your top of the pops artist. Yet, his career has spanned decades. He isn’t here today gone tomorrow. Steven Wilson has longevity in his space.

He has a very niche genre of fans.

The venue that night had the most inspiring groups people I have ever seen at a concert.

How did the does this pertain to us?

1000 True Fans:

 

The concert got me to think about an essay by Kevin Kelly titled 1000 True Fans.

Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review.

In his essay, Kevin says that, instead of worrying about a million fans, worry about getting 1000 True Fans.

If we can get that amount of people that are fans of our work, we can make a living off of our passions.

The 1000 True Fans are buying all your products, subbing to your channel, and consuming every piece of content.

This pertains to us (streamers) because we focus a lot on people with huge numbers.

Now I understand within those 10,000 followers can lie the 1000 True Fans. But the fact of the matter is to be focusing on the people that show up every day.

As I said in my previous post, the focus needs to be on making real friends with real human beings.

If we work on this every single day, we are on the road to 1000 True Fans.

When you sit back and think about it, you realize the amount of work that needs to go into our content.

It doesn’t just pertain to our Mixer channels either.

I can have 100 viewers for my blog, 50 followers on Mixer, and 200 Subscribers on my YouTube channel. They all add up to that 1000 True Fans. It is the reason why I post my content EVERYWHERE!

I currently have 175+ Followers on Mixer and I couldn’t be more excited.

They are friends that hang out with me every time I Go Live.

The connections I make are real and genuine. Anyone who consumes my content knows this.

Conclusion:

I wanted to write this because of the inspiration of people at the concert.

Steven Wilson is one of the greatest musicians I have ever listened to.

He has never had a Number 1 hit, yet is still selling out shows throughout his entire tour.

The show at the Keswick Theater is one I will never forget. Not only for the performance but the people.

Steven Wilson might not have the biggest fanbase in music. But he makes a living doing the thing he is most passionate about – Music.

The next time you are comparing yourself to people with huge followings, ask yourself, how many true fans are there. Ask yourself how long this person has been creating to get where they are. I guarantee if you take a step back you will see it is because they are genuine and worked their ass off for their position.

Numbers don’t lie, this is true…

…but making genuine connections with human beings doesn’t either…