Here’s the link to the transcript from tonight’s #Blogchat
Tonight at #Blogchat (2-16-2014) we will discuss how to turn your blog into a platform for your ideas. Many of us blog because we want to share our ideas and our voice with the world. But if you are truly committed to having your ideas reach as many people as possible, then you need to build a platform. That’s what we will talk about tonight at #Blogchat.
To turn your blog into a platform, there’s certain steps you need to take:
1 – Understand that it will take a LOT of work to build your platform. Look at the most successful bloggers, the one that have built a platform for their ideas. They blog almost every day. They create content in multiple forms. Many of them also have podcasts, they are active on Twitter and Facebook, as well as other tools. The point is, there is a lot of hard work involved in building a platform.
It’s great to want to see your blog grow and reach readership milestones, etc. But you need to be honest with yourself about the work involved in reaching those goals. Granted, as you reach your goals, more doors will open for you, but you have to first invest the work necessary to get there.
2 – Decide why you want a blogging platform. What’s the end goal here? Do you want to leverage your platform to launch a public speaking career? Do you want to eventually write a book? Why do you need a platform? What goals are you trying to reach? Once you’ve figured out why you need a platform, that will help you greatly in developing your strategy for building one.
3 – Narrow your focus. It’s almost impossible to build a platform around 5 different topics, even if they are complimentary. Focus on 1-2 core topics that you want to build your platform on. Or think of it this way, if someone mentions you to a friend, that friend would say “Oh I know her, she’s the ______ gal!” What would go in that blank? Do you want to be known as “The WordPress gal!” or “The Facebook gal!” or “The #TwitterChatNameHere gal!” Think about how you want others to know you.
4 – Build the Castle first, then the kingdom. What will be the foundation of your platform? In many cases, I think your blog is a great choice, so focus on first building your blog. Think about how you can build your blog and turn it into a platform to help spread your ideas. Think about how you can create better content and MORE content. Simply writing better posts and blogging more often will be huge drivers in helping you grow your blog’s audience.
5 – Build a support network for your platform. How can you use other tools to help build your platform? For example, I use Twitter extensively to drive traffic back to this blog. In the last year I’ve also started growing an email newsletter that helps send people here. You want to think about how you can use other tools AWAY from your blog to help build out your blog.
So those are some of the areas we will cover in tonight’s #Blogchat when we talk about building a platform for your ideas. #Blogchat will start tonight at 8pm Central. I think this is an incredibly important topic, and here’s one reason why I think building a platform for your ideas is so important.
Since my book Think Like a Rock Star came out, I have become enamored with not only my book’s progress, but I also watch when other books are released by people in this space. I want to see what I can learn from their efforts, but I also want to compare their results against my own.
One thing I began to notice a few months ago was that even though TLARS had excellent reviews on sites like Amazon and Goodreads, some books that didn’t have as many positive reviews were selling better than mine. I started trying to figure out what they were doing differently, then I realized that in every instance, these authors had a bigger platform to promote their book from than I did. They had the popular blog PLUS they had 100,000 followers on Twitter PLUS they had 50,000 people on their email list PLUS they had a popular podcast, etc etc etc. It helped me realize that simply having a great idea/book isn’t enough, you need to have a platform in place that helps carry that great idea to other people.
Tonight let’s talk about how you can build the platform that your ideas deserve. See you at #Blogchat!
…and then there are folks like me who don’t have a goal for blogging beyond blogging itself. Your second bullet is a noble one, Mack, but it’s not for everyone.
I started blogging in 2004 about everything under the sun and focused my attention to digital media over the past 2-3 years. While I use other media to tell my story and/or connect with others, my goal is not to write a book or even to be known.
I write on my blog for the same reason I write comments on other blogs — when I’m inspired to say something and share myself. I look forward to seeing what #blogchat folks tweet tonight.