How to Build an Audience of 1000 True Fans in a Noisy World

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

Building an audience for your work is easier and harder than it’s ever been. Thanks to the fragmentation of the media landscape, the principle of 1000 true fans is more relevant than ever. It’s easier because we have the tools and resources to create our work, and the distribution channels to spread that work.

• Every aspiring author doesn’t have to wait for a publisher because they can self publish their books on Amazon. It’s the most valuable thing aspiring authors can do for their careers.
• If you want a TV show you can record videos and post them on Youtube.
• For a radio show start a podcast and distribute it with iTunes.

THE SCARCITY OF ATTENTION

It’s harder than ever to build an audience because there’s a scarcity of attention. Most people spend a few minutes on dozens of websites instead of several days reading the books of one author. The only viable strategy to build an an audience for your work is to focus on mastery instead of metrics.

Catering to the lowest common denominator might give you a large audience. But, it’s worth considering if those are the people you want to serve. Jerry Springer did. Oprah didn’t, even though Jerry was getting better ratings. Sometimes you have to start with an…