It's just a way to conceptualize how many people you need to generate $100,000 a year. If you have 1000 people each paying you $100 per year, that's $100,000.

It could be selling anything to them.

And it doesn't have to be 1000 people spending $100. It could be a bigger number of people spending less money, or a smaller number of people spending more money.

You could run a spreadsheet, plug in various numbers of customers and various numbers of spending to see how much you might gross.

I've done something similar by starting with a desired gross income and then working back from that to determine how many fans would need to spend at three different levels: $10 a year, $20 a year, and $100 a year. I made the assumption that a certain number would spend at each level.

I'd add that progress can come in inches so celebrate every success along your creative journey. BIG or small, every goal and success counts.

I just posted an article about goal setting and lessons gathered from the world of Rock and Roll that your readers may find compelling to stay after their goals.

In regards to convincing people to give money to a musician that nets $120,000... actually we left out paying taxes, his net is more like $70K. But none the less regardless of how much he makes we did not need to convince anyone, nor did we ever lead them to believe they would be supporting a starving artist. They know that he drives about 40,000 miles a year to go from show to show, he never calls in sick, he calls fans on their wedding, birthdays and even before they take their final breathe. He will give you guitar tunings if you email him and help you change your flat tire on your car if you're still there when he leaves the show. He'll probably buy you a drink before you buy him one. They are supporting an artist who brings them more than just the songs. He's a friend. He plays 150+ shows a year in venues from 150 cap to 850 cap, and greets everyone who wants to chat with him after the show no matter the size. This is how he retains loyalty for 20 years.The relationship he has with his fans is pretty beautiful!

I also want to make clear they actually were not donating to Ellis, they were buying products and services for what they gave. These are items and services that would not be available to them under other circumstances. We had 3 people contribute $10,000, 4 at $5,000 8 between 1,000 and 2,500 and all the rest from $15-$500. Here is a link to the program so you can take a more detailed look. http://tinyurl.com/yzvfzs4

One couple bought in at $5,000 which was their wedding gift to each other, using the house concert option to have Ellis play at their wedding. Their first date was at an Ellis Paul show.
One of the $10k donors was so happy we sent the email, she had been wondering for 15 years how she could help him. Having him write a song for their daughter was worth the price.
One women from Germany has only seen him live once in Germany, but that one night after the show she advised him to keep a song on an album. He had mentioned during the show he was thinking of eliminating it. He heeded her advice, that song is Speed of Trees and that's what he titled the album. It is one of his most popular songs.

Everyone who participated remarked how pleased they were with everything. As a person who used to handle sponsorships for big arena tours, I know to under promise and over deliver. We did that on many occasions. Keeping them informed along the way, sending them songs unfinished to listen to so they could hear how things were progressing etc etc. When we had to choose the Amazon free song of the day for a promotion we setup, we went to them for their vote on which song to offer. We made them very much a part of the process and they really enjoyed the ride. One person gave $5,000 and did not even want any of the items that go with it, he simply wanted to give Ellis the money so that Ellis could go and do his absolute best work. They are all in this because they want to help Ellis advance his career.

I would like to say that shortly after we sent the email out, the banks crashed. we had barely started to market the program and stopped completely knowing that fans were losing their jobs, 401K's and homes. We did not anticipate raising much more than $20,000. We were surprised when the money continued coming in.

Also, here is a link to some of the reactions from the fans that contributed...
http://tinyurl.com/ykty33q

Regarding the contributions for Ellis' album recording.
We did have credit card charges and various other minor expenses in the execution of the program. We probably had a net of $85,000 to spend. Besides the production, there is the cost of promoting the album, hiring a publicist (which Ellis had never done before) radio promoter, we took out a few select ads in targeted demo, the manufacturing of 10,000 cd's etc etc etc. Keep in mind, this amount of money helps us get some attention to the release so we can try to put some money back in the bank. To make a song a hit in country music for example, they spend one million dollars on one song. So 100K, it sounds like a lot, we raised more money than any record label ever spent on him and are doing our best to spend it wisely, and it goes fast.

Please feel free to comment back here if you have any other questions and thoughts about the program.

Here here, Bruce!! And some actually DO enjoy certain aspects of the business AND creating/performing, get it that DIY is a TEAM effort, recognize some of the 1000 True Fans strategies are effective...but DO feel trapped by it's very definition.

There are many great posts and comments here and elsewhere about doing it small to mid-scope (and yes, every journey begins with measured steps), but for those whose blood pulses with goals and plans of lunar proportions, PLEASE keep the advice on moonshots coming!!