This series starts with an introduction to the 1000 True Fans concept and solopreneur Alexandria Brown. The first part demonstrates that mastermind-style groups can yield over $600,000 each year with as few as 311 member subscribers, and lists other profitable, manageable online income streams. You may want to read these earlier posts for context on today’s topic. And nope, this is not a sponsored case study.

cc JOE MAD, courtesy of Flickr

Since the previous post, I’ve found much more income than the $387,088 needed to reach the million dollar goal. I revisited the 1000 True Fans post and Ali’s seminar audio to see what should count as True Fan earnings. Kevin Kelly’s full definition of a True Fan is—

…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.

Re-listening to the last portion of Ali’s teleseminar, I found she has her own term and definition for customers she can count on: Exceptional Buyers.

She quantified these folks as her top 5% (based on dollars spent, I expect), and went on to define them as:

…people who buy everything you have. When you come out with something new, they’re the ones with their hands raised first…they’re in line. I had people at my [Online Success Blueprint ??] workshop asking for Platinum Mastermind applications before we even mentioned the program. Those are the people who are ready. Those are my 5%—my exceptional buyers.

How would you determine your business’ True Fans?

Do those Exceptional Buyers sound like an information marketer’s image of Kelly’s True Fans to you? They sure do sound like ‘em to me. So I’m counting all the income from these top buyers. And from the products and services Ali offers, I see three easy-to-implement keys to satisfying the truest of True Fans.

The Keys to VIP Treatment

With its $15,000 price tag, tiny membership (only 17 people), and executive club format, Ali’s Platinum Mastermind program can safely be described as “big-ticket” and embodies what I see as the three keys to VIP earnings:

• Exclusivity
• Personalized answers
• Access and proximity to expertise

If you doubt the value of cost-based exclusivity, try flying First or Business class. There are hundreds of seats on a 747, and only a relative handful of high-end seats. Those passengers get: 1) priority check-in and seating, 2) a closed-door lounge to wait for their flight, 3) better meals and drinks, 4) larger seats and generous legroom, 5) easy access to the stewardesses and pilots, and so on. There aren’t any special requirements for having a First of Business class seat, you just have to pay for it.

Compare that to Ali’s Platinum Mastermind membership, which has high-ticket exclusivity paired with an application approval process. Going beyond that in exclusivity, access and personalization is her $12,000 Private VIP Consulting Day package in Marina Del Ray, California, where you and your business questions get Ali’s undivided attention on her home turf. This costs a few thousand less than her Platinum program, but remember the Platinum membership lasts an entire year, while the VIP consultation is just one day.

Topping both of those across the board is Ali’s One-on-One Diamond Mentoring Program, which includes 3 VIP Days and regular access to Ali year-round for strategy sessions, decision-making, etc. Check out the barriers to entry: Participants have to: 1) be female, 2) make it through both an application and an interview process, 3) hand over at least $1,000,000. A True Fan, indeed!

Note: When I told Dan about that, he commented that I could’ve saved a lot of time by listing this first. “Alexandria Brown Case study: Diamond Mentoring Program…$1,000,000 with one True Fan. The End.” LoL!

I don’t have numbers for how many people (if any) participated in Ali’s Private VIP days or her Diamond program. So while it was critical to see the potential in VIP packages, and I do consider VIP folks as True Fans, with no income figures these high price tag opportunities can’t count toward our goal.

Intermission

Rollin’ on up our toll road from Ali’s $47/month Silver Mastermind group, larger fees have led to smaller and smaller groups, longer and more frequent opportunities to have specific questions answered, and closer, more frequent access to Ali’s expertise, culminating at a $1 million coaching relationship. It was an increasingly expensive road from “come one, come all” to applications and interviews.

Before we get to the last bit, please do simmer on the possibilities for yourself in this solopreneur business strategy/model:

Effectively demonstrate mastery in a niche
and offer higher levels of exclusivity, attention, and access
to your expertise in a tiered package structure
with proportionately increased fees and hurdles

Please keep this in mind while you’re simmering: Ali started started online sales in 2002 with a $49 ebook [thanks Wayback Machine!].

Events for VIPs-to-Be (and VIP Wannabes)

At $2,997 for a three-day event, it’s difficult to classify Ali’s annual Online Success Blueprint Workshop among the coaching services, so it stands alone. Held only once a year, the workshop is too short-term to be considered a membership. According to the sales letter for the boxed version of the event, there were “almost” 200 attendees…so it’s not exclusive enough to be VIP. The workshop doesn’t even have its own pricing tier—it’s priced the same as the Marketing Mastery program.

But I can’t find any reason not to consider it True Fan income. There’s a True Fan-style commitment involved in slapping down three grand, traveling to LA, and pausing Life for three days and two nights to follow Ali’s program in person—particularly when there’s a boxed version with the same information for half the price. To me, it’s like attending a live concert when you can just as easily buy the CD.

190 Online Success Blueprint Workshop tickets @ $2,997 = $569,430

If you don’t like the assumed 190 attendees, be comforted that as few as 130 attendees would have exceeded the $387,088 we needed to meet the $1 million goal. And notably, even with that lesser attendance, the final result would be:

$1,002,522 per year with 441 True Fans

Bzz bzz bzzzzz…

I hope reviewing the many income streams and their revenue has your brain buzzing as much as mine is. I feel sure there is something I know or think or do that would be valuable to 1000 avid followers, and I believe the same is true for you. Finding those folks is a challenge, convincing them to buy is another. Keeping their attention will be tricky, and so will cultivating that wee collection of Exclusive Buyers.

What do you see as the biggest challenge to this business model?

And I can’t help thinking: What if I had helped my business ideas take root when I bought Ali’s first eBook back in 2002? What if I had fought my inertia, instead of slipping into a four year job coma and letting myself be overworked, underchallenged, undervalued, and underpaid?

What will it take to get—and keep—you moving?

If I had worked my way up Ali’s tiered program structure, what would I have now? Would we have a roomier apartment? Would I have paid off my student loans? Would we have a second car? Would we spend a week in Montreal for the July jazz festival?

What would you do with 50% more income next year?

I’m not striving for a massive house, fancy cars, and a neck full of bling. More money does indeed bring “mo’ problems” [shout to the Notorious B.I.G. for clarifying that], and I’m dedicated to a drama-free Life. I would be ecstatic with Kevin Kelly’s proposed $100,000 True Fan annual earnings. Even though it’s just 5% of what Ali earned last year, it would be more than twice the highest salary I’ve ever earned.

How little would it take to change your lifestyle?

So…How does she do it?

Next week I’ll touch on the tactics of Ali’s Big Machine: how she runs it with only a handful of helpers (and no employees), the likely expenses, the mountain of work I suspect is involved, and what I feel are the key benefits to the whole kit-and-kaboodle.

Next in series » Part 3: Get a Life With Automation and Delegation

If next week is looking busy for you, subscribe to my full feed or sign up for my email service to stay in the loop…

Tagged as: 1000_true_fans