2000 Things to Generate 20000 FansAuthor David Meerman Scott made a honest and realistic quote, “if you want 20,000 fans you must do 2000 different things that each generate 10 fans.” This was my favorite quote from 2010 and I am going to take this on as a challenge for 2011 for an ambitious project to give you 2000 different things you can do to generate 20,000 fans.

I am defining generating fans in a few different ways:

  1. A brand new fan who has never followed you before.
  2. Engaging with existing fans to get them to participate.
  3. Engaging with existing fans to get them to convert on an action.

Some of these items will apply better for larger acts, some items will work for any act. Some may work for you, some may not… not yet. Some these can be done with little effort, some will take some web development, some might even require some significant development. Some of these have successfully worked for me over the years. The point is to create a list of items that would cover a wide range of acts and abilities.

Of course the most important part of the project is your involvement! If you have questions about an item leave a comment or send me an email. Even better, if you have a suggestion for something to try please leave a comment or send me an email. I want to hear what has worked for you.

The end result of all this will hopefully be more Facebook likes, Twitter followers, email list subscriptions, more sales and more traffic to your website… more fans!

2000 Things to Generate 20,000 Fans Challenge

Ok, lets get this list of 2000 things you can do to generate 20,000 fans started! I will kick it off with one item that is easy and one item that takes some creativity.

1. Reply to every tweet that mentions you.
This is easy to accomplish and can go a long way to building a relationship with your fans. Using Twitter’s own tools you can review tweets that mention you and your tweets that have been retweeted. Every one that is listed you should give a personal reply, just a quick note to say thank you. Fans do not expect to get a reply from their favorite artist so when you do reply you will be way ahead of everyone else. Using Twitter’s search you can save specific searches for terms related to you; maybe band member names, album names, etc. Do the same thing with the search results; reply to every one of them.

2. Let your fans lead you – What did you get for KISSmas?
This one I actually did years ago. When I was managing the official KISS website Kissonline.com I noticed that fans were discussing amongst themselves what KISS gifts they received for Christmas. I took their lead and created a section on the site called What I Got for KISSmas. I encouraged the fans to share what KISS gifts they received. The fan involvement was a success and we had the fans supplying the site with user-generated content. Put on your create hat and pay attention to what your fans are talking about and take their lead and make them part of your website. Engage with your fans and get them involved. They will love the opportunity to provide their personal content to the website. It is a badge of honor when they see their name and content on your website.

1998 more items to go!

I will be maintaining a single list of all 2000 items at this location.