bwagy, the blog of Ben Young

From Noah Brier:

I was reading Kevin Kelly’s Reddit IAmA from last year and I really liked his definition of “protopian”. In response to the question,

“As a radical techno-optimist, what do you think is something people believe technology can/will do that you think it can’t?”

Kelly answered,

“I am protopian, not utopian. I believe in progress, that things are getting better by a little bit. I don’t believe that we can eliminate problems without introducing new ones.”

I’ve been quoting 1000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly for some time now, so thought well overdue for the bwagy evolution.

To sum up the post:

“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.” Full post over at kk.org. (Make sure you read it).

Any creator probably starts with at least three true fans (aka mum, dad, grandma, grandad, husband/wife, siblings).

How do you take it from that to 1000? Well through hard work; listening, obsessing and growing with your fans.  It’s going to take some time but it is an entirely achievable target – once you have it you can then fully do what you want.