You Are The Platform
- September 24, 2012
- Posted by: Rochelle
- Category: Big Idea, Personal Brand
No matter where you look, someone is telling you the importance of building your platform. Developing a readership. Attracting an audience of believers in your work.
They are correct.
Having the right platform gives you a stage to share your ideas, your work, your art. And it allows you to grow your big idea beyond what you could ever accomplish alone.
But here’s what the pundits forget: You are the platform.
Every move you make, every conversation, every sound bite, builds your platform.
It isn’t (just) about the numbers. It’s about visceral connections to the right people. It’s about creating your tribe, your posse. On-line, think of it as creating the ultimate virtual cocktail party—a roomful of people you most want to touch.
Be prepared for it to feel strange at first. Pressing the “publish” button can be unnerving, even if you’re not sure anyone is listening yet. It gets harder still when you have an audience base and you’re risking it with controversy.
The key is to be faithful to your belief system and generous with your posse. Believe in the deepest part of yourself that what you’re doing matters.
Because in the end, it doesn’t have to be big to be the right thing at the right time.
How will you build your platform today?
6 Comments
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Wow Rochelle.
Great stuff.
Maybe I’ll never leave NYC.
Funny where a discussion about websites can lead….
We are the brand so of course we become the platform.
In another context, last Thursday morning, at a CLE I attended on social media for lawyers I quipped to a friend who also founded the Networking group I joined after meeting him at a similar event three years ago that in government I learned that message tends to drive everything else; I believe I later shared that with an out-of-town friend I lunched with later that day.
This one so hit home.
You raise an important point. “You” are the platform. Everything you say, do, write, or video tape of yourself is being seen by your tribe.
Belief and value systems are the key. You’ve got to be willing to step to the edge and be authentic. If you try to be a cheap facsimile of something else, it shows. People know the difference between a real diamond and custom jewelry.
As the creator of the platform, you also define the terms and the vocabulary. An article I wrote for the Los Angeles Daily Journal four years ago concerns lawyers, but its essence applies to many other professions. See, http://victorls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2008-05-21-LADJ_For-Attorneys-There-Is-No-Such-Thing-As-a-Self-Evident-Truth.pdf.
Rochelle, thank you for all your insights over the years.
Corey,
Yes it’s amazing where those discussions can lead 🙂 Great to see you and hear your wisdom in New York.
Steve,
Thanks for stopping by–I especially love your jewelry analogy. We all want to be the real deal and immediately sniff it out when someone plays a false note…
Hi K.C.–great contribution to the discussion, thank you. Defining your platform (and being consistent at building it), allows professionals of many stripes to do great work…