In all of our discussions regarding the platforms we help our clients build, we always include the topic of agenda. All of the key drivers of your ministry, business, or book publication are going to depend on the clarity of your agenda. Without that clarity your messaging and your methods will be muddled. Your prospect will not be sure of what you have to offer until you are.
Here are three helpful questions to consider as you build your own platform:
What makes you tick? In other words, you must get clear about why your product or service exists. When you walk away from a successful transaction with your ideal client, what exactly are they left with? Think of what they will tell their friends and peers about what you’ve done for them. The answers to those questions need to be front and center in your messaging. It should be at the top of your landing page, in your elevator speech, and on your business card.
What makes your client “click”? As our friend, Robert Hunt, said recently over coffee, “We don’t market to ourselves!” It’s common for us to make assumptions about what resonates with the reader or listener. This is why having a listening post is so important. You have to know what your tribe is thinking and saying in order to speak their language and meet their need. What may make perfectly good sense to you, may not resonate with them one iota. Why should your client click the link on your page that asks for their email address? What makes you tick has to align with what makes them click!
Are you changing the world? Sounds grandiose, but we’re not talking about the whole world here – just the world you and your clients inhabit. If you’re not different from the others in your space, then you’re just taking up space. For example, at Platform Creator we want to change the perception of those who are wary of “techy stuff”. To do this, we come alongside our clients and help them see that the internet is not magic. We show them that it takes work to create an online platform that gets results, but its work that can be pivotal in helping them change the world.
Do the work of developing a clear agenda before you develop your platform. Learn to see your platform from the perspective of your client.
Now go change the world!
