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The Yes! Files: Fan Clubs

The Yes! Files: Fan Clubs

The fan club operator’s life is made much easier by the World Wide Web. The Web, in fact, is a boon for fan club managers and fans alike. It is easier to operate the business, but also easier for fans to keep informed about their favorite celebrity. Managers can now manage more than one celebrity, and thus, earn more money. There are many fan clubs operating over the Internet, and an advantage to fans is that they can communicate with fans in other parts of the world as easily as they can in their own neighborhood. Some fan clubs are operated by large corporations. For example, a hot recording star may have a fan club operated by the record company. Some celebrities operate their own “official” sites by hiring someone to do it for them. Then there is the entrepreneur who takes on a few celebrities and operates the fan club the same way someone would operate a public relations firm.

Fees come from the fans; those who join pay an annual membership fee of as much as $30. Income also comes from merchandising products. For example, the fan club gets a percentage of every tee shirt or photograph produced.

The Tiger Woods Fan Club (tigerfans.com), has a membership fee of $30, part of which goes to the Tiger Woods Foundation. Fans receive a tee shirt, a golf ball, a poster, photo, a bag tag and ID card, quarterly newsletter, and a membership certificate.

The fan club membership fee may include a subscription to a newsletter, glossy photo, e-mail news flashes, a membership card, a fact sheet or biography on the celebrity, an official fan club pin, and a hotline number to call for information on tours or appearances or new records.

A fan club with hundreds of thousands of fans paying $30 a head, can become a pretty lucrative business. The income, naturally, is offset by the expense of newsletters, mailings, and operating the business. There would need to be an office with the usual equipment such as computer, phones, and fax. Other than that, there is not a great deal of overhead.

Fan Emporium, Inc. (fanemporium.com) is a Branford, Connecticut firm representing entertainers Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton, Carly Simon, and John Mellencamp. They provide the personal touch producing newsletters, answer fan mail, sell authorized merchandise, and even have a 900 number service for fans to get concert updates and messages from their favorite superstars.

On Mariah Carey’s site fans may find not only a list of her CDs and her touring schedule, but information about the charities she supports, as well as a lengthy biography of the singer. There is also the Mariah Internet Fan Organization, a homepage with its own e-mail address where fans can find new information. There may also be links to unofficial fan clubs and to chat groups so fans can talk with each other. Chat groups may also be about the celebrity’s involvement in a particular cause or charitable foundation, such as Michael Bolton’s work with needy women and children.

Fan club members probably get the most comprehensive information about the celebrity’s biography and in the case of a recording star, they get comprehensive information and discography. They learn what songs are on each album, for example. They would also learn about the rank and awards status of a celebrity’s work, and sometimes be able to read record reviews posted on the site.

Most fan clubs provide contests of some sort where fans enter a drawing for a sweepstakes prize, which might be tickets to a performance or a free CD.

Michael Bolton, whose fan club is also managed by Fan Emporium, has two levels of membership—gold and platinum. Members who join the platinum club get a few more perks such as a concert ticket or additional newsletters, Bolton Beat or Bolton Abroad.

The fan club hotlines are not always free. For example, Bolton’s club operates a 900 number, which costs 99 cents a minute, and this money goes toward the Michael Bolton Foundation for women and children at risk. By calling the number, however, fans may leave a personal message for Bolton, enter a contest for grand prize for tickets, get the latest tour information, hear a schedule of personal appearances, and share a “Michael moment” where people share their favorite stories about the star.

Most celebrities are too busy to answer their fan mail, yet they do not want to ignore the fans. Most hire fan club managers, an agency or individual, who might find it interesting or fun to sit down and answer bags of mail and keep fans happy. An individual managing a celebrity would have to convince that celebrity to foot the bill for expenses such as postage, stationery, phones, faxes, and a computer, then it won’t cost much to get started.

Most fan club managers have some background in the entertainment or public relations field, or they are writers, radio announcers, and others connected to the world of entertainment and media.

A fan club can get started on minimal cost if the artist pays for the expenses, and managing a fan club can bring in a nominal income, or, if you are really efficient, it is possible to manage many fan clubs and earn more money. A fan club is a public relations firm, and just like any such firm, it needs to remain profitable.

A computer and database management program, printer and labeling program, fax, and modem are absolutely essential, as is a phone system with voice mail. A newsletter on paper may cost between a few hundred and several thousands of dollars a few times a year, so membership dues must cover that cost as well as postage.

Not all fan clubs are official or even endorsed by the celebrity. Many on the World Wide Web are simply glorified chat rooms. Finding a true fan club on the Internet is not always easy. For example, there are so many sites calling themselves X-Files fan clubs that it could take weeks to investigate them all and find the right one. There may not be a right one, but there is one Web site (x-files.com) operated by Fox Television that sponsors the X-Files, so perhaps they run the fan club, too.

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