Your,Platform...and,Why,Can,Ma marketing Your Platform...and Why it Can Make or Break Your Business
Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie
But fear not. Thats why Ive created this website and my Get Known Now Program; because after nearly ten years of building my own platform, I truly see it as one of the most critical things anyone who consults, coaches, writes, speaks or runs a small business can do. Simply put, your platform is your reach in the world; its the degree to which your name is known and your work is recognized. Its your following. Its your buzz. And it happens to be the single most important factor that literary agents, radio bookers, news directors, T.V. producers, publishers, editors, magazine people, and even big-time publicists use when determining whether or not to work with you. More than one literary agent and editor in major publishing has told me they seldom consider proposals for books from writers with no platform.Why? There are several answers, depending on whom you ask. Book industry types need authors with platform because the publishing houses no longer have marketing budget to sell books besides those at the top of their lists. That means they rely on unpaid publicity to sell books, i.e. airtime on radio and TV, and write ups in newspapers, magazines and websites.Meanwhile, radio and print media folks are simply looking for the next big thing or trying to anticipate trends. So if they run across an expert with a platform that is quickly brewing, theyre interested. Buzz begets buzz. In addition, TV and other major media bookers need to know that the guest they trot out in front of millions is a proven entity, so they tend to really check you out in advance. They want you to have a website, media clips, a great press kit, a video reel. Thus your platform works as a kind of public pre-approval which reassures media bookers. And all of these folks have less time to do more, like the rest of us, so they need everything theyre offered to be laser-like in its intensity and clarity, easy to access, and loaded with reasons why. A big platform certainly helps get the point across faster that youre someone they should feature.So your ability to break out, as its known in the media, is not about the nobility of your cause or even, ultimately sigh the depth and quality of your work. Its all about how many people already know who you are and what you do. Like right this minute. Before all that great TV and magazine exposure even begins. This has to be this centurys biggest catch-22, because how can your work actually get known unless you impress all those folks listed above?It can, in fact, if you're methodical about self-marketing and you plan to put a good year into it Ultimately, platform for beginners is all about your ezine list - and how many people are actively signing up to hear from you on a regular basis. Here's a list of ten things the media and pUblishers look for in good platform. These items are not the only thing you might offer these folks. And you certainly don't have to have all of themin place to be appealing to publishers and TV producers. But they are a help.A healthy platform should include: A hearty ezine list of 5-10KA distinctive brand name or position (i.e. Dr. Phil, the Fly Lady, the Frugal Gourmet)A website that has energy and style, and reflects the brand heavilyOptimized methods for capturing names on the website that help grow the ezine listA blog linked to the website, and a blog promotion programMajor media clips, or regional ones that can inspire stories in major mediaA video of excerpts from TV appearances (for more senior platform builders)A tightly put together media kitExcellent quality, high resolution black & white and color headshots that can be downloaded from siteA book or audio CD produced by a major publisherHow does your own work measure up? Have you got good platform yet?
Your,Platform...and,Why,Can,Ma