I experienced that with The Church and New Media. When the book came out last August, I started receiving dozens of emails each week from people looking for “expert” advice:
- “What do you think about my blog?”
- “How can I gain more traffic?”
- “What’s the best way to use social media?”
- “How can I get noticed?”
I love to respond and help, however I find myself repeating the same principles from email to email: blog regularly, build a community, cross-promote, master SEO, and so forth.
But from now on, my response will be different. The first thing I’ll do is recommend Michael Hyatt’s new book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (Thomas Nelson, hardcover, 288 pages). It’s simply the best practical guide to new media success and a must-read for any blogger, artist, writer, or speaker.
Platform sums up everything Michael has learned as he’s grown his own massive platform. Written in the same down-to-earth, practical style that draws millions to Michael’s blog, the book isn’t just untested theory. It’s packed with specific tips and easy-to-replicate formulas, all of which Michael has used himself.
The chapters are short and easily scannable with bullet-pointed lists and numbered paragraphs. You’ll find chapters like:
- Give Your Product a Memorable Name
- Create an Elevator Pitch
- Start a Blog (or Restart One)
- Write Posts Faster
- Avoid Common Blogging Mistakes
- Build Your Subscriber List
- Get More Twitter Followers
- Monetize Your Blog
Longtime readers of Michael’s blog will recognize much of the content. In fact I’d say 90% is taken straight from his blog, word-for-word. However, the benefit of the book is that it collects all the content into one place and presents it in a linear fashion. Michael begins at square one, taking you from “I don’t even know what I want to sell/write about/produce,” to building great content, then to blogs and websites, then social media, then growing an online community. When you finish the book, you’ll know exactly what it takes to construct a thriving platform.
For bloggers and writers in particular, Platform is worth its weight in gold. It’s like an entire social media conference packed into one book. So if your goal is to build influence, whether as a blogger, writer, artist, or producer of any idea or product, Platform will show you how.