If we want to be effective in getting our message out – whether it is by teaching, preaching, or some other method – we need to have a platform. Our platform is not only composed of drawing a larger crowd, but also building our credibility with those that we already have.
This week, I heard about this book, “Platform“, and was intrigued enough to buy a copy. It is filled with a lot of great thoughts and ideas. Michael Hyatt systematically covers the material, splashing stories throughout to illustrate the points. Below is a summary of the book with a link for more information.
http://michaelhyatt.com/platform
Platform Building – 1 Year Later
Technically, it’s been 11 months, but close enough! Last May, I was inspired by Michael Hyatt to get back into blogging and social media to start to intentionally build my brand. A few months before that, I had self-published a book about the philosophy of education specifically for Baptists, but only to basically fall on my face. I had the idea that I just needed to create the awesome piece of work and it would sell itself.
Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (affiliate link) was an awesome book that stepped me though several stages. The clear indication was that a great product isn’t enough. I needed a platform and a tribe to speak to.
I revived my dead blog and began to post (the beginning of this one was the first one). I also began to reach out to other blogs and to interact through the comments. Chris LoCurto’s blog was one that caught fire for me. I started this in June, and that month I was on his top commenters’ list.
At that time, I had almost no visitors to my blog. I had 11 followers on Twitter. The community around Chris’s blog (#CLoTribe) became a source of encouragement and growth. I slowly grew my readership to double digits by Christmas, and I had just over 200 Twitter followers.
That’s when I started making some changes. I changed the focus of my blog – well, I actually jut admittes the change that was already taking place. I gave the blog a new name and domain, both to reflect the new focus and to prepare for the podcast.
Since I launched the podcast in mid-February, I’ve grown to nearly 500 Twitter followers and have at least doubled the page views.
My platform is growing, and I that you very much for that. Without you, I would be writing and speaking to myself.