Back in 2008, a theory was born: Any creator with 1,000 “true fans” could make a decent living with a true fan being defined as someone willing to pay $100 per year for the creator’s work.
It remains a seductive theory, and inspiring, because 1,000 seems like a manageable and attainable number.
The problem is that, according to a lot of people in a position to know, it’s actually very difficult to accumulate 1,000 true fans.
The available data seems to suggest that in order to find 1,000 true fans, you have to have tens of thousands of casual fans, which is no mean feat.
When I started my crowdfunding campaign I was eager to find out how many of my readers were “true fans” and how many of the subscribers to my free newsletter would be willing to pay for content. At present, the newsletter has just over 1,000 subscribers, who I know next to nothing about.
My most optimistic projection was 10% would back the campaign. My realistic projection was 5%. And my pessimistic projection was anything under 5% with a worst case scenario being less than 1%.
So far, the number of backers is not heartening, but what has surprised me was how many people have paid more than the suggested $10 price tag. I didn’t expect that at all so if any of you generous backers are reading, big thanks. I’m grateful to anyone willing to pay $10 let alone ten times that, which makes you the very essence of true fans.
With 11 days to go, the campaign officially has 20 backers who’ve pledged $840. Another crowdfunding-phobic backer has promised to send a cheque for $100.
That’s not bad, but it’s not great. Successful campaigns tend to rake in as much as 50% in their first few days. I was hoping for $1,000 to $2,000 by now.
I’m going to have step up the marketing and try some different strategies.
Expect to hear all about them in this diary.
