I used to put a lot of list-formatted content on reddit in 2022, I am trying to get my TL;DR groove back, as a mix of consumable + thoughtful content is the best. Right?

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These brand documentaries can help you realize the power of brand messaging in campaigns, usage of storytelling & teach a thing about marketing.

Nike's Breaking 2 : VIDEOArt & Copy: IMDBReplay Gatorade: VIDEOVivobarefoot: VIDEOFrontline: PBSSpent looking for Change: SERIESSecrets of Branding: BBCThe Greatest Movie Ever Sold: TRAILERCentury of Self: FULLPatagonia's Stone Local: SERIESStory of Content: VIDEOHow Brands are Influencing Consumers: VIDEONoam Chomsky on Advertising: VIDEOThe Social Dilemma: TRAILERFyre Festival: TRAILER LearningSEO.io is one of my favourite library/resource to visit and get SEO insights, regarding latest changes and insights. Principles.design - An open source collection of Design Principles and methods. I love to use design principles for UI/UX and landing page optimisation. Hunter.io is an amazing directory of Cold email templates and it’s a great resource to find inspiration for email campaigns. Tiktok Insights Library - It’s a free library filled with data about Tiktok advertising and user audiences. Accessible Social - It’s a Social Media Library to teach you about importance of Alt text & other social media elements, that make social more accessible for all users.Futurepedia, An AI Tools library I have used since the AI MarTech hype-circle grew into a huge industry. Github Design Library - A Github resource meant for developers includes many graphic design and video marketing websites, the mentioned tools are useful for small marketing teams and managers. Really Good Emails - It’s a great library filled with email marketing examples and design ideas.Attentive’s Text We Love, I have appreciated the tool Attentive as much as I have loved their SMS marketing library. Karola Karlson’s Blog - I have made a ritual to revisit this blog whenever I plan to run a big Meta Ads campaign. Dan Siepen - I love his growth marketing blog, you can find multiple marketing checklists and his MarTech recommendations on the website. Animalz Blog - Since I started as an accidental content marketer, I have relied on experts at Animalz for content marketing insights. Harvard Business Review - I like to revisit marketing blogs on the HBR and follow the writers to keep up their work on social media. Emarketer’s Social Media Blog: This blog gives you insider insights about state of social media backed by data. JSVXC - I love his too honest content marketing blog, you can find many useful insights for On-Page SEO. Nir and Far - It’s not a marketing-centred blog, Nir talks about design and psychology. His insights are very useful for marketers working in digital and social media strategy.

These courses were recommended by different reddit users under questions about marketing courses worth taking for new marketers.

Hubspot Inbound Certification recommended by u/analyzeOMCA Digital Marketing Certification recommended by u/intjonsteroidsMarketing Plan Formula recommended by u/frontdoormediamMBA by Mark ritson - There were a lot of redditors recommending his course. His Blogs are good too.Google Analytics Academy - recommended by u/RawketTK to another user is a thread.Semrush Academy - recommended by u/Jade_Jaded in a thread about coursesMeta’s Blueprint Course - Recommended by u/LoveFightWrite for Instagram.Fundamentals of digital marketing - recommended by u/cryptoderelictStory Brand - recommended by u/RedWritingHood76 not basically for course but regarding a resource + they have a good course too.Udemy Digital Marketing Course - recommended by u/ONNEAPP for beginners.PPC University By Wordstream - recommended by u/alphatrixdigitalHubspot Email Marketing Course - Recommended by most email marketers on reddit to begin with because email marketing is too niched and there aren’t good ones to recommend.Tiktok Ads Academy - It’s not that famous but extremely useful to get into paid Tiktok, recommend by u/lazymentors

Honourable mentions; Google Digital Garage / LinkedIn Learning Marketing / Meta Blueprint / Hubspot Academy.

Jules Terpak - I follow her to inform myself about latest tech trends and changes. Codi, If you are active on twitter and work in social media. You will love her social media takes and perspectives. Kevin Indig, His insights about SEO and marketing on X and LinkedIn are worth your read, if you work in online marketing. His newsletter is also worth a subscribe; . Ashley (StuffaboutAdvertising), Her posts are enough for you to keep up with advertising trends and new campaign launches. Mark Pollard, For strategy related insights and best frameworks, I follow mark and read his newsletter. Rob Freund, To inform and learn about legal issues regarding social media content. Rob is the person you need to follow, he covers the ignored side of social when it comes to using trending images and sounds.Digital_chadvertising, A meme page I follow only for the stories about the state of marketing jobs and culture. R/GA - This one I truly follow for memes and relatable industry tweets. Oren John - I follow him for branding and creative direction related content. Lauren Spearman - The best follow to inform yourself about state of social media and marketing jobs, she provides amazing reviews of Job postings. Louis Grenier - To fill my LinkedIn with NO B.S marketing advice.

I follow too many great accounts and marketing creators, if you want the full list do let me know.

These are the ones not on substack, you can read my recommendation list for the substack newsletters.

Marketing Examples, One of the best newsletters to find marketing examples and copywriting advice. Why We Buy, A newsletter about buyer psychology and marketing. SEOFOMO, A newsletter about SEO news, trends and weekly content about marketing. Contagious, The Weekly Edit from the publication is a must read newsletter for creative marketers. Salmon Theory, The Short and sweet strategy newsletter.

*I read too many, these are few I wanted to recommend today.

The number 1,000 holds great value in our human life. Most people desire to make their first $1000 and few want to earn an extra $1000. And now we want 1,000 true fans to build our creative business. And do what we are passionate about with the help of those true fans. 

Originally the idea of having true fans to make a living was introduced to me when I was 14 years old. Seeing my uncle sell out his whole music inventory in a village of 3,000 people. He had 600 true fans buying from him. Then, I came across the article “1000 True fans”  by Kevin Kelly. His analysis of how artists can make a living from their true fans. 

I was amazed by the analysis, it opened businesses and creatives to the idea of building relationships with their users. That is like a never-ending bond. 

But like every other idea in the world. Ideas don’t mean much if you don’t execute and work for them. Especially, in a way that people want to believe in your ideas. 

While I love the idea proposed earlier by Kevin & later posts on this idea were published by Li Jin & many others on building your true fans. The concept is broken because most posts talk about revenue & emotional connection. 

There is not much talk about how creators & businesses built those 1000 or 100 true fans. Most of them built those true fans in different ways. 

Not talked about enough, most true fans have different characteristics and they are connected to your business for different purposes. 

In general true fans, take an element of your business and stick to it. Most true fans of your business will have 90% similar opinions and 10% different. That 10% is the personality trait that makes them feel connected to you in a different way than others. 

What we have learned from all the theories regarding building true fans is finding a pain/common point. And connecting with them on that level to turn an average fan into a true fan. A concept of understanding buyer purposes as a theory of building true fans. That is why the execution of building true fans is broken. 

First, ask yourself. Are you a true fan of any business, creator, or artist? Ask me, My answer will be: A true fan is an unaware individual who knows my business in a way that benefits me the most. 

I grew up with the belief that you can never do something completely right or wrong. Because we are always unaware of what effects on our future will occur when we do right or wrong. We, humans, are always unaware of X percent. 

And your true fan is currently only aware of what they need to be aware of to keep buying from you. At one point, they will be aware of more and will go back to his life as a regular fan. 

This means A true fan will not buy into everything you sell. He is on a journey like humans to be more aware of their presence on earth. 

That is why focusing on building true fans is kind of impossible. Because your fans are always in the loop of their journey. There is no constant. 

Don’t settle for a number like 1,000 true fans. Try to make sure more and more people are in the loop of joining the journey. And reaching the stage of being a true fan at some point. 

Now, I would like to focus back on steps you can take to make sure more and more people are reaching a peak true fan level. Before they got more aware and reversed back to being a regular fan. 

I remember last year until October I was a true fan of J. Cole (rapper/artist). I still love him, what changed was my context of rap music. How much knowledge I had about the culture & art of rap grew. Made me aware of what the next level of rap music exists on the underground level. 

Understanding the rhymes, and stories, and thinking behind them changed me. Context- The first and most important part of your journey building a successful business. 

Find what level of awareness your regular fan might hold to find you & fall in love with your product & art. To reach a point of being a true fan. After that, have an awareness of what is the next level for that true fan. Because most fans have to see progress from the artists & businesses they love. 

Joining/finding you (artist/brand) introduced them to a new level of awareness in that niche/industry. Their context will be having the best product or music album on their hands. You should be aware that there is always someone doing better. So define possibilities of them reaching the X business or artist. To learn from them and adapt. 

It is hard to do for artists but as an artist, you should not be afraid of experiments & risk to improve your craft. For both businesses and creators, The first angle of building true fans is being aware of what your ideal fan knows and how they will change or grow while being with you/your business. 

The second step of building true fans is understanding what matters the most in their journey. 

Most artists & businesses have strong connections with fans through their products. And at the end of the day, Product makes the connection between fans unbreakable. 

They may never stop caring about you if the product is impeccable. We have had artists in the past with personalities that no one likes. And businesses with a brand purpose that no one stands for. But besides that, nailing your end product remains the center and starting of a fan journey. 

For many your story & long-term vision matters the most. Thinking that connects with others to make them join your brand or market it with you. 

To this day, many unprofitable brands are funded by VCs again and again. Because they believe in the long-term vision of that business. And local small businesses thrive because they have a story that makes people support them. But the data shows, 65% Consumers were more likely to purchase if they knew the personal story of the business, however 1 in 5 small businesses do not share their story.

Every small business is born with an element of making people connect and become irreplaceable. That element is hard to find, but it is worth finding to build true fans for your business. 

The last step of building fans is Acknowledgement that you care. 

The audience of true fans likes to be seen and the most important thing for them is finding that you care about them. Trust and caring make them stay! 

The examples most independent artists & startups have in 2023 about building true fans are false, they did not try to build that fanbase. They put art or innovation first, audience second.

Last Year during Coachella, Many People hated Frank Ocean for not performing well and true fans defending him. The story of Frank Ocean explains a lot about True Fans. 

Many Artists do what they do for their comfort & benefit. And most of them build their true fans by doing that, not caring about what people think. Like I said, you can’t control the loop, you can only grow it.

But when the number of true fans grows, those same fans can hold you back. Because they want the same music & artist to do what they like. And artists like Yung lean are right about Drake and creating music for others;

When you are creating for others as an artist, you are mostly guessing. - YL

That becomes a challenge for artists and businesses. Because pivoting and trying new things is what most of them do. That change and adaptation mentality can impact your true fans. 

When you do that, the part of building true fans changes into marketing steps you need to take, in order to keep your true fans. By knowing their touch points & caring about them. 

You should never be afraid of pivoting, adapting & taking risks. But the important part is understanding your true fans when you do that. Finding that element that connects the art and the artist, the opposite of what we talk about it.

We discuss the idea of separating art from the artist. But when it comes to building the fan base, we often talk about connecting them. So, many true fans generally don’t separate these elements. If they start to love the artist more than the art, product can get worse, but they will still buy into the product. Because you are asking to do the impossible, if they built the audience with bias and reality, personal brand will at some point overtake the artistic value and culture.

But Hey, not to view building fans on a macro-scale of good and bad. I assume you are a good person, try to build and connect the art and the artist, to build your career as an artist, creator or business owner.

When you started reading this article, my influence over you was potentially zero percent. And it might remain that way or change. Every single step in front of your fans impacts your influence on them. 

Early Research on Influencers & Artists shows that with every piece of content, They connect and disconnect with many potential buyers at the same time. Proving again that there is no constant. 

That is the reason, Many successful startups, and artists steal the work or frameworks. To rebuild a new business or work of art for those lost audiences. Those Successors met those audiences at a point where other artists lost them. Or the audience left the chat room.

We have to remember that audiences aren’t divine identities, these groups are also in the loop for selfish reasons. People follow people, for comfort and relatability.

The post from Kevin talked about how true fans can help artists make a living. And until now, I have mentioned more about building fans, keeping & understanding them. As proposed by Kevin, I agree with him. To make a living off your true fans. It is not about the number 1,000. 

I know artists & businesses struggling with 100k IG followers, 1 million Spotify streams, and viral editorial content across the internet. And I know artists with 500 IG followers thriving.

It tells a lot about finding true fans is hard and also involves luck. It could take only 1000 followers or real-life interactions to find your first 100 true fans. Or it could take more than 100k followers to discover them. Even with all the hard work, it involves luck and your current state as a business or artist. 

All the changes in the world and human behavior are changing the definition of a true fan. 

The ‘True fan’ definitions for artists are changing. Because the touchpoints changed. Streaming options disrupted the music world. 

Affecting the earnings of musicians. Digital Arts (NFTs) created a new opportunity for fans to invest in an artist's journey. Influencers becoming brand faces for new businesses made people resonate more with the brand. 

In few industries, the changes are making it harder for artists to make a living and in many, it is easier than ever. The important part for you is to be aware of what they want now, in order to change and make a living.

An example is how entertainment is eating Art, this was mentioned in the latest newsletter from

, a newsletter every marketer or artist should read:

I know today artists and businesses are afraid of AI taking their work. Fear won’t help. What helps is your creative intelligence to start finding a way to differentiate yourself from others. And know what changes, and how you can protect your art & be better than AI. With what you have and AI doesn’t. 

There are few individuals in the creator economy and artist world. Trying to help everyone build true fans and make a living. I would like to mention them and share my insights on what you can learn from them. I consider myself, somewhat of a true fan of these creators/artists.

Kevin Kelly - The reason I wrote this article was because I loved the idea of 1,000 true fans Kevin. But I wanted to go deep into what it takes to build true fans and who they are. Colin and Samir - These two have been helping other creators get education regarding building a community and what to charge as a creator. The knowledge they deliver about creative businesses helps artists and creators a lot. Jack Conte, Patreon - Patreon is helping many artists make a living by making it easier for fans to support their favorite artists. And Jack, as the CEO & an artist, contributed a lot to help other creatives and artists make a living. Tyler, the creator - While I know contributions from Tyler to the Artist community are not that much. But Tyler is now a huge inspiration for artists. For those who see him and think pivoting & experimenting is not a bad thing as an artist. Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) - He is educating music artists from the start of his career, which is why you need to position your art differently from others. And why the new age of streaming is difficult for artists. Disney’s Journey - I have attached for you to have a look at Disney’s Business structure. Studying Disney’s business journey and how they have achieved a place to charge people thousand is a masterclass for Artists. To learn what more Fan touchpoints can do for your business, to make fans spend more. 

There are many others I believe contributed a lot to the Artists, Creators & business economy. Their names aren’t here but the effects of their steps will always remain. 

That’s all I have for you. I am on my journey to build more True Fans this year. My first touchpoint of turning a regular follower into True fan is by making them subscribe to my free newsletter or the paid one.