Meet The Musician Who Sacrificed Fame to Pursue the Assist of 1,000 True Followers

As 2010 drew to an in depth, Nate Maingard walked away from a psychic, shaking his head.

She had informed him he may make a full-time residing from his music.

She needed to be loopy.

All his life, he had bounced from job to job, location to location, in search of one thing, however he was by no means glad.

Music was his first and deepest love, however… it was only a pastime. Not one thing he may actually make a residing from.

Simply 4 months later, he took the plunge anyway.

He known as each profitable musician he may discover to ask them questions. He booked each venue that might take him to get extra publicity.

In a single 12 months, he performed 100 exhibits.

He hoped to get found. To get picked — by an agent, by a producer, by somebody who may make his dream a actuality.

However the tempo was unsustainable. He wasn’t making music the best way he wished to.

Success appeared out of his management, depending on some thriller one who may present up at a gig sometime and say, “You’re the one we would like.”

Issues are completely different now.

As we speak, he has a thriving, “symbiotic” neighborhood that helps him. He writes new music, and his followers love what he provides to their lives.

In rising numbers, they’re supporting him each financially by way of Patreon and emotionally — as demonstrated by a life-altering reward one in all his followers despatched him (we’ll present you a video of Nate opening the package deal later on this story).

This text explores the realizations and techniques that allowed Nate — lastly — to reside his dream.

Meet The Musician Who Sacrificed Fame to Pursue the Assist of 1,000 True Followers

When Nate dedicated to music 100%, he adopted a template each musician is aware of all too nicely: play as many gigs as you’ll be able to, hoping that somebody will uncover you and signal you to their file label.

However that leaves just one, slim definition of success: “It’s important to be well-known to achieve success,” he defined.

Nate had over ten years of enjoying small exhibits and open-mic nights from earlier than he made music his job.

“I’d been enjoying music all these years and nobody had ever come as much as me and mentioned, ‘You’re wonderful. I wish to make you a star,’” he recalled.

To extend his probabilities of being picked, he performed as a lot as he may. Getting extra publicity was like shopping for extra lottery tickets.

It was soul-crushing.

“There’s simply no finish in sight. There’s no objective that you already know you’re going to realize. The objective is to maintain playing with none actual assure of success,” he defined.

“I had a way of powerlessness as a result of I didn’t really feel like I used to be in command of whether or not it labored or not. I simply saved doing this factor that I believed was the factor I’m alleged to do and hoped that one thing would come of it. It’s a really, very disempowering expertise,” Nate recalled.

These emotions led to 1 key realization: “I’m going to have to do that myself.”

His first activity? Redefining success.

That meant letting go of ‘fame’ — an elusive outcome he had no management over — and defining a transparent objective to work towards.

For him, “success can be making sufficient cash to be enjoying music as my full-time job. That was my definition of success,” Nate mentioned.

From there, he broke it down into what’s required.

At present, he hopes to discover a rotating “one thousand true followers” to help him at $50/12 months every.

That might be a $50,000/12 months revenue — sufficient to help his life in Cape City, South Africa, and get all of the tools he must make the music he loves.

He’s not there but, but it surely provides him one thing concrete to work towards.

And alongside the best way, his actions have a direct influence on the success of his music.

Takeaway for creators*: Outline what success means to you, then set targets to realize alongside the best way.*

Nate discovered to play guitar at 14 and began writing poetry even earlier.

All through his life, he’d achieved open-mic performances. His first gig was truly because the opening act for his dad (who is without doubt one of the high 10 customized guitar makers on the earth and sometimes performs).

By the point he was 28 and able to do music full time, his music abilities had been as much as snuff.

However he had some catching-up to do to succeed as a businessman.

“Sooner or later, I noticed that being a musician and being an entrepreneur are similar,” he defined.

So, he constructed the talent set wanted to make his enterprise — music — succeed.

Discover Mentors (Only a Little) Additional Alongside the Journey

Earlier than Nate even knew “mentor” was the phrase for what he wanted, he was calling up different musicians.

He seemed for individuals who had been “only a bit additional” alongside the trail than he was.

(In different phrases: don’t look to probably the most profitable, well-known folks that can assist you. Discover somebody who’s nearer to what you’re going by way of proper now**.**)

To achieve out, he’d write an electronic mail and say,

“Hey, so I see you probably did this tour, and it seems to be prefer it went rather well. Would you be prepared to share with me how you probably did that?”

Many of the musicians he contacted had been blissful to let him in on trade ‘secrets and techniques,’ like who to contact for reserving exhibits and the place to play.

Later in his profession, he discovered one other function for mentors.

Initially, Nate was energized and able to show that he may make it as an artist.

However what do you do once you’re within the trenches, once you’ve been going at it with every part you’ve received, and also you simply want one thing that can assist you keep on and focus?

For Nate, staying accountable as soon as the ball received rolling was a wrestle.

Having mentors and folks he may test in with made all of the distinction.

Now, he recommends Tommy Darker’s new mentorship program for musicians seeking to set up (and follow) their targets.

Takeaway for creators: Attain out to people who find themselves additional alongside the journey you wish to take. Even a easy electronic mail can yield nice outcomes!

Hit the Books… and the Podcasts, Blogs, and Spherical-tables

When you’re discovering individuals who do what you wish to do… it’s value discovering out what they’re studying, listening to, and watching.

Nate centered on music trade blogs and listened to podcasts just like the DIY Musician Podcast and the Music Advertising and marketing Manifesto.

He was a frequent attendee at Darker Music Talks, a month-to-month presentation (led by Tommy Darker) aimed toward serving to musicians grow to be higher entrepreneurs.

(Nate even went on to be featured on the present, explaining how he’s constructing his tribe as a “musicpreneur” — Tommy’s title for impartial musicians.)

“There was simply this unbelievable neighborhood that might go to those talks each month. I received so impressed by all of the stuff that was taking place there,” he mentioned of the talks.

Attending the talks helped him community and establish an expert neighborhood that might uplift him.

Takeaway for creators: Discover the locations folks in your discipline congregate. Be taught from their expertise and develop your community, each on-line and in-person when you can.

As Nate began enjoying gigs and studying extra about advertising his work, he additionally established an lively on-line presence.

He’s a “very instant” type of individual, so Twitter and reside streaming are his favourite methods of speaking with followers. He wished to foster a private reference to them, and it paid off in a giant manner.

One among Nate’s “first superfans,” Ben Landis, additionally occurred to run a Twitter advertising enterprise.

Throughout one in all their interactions, Nate seen that Ben had over a million followers.

Nate instantly reached out and mentioned, “Who’re you, why are you following me, and the way do you’ve gotten so many followers?”

Ben defined that his enterprise, Fanbase, “helps inventive folks get extra followers on Twitter by following individuals who have comparable pursuits,” Nate recalled.

Despite the fact that Nate thought it sounded “actually dodgy,” he tried out the service.

He began following folks on Twitter primarily based on Fanbase’s suggestions, and the response was overwhelming.

“Ninety-nine p.c of the time, the response was, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so blissful you adopted me. Your music’s wonderful. I by no means would have discovered you in any other case,’” Nate mentioned.

Up to now, he has 1.13 million followers and counting.

“I nonetheless really feel a bit shaky about it, like, is that this a morally OK factor to do? However the actuality of it’s that the overwhelming majority of my viewers on the web has come to me by way of that precise factor,” he mentioned.

“And the overwhelming majority of these folks have been actually grateful and excited that I’ve adopted them they usually’ve found me that manner,” he continued.

“I see lots of people doing it who’re simply doing it for numbers. From my perspective, it actually was from a need to attach with extra folks, and it labored in an genuine manner,” he mentioned.

If anybody asks why he adopted them, he explains that he follows folks to share his music with them.

By means of that transparency, he’s earned the belief of over one million followers.

Takeaway for creators: If you wish to develop your Twitter fanbase, think about following individuals who like issues much like the work you’re doing.

Nate all the time wished for a way for his followers to help him in an ongoing method however by no means discovered a manner to do this — till he discovered Patreon.

“My response after I noticed Patreon was one hundred percent sure, that is the factor. That is what I’ve been ready for,” he recounted.

There, he’s constructed a tight-knit neighborhood of his most devoted followers.

Nate’s Reasoning Behind Membership Tiers

When he arrange his Patreon web page in 2014, Nate centered on methods he may supply his core music without cost.

“I don’t wish to must cost folks,” he defined. “However then those that can afford to and who select to and who worth my music could make a pledge. A lot of folks pledging small quantities makes a giant distinction.”

He centered on constructing his choices round issues he was already making.

$1 supporters are handled to downloads of all formally launched music. Unreleased music downloads are reserved for $3+ supporters.

“In my thoughts, it’s way more worthwhile to have somebody pledging $1 or $Three for a number of years than somebody shopping for an album for $10 as soon as,” he defined.

Patrons get unique entry to a patron-only neighborhood, and excessive greenback supporters even get a customized postcard.

The postcards grew out of the will to say ‘thanks’ in a singular and actually enjoyable manner,” he defined.

“It provides folks one thing that they’ll’t get wherever else, that I can’t give wherever else, and that’s actual and tangible,” he added.

At present, his hottest tier is the $1 reward stage, however his most worthwhile tier is the $5 help stage.

Altogether, Patreon leads to over $1,500 in revenue every month.

It’s a quantity that Nate hopes will proceed to develop as he forges deeper connections along with his followers.

That mentioned, he thinks his success on Patreon isn’t due to rewards.

“The overwhelming majority of patrons, after I’ve requested them about altering rewards, pay as a result of they wish to help me. They pay the quantity they’ll afford as a result of that’s what they’ll afford,” he mentioned.

“It’s not going to be like this for everybody,” he added. However for him, help arises from the character of his intimate reference to followers.

Takeaway for creators: Each creator’s relationship with followers is completely different. Construct your reward tiers in a manner that is smart in your viewers.

How Nate’s Followers Modified His Life

After Nate’s Patreon took off, he skilled a stability the likes of which he’d by no means recognized.

In 2013, two years after committing to music full time, Nate was “operating round London” working three facet jobs along with making music.

However 4 months after launching his Patreon account, he was making $400 per thirty days.

It wasn’t a lot at first.

Nevertheless it was sufficient to free him from his miscellaneous jobs. He traveled, sofa browsing and making music and constructing his neighborhood.

These first few hundred {dollars} “took the strain off,” he sighed.

However simply as impactful has been the emotional help they’ve introduced.

“I’m utterly built-in with my neighborhood,” he acknowledged. “I’m utterly symbiotic with them. I don’t exist with out them. And my neighborhood doesn’t exist with out me.”

In 2015, one in all his patrons, Eli, requested for his deal with. She wished to ship him a birthday current.

“My first response was, ‘No, no, no, you achieve this a lot,” he recounted. However she insisted, so he shared the deal with.

Her one request was that he movie his response.

“After I opened it, what I found inside was a scrapbook that she had made.

She had gathered messages and pictures and poems and all these items from patrons world wide that they’d despatched to her.

She put them right into a scrapbook and despatched it to me. And I burst into tears.

Each time I discuss it, each time I take a look at that scrapbook, I cry.

It’s inconceivable for me to not. It was like shining a light-weight into the darkest components of me that say that

I’m undeserving and

what I do doesn’t matter and

I’m a faux and

I ought to hand over and

it’s simply all bullshit and

it’s all going to vanish in a second.

And this reward that I acquired, within the clearest manner attainable, was a bunch of individuals saying,

‘You’re worthy. We love you. Thanks. You’ve purchased a lot worth into our lives. We imagine in you. You’ve helped us.’

It was the precise reverse of my darkness.

That have that I’ve by way of this neighborhood that I’ve grown with Patreon, I can’t think about doing it one other manner.

I really feel so empowered in that. I really feel empowered to have the ability to discuss on to the individuals who care probably the most about what it’s that I deliver into the world. And Patreon helped me do it.”

Be aware: Wish to be supported by your truest followers? Join Patreon.