Attract your first 1000 True Community Members

1000 True Fans Squared 🚀

Just focus on serving 1000 true fans with your work, said Kevin Kelly. 🔥

A True Fan = “is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce. These diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible versions of your book; they will purchase your next figurine sight unseen; they will pay for the “best-of” DVD version of your free youtube channel; they will come to your chef’s table once a month” - Kevin Kelly. 

Why do you want them? Well, with 1000 True Fans:

You have financial security. 💰
You get to focus on what you genuinely love. ❤
You’re surrounded by more uplifting people. 😄

Numbers:

1000 people x $100 product  = $100,000 per year
100 people x $1000 product  = $100,000 per year

Not exactly enough for a beautiful mansion in Malibu, is it? But the catch is, once you have your thousand true fans, it’s far easier for you to create your million dollars (if you do intend). 

Imagine you had all of those thousand fans in one place. In that place they were helping each other frequently, interacting, and they were paying you to be in that space? 

That is an incredibly powerful asset. 💪

I call this 1000 True Fans Squared. Why squared? They’re now working together in an engaged community. 

It requires work to get there from scratch, but it’s possible and is being created as we speak by the others.

If you are interested in community building I would commit to the goal. 🏹

Start with the goal of 20

Then 100...

And soon it will be 1000.

After listening, reading, and studying other online communities for hundreds of hours, I’ve decided to create 10 actionable systems and practices that you can implement that will help you attract and bring together your 1000 True community members. Let’s start with Week 1.

System 1 - Define your Personality Thieves then Hero’s. 🧟‍♂️🦸‍♂️

Defining exactly who the community is for is challenging at the start.

Many sages and wise people in ancient texts speak about defining what something is not, and how that points more to what it actually is.

This point was made clear when I was listening to Tom Ross, who is the founder and CEO at DesignCuts.com, a community of over 750,000 amazing creatives. 

He spoke about how intentional he was with getting the right people in, even if he made less money at the start.

Remember the most important thing is about getting the RIGHT PEOPLE IN!

You can have amazing content, deals, amazing value to offer, and the ability to broadcast your message to millions…

But if you have the wrong people...

At the wrong time...

You will fall flat every time.

Your community-building efforts will feel like trying to persuade a lion to be a vegetarian. No matter how compassionate, and loving you are - the lion will eat you and not the bowl of broccoli you offer it. 🦁🥦

So let’s focus on the equivalent of the lions for a vegetarian community.

However, let's do it in a more subtle way.

I call them your three Thieves. 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️

I say, thief, as they are more sneaky and cunning than a typical villain.🧐

Thieves are those people who, when they jump in your community, they don’t participate, they don’t watch anything, they don’t use anything, they don’t connect with any members and they are always too busy. Maybe their payments are delayed too… so why are they thieves, and not just ‘ghosts’? Well, even if they occasionally pay you, they take more than they give (unbeknownst to them). They steal your:

Time
Attention
Energy
Resources

Now some important points, because I don’t want to come across as a hard-arse here… after all us community-builders are warm, loving and affectionate folk. Let’s not bash these thieves, but remember:

• A thief in your community can be a hero for another community. 

• They are sneaky, as sometimes you can sneak a payment out of them even if they aren’t the right fit 

• Sometimes they are agreeable and want to please you, so they just say yes.
  

It’s the person with health problems who keeps going to the dentist when they really need to go to the chiropractor.

Use this frame instead: Imagine your community was already thriving, you have a waitlist that’s growing, and all your financial needs have been met.

Who’s it not for now? Who would you not let in? You have a capacity of 1000 and you can’t be nice to everyone, so who’s out?

This is a great example of who it’s not for, with Pat Flyn’’s SPI Pro Community - which has over 1000 members and seems to be thriving. The list of who it’s not for is long. 

If you are my ideal reader for the newsletter, you like geeking out. So let's go deeper now.

The Community Thieves and Hero’s Pyramid :

3 Levels of Thieves- Who’s it’s not for?

1. Fuck No. - They are the opposite of what I stand for. 2. 2. No’s - They won’t engage and don’t really care.
3. Maybe Not - Maybe a year from now, when it works out. 

After this then you can form the personality of your brand Hero’s.

1. Fuck Yes - I’d love to serve this person.
2. Big Yes - I’m really confident I can help them.
3. Yes - I can help them, they are not my ideal client but they will receive value. 

Dumbledore does not focus on helping Voldemort, or Malfoy. He focuses on the people who can have the biggest impact. The Harry Potter’s, Hermoine Granger’s, and Ronald Weasley’s.

For example in Constant Student:

An Fuck No - Would be “Steve the Troll”. 🧟‍♂️

He complains about everything, always gossips behind members' backs, thinks that there is nothing to learn and he is always the smartest person in the room.

Even if “Steve the Troll” offers us the money, he is not accepted in the Constant Student, unless he has a deep and long look in the mirror and decides to make some radical changes. ❌

It’s important as you create your thief and hero diagram - that you define your No’s and your Kinda No’s… it does not mean they are bad people.

It just means that trying to serve them at the stage they are currently at might get you a few more bucks, and a few new members, yet in the long run it won’t create a ‘Wow, this is for me!’ when people jump into the community.

You may think, ‘Liam, I can't be that specific’.

Well, I would say it’s worth it… with a community, you are not selling a hardcopy product that can be thrown away and ignored, or replaced.

It’s all about people architecture! 💪

I felt bad for using the word ‘exclusive’ at the start when describing our community at Constant Student, but it was actually me just trying to please people, and not actually truly helping people.

An exclusive community is better for the thieves and the hero’s …  Novak Djokovic doesn't want to play tennis against a 5-year-old all the time, and the 5-year-old does not want to be constantly whipped off the court by Novak Djokovic. They play in different communities, which helps them both learn in the most effective way.

 Actionable System and Exercise - 30 mins. 🛠

Click Here for free Notion Template.

1. Name the top 3 Thieves.

Eg. In Constant Student we have Steve the Troll, Super Busy Belinda, Do it myself Declan.

2. Name the top 3 Heroes.

Eg. We have Action Taking Alan, Crazy Dreamer Dave, Exponential Eve.

3. Spend 5 to 10 mins on each thief and answer these questions

Think about the top 3 problems they have?
What do their average days look like?
What are their hopes and dreams?
What are their biggest fears?
What are their habits and behaviors?
Where do they hang out? 

4. Spend 5 to 10 mins on each Hero and answer the questions above… This then gives you clarity on who you are helping.

5. Optional for the real community geeks… in the beginning stages go through this exercise once per week, or month and then once per quarter once you have a good understanding. I’ve added it to my calendar as a reminder.

Remember to be specific enough to allow evolution, and general enough to allow inclusion and diversity of thought. 

See you next week in Brilliant Broadcasting for Belonging.

How to create an irresistible story and mission for your hero’s to pursue, and create your barbed wire so all thieves stay out.