4 builders who never spoke to each other
Keep the audience small enough to know who is in it
Optimise for the people who actually pay attention rather than the size of the number: a thousand of the right ones can carry a serious business while a large indifferent following adds cost and risk. Knowing subscribers by name is treated here as the goal, not as a stage you grow out of.
The method
- 01
Optimise for who is paying attention rather than how many: a thousand of the right people can carry a six or seven figure business, while a large indifferent following adds risk
- 02
Optimise for an audience small enough that you know who is in it, rather than for the largest possible list.
- 03
Reach for a small number of the right people rather than a large audience, because paid support tracks how strongly people care and not how many of them there are.
- 04
Aim at ten readers who genuinely care rather than at thousands of anonymous followers.
What it returned
- 500,000
Evan You reaches over 500,000 monthly visitors with Vue.js yet has 147 financial supporters averaging $66 a month each. The Sword of YHVH has 51 supporters producing about $3,000 a month. Ben Komets clears over $6,500 a month from around 270 patrons on a channel of 12,500 subscribers.
He separates a crowd, meaning people who vaguely know you, from an audience, meaning the specific people who value what you do
Paul Jarvis says he would rather have fewer subscribers and know most of them by name, and fewer customers he can support properly, than push for more of either.
Sources
- 54 of the Biggest Earners on Patreon (And What They're Selling) - Detailed.comGlen Allsopp · detailed.com · Ben Komets: $3,239 per month · 2023-01-04
- The Smart Web does exist (but it needs your support) – Jakob GreenfeldJakob Greenfeld · jakobgreenfeld.com · The Smart Web · 2024-06-03
- The Audience Shortcut: How the Right People Paying Attention Changes EverythingNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Build an Audience, Not a Crowd · 2025-07-01
- I don’t actually care about growth - Fathom AnalyticsPaul Jarvis · usefathom.com · Building a company of one · 2016-10-17
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in product
- Give away a tool that pulls its own audience7 unconnected
- Take many small shots instead of one big bet6 unconnected · contested
- Get it into real hands, or shape it first6 unconnected · contested
- Cap the hours and let the ceiling design the business6 unconnected · contested
- Set the bar for writing code deliberately high6 unconnected
- Buy nothing until there is revenue6 unconnected