The Path to Gaining 1000 True Fans

In the dense blog-sphere and massive competition, one solution to matching competition from large media creators like Netflix is to have 1,000 true fans. The 1,000 true fan theory concludes that a core group of fans can sustain a business and foster profit for the creator. However, can 1,000 dedicated consumers be attained through a product that is broad? I question whether consumers can latch onto an idea that hasn't started as a niche. The famous Humans of New York photo blog on Facebook is an example of this niche. The idea started off as something incredibly simple: photographing strangers in New York City and capturing small quotes. It quickly went viral, and now has 1.5 million likes on Facebook, dominates Instagram, and the creator is working on a HONY book. Could this be possible if the focus of HONY did not focus on a specific city?