Build for Your 1%

Build for Your 1%

Build for your 1% loyalists, as they will lead your 10% supporters who will drive the 90% fans.

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Last week I had the opportunity to meet with the CEO and founder of the ATX Writing Club, Zac Solomon, here in Austin. It was a great opportunity to meet with another person who spends all their time trying to build something. Our conversation lasted a while and covered many topics, but the most potent one was my idea about how your 1% brand loyalists are the most important aspect in growing your business, personal brand, art, or anything else that you are trying to build.

90% Fans: The Bulk That Gives You Validity

We’ll go about explaining each of these groups of people in the same way, but will continuously add on extra layers as we go through. I’ll go through these people using the analogy of a music artist, as that is what I am. But this can be applied to all kinds of creators and businesses.

First is the 90% fan. These are the people who would stream your music, maybe even save your album or add a song to a playlist. They are aware of who you are and enjoy the stuff you make, but they aren’t going out of their way to do anything else beyond that.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. The most important thing about the 90% fan is that they are the ones who build your validity. An artist with 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify automatically garners more validity and power than an artist who only has 1,000 monthly listeners. The same goes for brands or anyone else.

This is not to say that smaller artists or creators are not important, but when push comes to shove, we all want our work to reach and be appreciated by more people. That’s the role of the 90% fan.

Next up, we have the 10% supporters.

10% Supporters: The Passionate Evangelists

Now we have our 10% supporters. One thing to remember as we go into each group is that each group is contained within the other, meaning the 10% group carries all the qualities of the 90% group, and so on.

So what sets the 10% group apart?

In the context of a music artist, this group would stream your music, save your album, add a song to a playlist, just like the 90% group, but in addition, they might read your artist bio, follow you on Instagram or TikTok, check out your website, and tell others about you.

That’s the most important aspect of the 10% supporters: they share. They’ve moved up from being casual enjoyers to passionate evangelists, people who are deeply moved by your work and want others to feel the same way.

Emotion is the driving force that moves someone from the 90% to the 10%, and it’s the same force that can propel someone into the 1%. Which is what we’ll discuss next.

1% Loyalists: The Conductors of Culture

Finally, we have the 1% loyalists. The cream of the crop. The most important group of people in getting your work shared with the masses.

Why? Because this group are the conductors of culture.

These super fans are the ones who are purchasing concert tickets, buying your vinyl, making YouTube videos about your music, hanging out on the subreddit dedicated to you, analyzing your album, and doing a whole host of other things. They are nerds about what you create.

A Real-Life Example: Tyler, The Creator

Let’s look at this in real life. Take Tyler, the Creator.

• 90%: He currently has around 43 million monthly Spotify listeners. This is the wide base, people who listen casually.
• 10%: On Instagram, he has 16 million followers. This is more than 10% of his monthly listeners, but remember, not everyone on Instagram is active. His recent posts average between 1 to 4 million likes, which lines up closely with that 10% active supporter range.
• 1%: Now let’s look at the Tyler, the Creator subreddit. It currently has around 400k people, which is roughly 1% of his Spotify audience. An even better example is his concerts. His last tour, Call Me If You Get Lost, averaged 12,300 people per show across 35 shows. Multiply those and you get about 430,000 people—which is almost exactly 1% of his fan base.

Final Thought: How can you build for your 1 percent?The best way is to make content that is the most authentic to yourself. When you do that, your 1 percent fans will recognize it instantly. They’ll feel seen. They’ll stick around longer. And they’ll share it with others, not because they’re told to, but because it matters to them.

You don’t need to chase trends or widen your appeal. You need to go deeper into what’s already real. That’s how you build something people actually want to follow, support, and carry with them.

Build honestly. Build with care. Build for the ones who get it.The rest will come.

Thanks for reading, 

–Wolfgang

My interaction with Zac was an amazing experience. It reminded me how important it is to have a creative community around you. If you're in Austin, consider becoming a member of The Art Newsletter to get access to our monthly creative meetups, starting this summer. Join Below.

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