Top Player Outside the Podcast Top 100 Charts Achieving Million-Level Subscription Economy—Stock Surfer Man

Category: Showcase

"Hello everyone, I'm Surfer Man. Stock support must hold, remember to give Surfer Man a follow! Currently, Surfer Man has opened one-on-one subscription sponsorship. The benefits of becoming a subscription surfer friend: Surfer Man will personally go surfing with surfer friends in real-time!"

Mastering Stock Market Timeliness, Trading Time for Content Value

Half a year after Firstory launched the monthly subscription feature, we observed a creator who came out of nowhere in the backend—Stock Surfer Man. He achieved Kevin Kelly's "1,000 True Fans Theory".

Starting each episode with a simple greeting, with Hawaiian guitar melody in the background—this is Stock Surfer Man's (hereinafter Surfer Man) Podcast show. As the name and signature title in the description suggest, "Stocks are like surfing on the sea," Surfer Man's public content of about ten minutes per episode provides his observations and experiences for stock market surfers.

Starting the show in June 2021, riding the wave of investment during the pandemic volatility period, Surfer Man accumulated his first batch of listeners through word of mouth shortly after launching. In the second half of the year, he opened his exclusive subscription sponsorship plan: Surfer Man Goes Surfing (NT$1,999/month).

The Stock Market Is a Marathon Race for Information

Surfer Man made a clear division in show positioning and content—public Podcast content twice weekly on Wednesdays and Sundays, reviewing the week's stock market and current events. On the other hand, his exclusive subscription sponsorship plan provides more timely one-on-one teaching interactions.

The two types of content don't conflict but rather mutually boost reach to more listeners—through public content, summarizing and introducing the timely content Surfer Man provides in one-on-one subscriptions that week, thereby attracting listeners interested in in-depth information to join the subscription plan. As of March 2022, Surfer Man's subscribers have exceeded two hundred. Looking back from a meta perspective, Surfer Man's show approach and operations are all quite key:

1. Clear Information Content Format

Providing "useful information," such as in Surfer Man's show description "Stocks are like surfing on the sea." For stock investment listeners who need abundant information and analysis, providing timely perspective content. Daily exclusive subscriber newsletters are also provided.

2. Pricing Strategy Aligns with Listener Characteristics

For content provided to stock investors, a monthly subscription amount of several thousand NT$ is absolutely far more valuable than transaction profit and loss. Some listeners even generously make one-time sponsorships of nearly NT$10,000 to thank Surfer Man.

3. Public Podcast Content Coordinated with Exclusive Content

Segmenting needs and creating content for different listener groups, listeners participating in subscription sponsorship can obtain information more timely, while listeners supporting the Podcast can use general information as reference.

4. Use Small IG Ads to Develop Potential Listeners

Considering that the show content itself is information, Surfer Man will promote several high-value posts from exclusive content (must emphasize it's promoting posts, not the entire show), using links to guide to his personal profile to reach potential listeners interested in the content.