You Don't Need 1,000 True Fans. You Need 100 Superbuyers

How small creators can make big bucks online

Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans” essay broke the internet 20 years ago.

Build 1,000 fans who’ll spend $100 a year with you?

That’s a $100k biz.

But what if I told you that you don’t need 1,000 fans and that 100 do the trick?

That’s the power of building an audience of Superbuyers.

Why “building big audiences” is the biggest lie of the internet

There are two ways to play the monetization game.

The eyeball game, or the relationship game.

The eyeball game is simple. You focus on the number of eyeballs. The larger the better. Then, monetize with ads or cheap products.

The keyword here is volume.

But the bigger your audience gets, the more you need to dilute your message. The more you need to dilute your offers. The more generic you need to be. Because specific doesn’t talk to the masses.

Large audiences also come with large problems:

• Zero privacy.

• More trolls and haters

• More customer support emails

• More people who expect free stuff

The relationship game plays on a different level.

You monetize with top dollars rather than with cents for a view.

You work on making your audience buy more products, more often. These can be online courses, memberships, coaching, and done-for-you services.

I don’t say the eyeball game isn’t working. They’re people making millions with it. I say it’s not realistic for 99% of creators.

And it certainly doesn’t fit my introverted personality. I prefer working with fewer people but going deep — rather than talking generic garbage.

Can you do simple math?

All you want is to find 100 people who spend $100 with you.

I like $100 because it’s a sweet spot that can work in 95% of niches.

Let me break down the math:

100 Superbuyers × $100/month = $10,000/month = $120,000/year

Not bad for an audience of 100, right?

What makes someone a Superbuyer?

A Superbuyer isn’t just someone who buys your course once and disappears.

They’re the people who show up every time you launch something new.

They buy your $97 course, then your $297 coaching program, then your $997 mastermind.

I have clients who’ve spent over $5,000+ with me across different products over the years. One guy bought my first course in 2020, then joined my coaching program, then bought two more courses, and now he’s in my high-ticket mastermind.

That’s a Superbuyer.

These people don’t just consume your content. But they implement it. They get results. And they come back for more because they trust you to solve their problems.

Most creators are so busy chasing new followers that they ignore the gold mine sitting right in their existing audience.

How to find your 100 Superbuyers

Finding Superbuyers isn’t about casting the widest net. It’s about being laser-focused on solving specific problems for specific people.

I write for experts who want to monetize their knowledge with online content. Ideally, you’re 35+. You’re making several thousand dollars a month from your current business (or 9–5.) and want to walk your way out.

That’s it. Not fiction writers, not lifestyle bloggers, not crypto bros.

When you’re crystal clear on who you serve, everything becomes easier. Your content becomes more relevant. Your offers become more compelling. And the right people start gravitating toward you.

The Superbuyer model relies on one thing

This might piss off some of you lazy content creators.

But the best way to turn casual readers into Superbuyers is frequency.

I send daily emails. Because frequency builds trust.

When you show up in someone’s inbox every day with valuable insights, you become part of their routine. You become the voice in their head. You become the expert they turn to when they have problems.

Most creators email their list once a week (if they’re lucky). Then they wonder why people forget about them.

If you want people to spend $100+ with you every month, you need to be worth $100+ of their attention every month.

Daily content forces you to constantly think about your audience’s problems. It positions you as the expert who always has something valuable to say.

It’s not for everyone. But it works.

The long-term game

I won’t sugarcoat things.

Building an audience of Superbuyers takes time.

It’s not a 30-day sprint to $10K/month. It’s a 2–5 year marathon of consistently showing up, delivering value, and earning trust.

Some of my best clients have been reading my content for years before they bought anything. They watched me evolve, saw my results, and eventually decided I was worth betting on.

This is why I’m obsessed with long-term thinking. Every piece of content I create is an investment in future relationships.

Your Superbuyers are probably already in your audience. They’re lurking, reading, deciding if you’re the real deal.

The question is: Are you giving them enough reasons to stick around?

The dirty cheat sheet that attracts Superbuyers

Building 100 Superbuyers is way more realistic than chasing 100,000 followers.

It’s also more profitable, more sustainable, and more fun.

Instead of spreading yourself thin trying to please everyone, you can focus on deeply serving a small group of people who actually value what you do.

That’s how you build a business that lasts. That’s how you create real freedom.

Now stop refreshing your follower count and start building relationships with the people who are already paying attention.

If you want 3 simple ways to create content that attracts Superbuyers…

Then I’ve created a quick and dirty cheat sheet you can get on this link (it’s free.)