I’m paraphrasing an essay that (the brilliant) Kevin Kelly wrote:
It doesn’t take a gold or platinum record to make a decent living in music or music ministry. What it takes is 1,000 TRUE FANS.
I’ll define that. A true fan is someone genuinely interested and engaged in what you do, who you are or what you are about.
Think of someone who has all your CDs already, so they buy a T-shirt. Think of somebody who buys things that they don’t even need just because that’s all you are offering.
If you have 1,000 people to each just spend $100 per year on you (this could be a combination of concerts, T-shirts, subscriptions, and yes, even CDs), that’s $100,000/year. A soloist can do very well supporting the family on that. Although, a trio might take 2,000 or even 3,000 fans to be able to buy fuel, meals, insurance etc.
Here’s the challenge though: Let’s discuss this. How do you convert a casual fan (guys that just, eh, like you) into TRUE FANS (guys who will keep supporting you and allowing you to do what you love to do)?
(We teach ways of doing these things during the EmPower Your Ministry coaching classes by the way.)
What would convert YOU into something more than a casual fan?
(does anybody know the song I referenced in the title?)
Feeling a personal connection is what creates a TRUE FAN out of me. When I feel personally connected to the music, and to the artist as a person, I’m all in. Intimate settings in smaller venues help build that relationship and gives me the feeling that I’ve been part of their journey so then even when they evolve into larger venues and bigger audiences, I feel like an insider that “knew them when.” Having said that, I have become a TRUE FAN of people I’ve never even met or seen in a smaller venue because of the other access I had to them such as blogs, social networking sites, and of course, most importantly, music that resonates with something in my soul. Word of mouth can’t be underestimated either. Passionate true fans make me want to find out what their passion is all about.
I know Marilynn, I have become a TRUE fan of some of the quirkiest people. When that happens, I always try to figure out what it was that made me a fan in the first place… Was it access? Was it “I can say I knew them when?…
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