Author 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.
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.
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!
View the single list of all 2000 items at this location.
2000 Things to Generate 20,000 Fans Challenge
43. Hold a Fan Expo
One of the earlier 2000 tips was create a fan meet up, this tip takes the meet up to the extreme. Organize a convention or expo.
Where as a meet up can be a monthly event held with a smaller group and is often more loosely organized and more casual, a expo might be something that happens maybe once a year or even less frequent, is a much larger group of fans and could last hours and have a number of organized activities. I have been involved in many KISS expos over the years… attending as a fan, selling merchandise and as a special guest.
A typical convention would be held in a hotel ballroom. Fans travel and spend the weekend hanging with other fans. They pay a small admission fee, less than $20 kids are free, to enter the convention. You can setup some tables to sell band merchandise. Set aside some time to do a Q&A with the fans. Do a performance. Meet the fans and take pictures with them. You could hold trivia contests. Get other people involved in your career to attend as guest… roadies, producers, graphic designers, webmasters. You might be surprised to know fans love to ask questions of the people involved in making your career.
Fan expos are incredible events for fans to bond with each other and bands to bond with fans.
If you have specific questions about organizing a fan expo feel free to email me.
This is a great idea. I could see this working for groups of bands as well especially if they represent a subgenre or specific locale.
I agree. I always thought that the KISS epxos could be bigger if they included bands and fans such as Poison, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister. You can do so much without actually having the real band attend… road crew, ex-members, business associates, etc.