Back in 2008, I told you about an essay talking about 1000 True Fans. I followed it up in 2010 telling you about Rock Sugar Band and their true fans. I again talked about it in Another Look at 1000 True Fans. The key is that you can build a sustainable business if you only have 1000 True Fans. I encourage you to read the previous posts for all the details.

Today I wanted to talk about different ways that someone can be a fan. The most obvious way would be to purchase products. In two of my examples I talked about bands and a fan could be described as someone who purchased each album they released. Maybe a true fan is one that attended a concert when the band came to their city. I suppose there can be multiple levels of “fandom” depending on whether you purchase an album, go to concerts, get the t-shirt, etc.

Finding the fan that purchases everything you release can be difficult. I would be thrilled if all of you purchased even a few things we release each year. Not everything we release applies to all of you. The good news is there are multiple ways for you to be a “true fan” and I’d like to explore a few of the other ways for you to express your fandom.

The first way would be to connect with me on the various social media outlets. That includes receiving the blog posts via e-mail (many of you already do), becoming a fan of the Graphics Unleashed Facebook page and following me on Twitter. Even better, I encourage you to interact. If there is something posted on the Facebook page you like, please click Like and post a comment. Send me questions on Twitter or reply to my posts. If you like one, please consider retweeting it. Your interaction is a way to tell others about the content we post and will hopefully bring in more fans.

While I just recommended you connect with me and/or Graphics Unleashed, I also recommend you do that with other individuals or companies with whom you are a fan. Social interaction makes it very easy for you to communicate with the companies with whom you are a fan. Your interaction also allows the companies to better understand you and the best way for them to meet your needs.

You can also help companies like Graphics Unleashed “spread the word”. If you read a blog post you find interesting, could you tell others about it via social media? Most Web sites now provide buttons that makes it very easy to share their content.

Below are buttons we have on all blog pages with buttons for four of the popular social media platforms. Click the button and you can share the blog post on your social media platform of choice. Could you share even one of our posts each week on one service? Or two? We’ve tried to make it as simple as possible and we truly appreciate it. Note the buttons shown at right are now the “real” buttons, just a graphic showing you the look of the buttons. You’ll find the real ones on the left side of our pages.

You’ll also see a series of buttons at the bottom of your Web browser allowing you to share any of the pages on the Graphics Unleashed Web site on the major social media platforms. So if you see a product you like, can you share it and tell your friends? It just takes a few seconds for you to share and it helps us reach new fans.

Whatever your level of fandom, we want you to be a fan!