Platform: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt shared about the importance of having a platform.

The stage has never been more crowded than now. Last year over 1 million books were published. 27 million titles are avaiilable at amazon.com. 164 million blogs on the web.

Publishers began to switch from looking for good content to finding people with a platform.

Michael Hyatt took 4 years to get to 700 unique visits per month. It takes time to build a platform, and it is important to build a platform before you need it.

When is the best time to plant a tree? 25 years ago
The 2nd best time to plant a tree? Today!

• A platform give you visibility. It gives you a way to be above the crowd to be seen.
• A platform amplifies your voice.
• A platform gives you a way to connect. Bi-lateral intimacy includes interacting with others you wouldn’t have been able to do so.

You can assemble a powerful, personal platform with just five planks:

1. Start with WOW!

• “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.” – David Ogilvy
• Wow is the gap between what people experience and what they expected.
• Ask yourself: How can I overdeliver on what I have promised?
• Keep shipping even when you don’t have it ready to wow others.

2. Prepare to launch

• Choose to take responsibility for your own success (rather than blame all of the others who did not do what you hoped).
• Look in the mirror at your new chief marketing officer!
• Get crystal clear on the outcomes you want to see happen.
• You cannot do it alone. You need a pit crew. Be willing to cast a vision to recruit volunteers to help. (ex.

3. Build your home base (using a social media framework).

• Start with a home base – the place in cyberspace that you own and control the content.
• Add embassies – the places where you have a spot (twitter, Facebook, google+).
• Add outposts – the conversations going on about us online such as Google alerts. You can choose to respond or not to respond.

4. Expand your reach.

• The old way of marketing is dead and gone. Spam and impersonal and irrelevant advertising is more about taking.
• Sharing is the new way to market. Share your passion, what you deeply care about, with those in your sphere of influence. Giving is better than taking!
• What’s at stake if your message doesn’t get out? Those are the reasons why you need to market your message.

5. Engage your tribe.

• Connect more deeply with those who share your passion and want someone to lead them.
• Tribes by Seth Godin is must-reading (click here for my overview).
• The 20-to-1 rule. Give 20 times before you ever ask to receive.

Check out the notes from this session at www.michaelhyatt.com/catalyst2012.

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