The Four Step Platform Strategy

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RE: The four step Platform strategy

Over the last few months, I’ve worked with quite a few service providers from a wide ranging number of services to help them create their Platforms.

I’m not talking about setting up a website or getting all the tech stuff in place. That’s easy. And frankly, that is not where the real work is. That can make you feel busy without making any progress.

Some of the folks I’ve worked with include a real estate agent, lawyer, a bunch of different consultants, graphic designer, an artist (does beautiful illustrations), an audio specialist, a fitness trainer and more.

They are all over the board in terms of the service they provide and for whom they provide that service.

What have I done with each of them?

I’ve taken them through the four part process I call The Platform Express.

As I’ve done this work, I’ve found that while the steps are pretty simple and straightforward, the thinking they require is often not.

If you want the answers you seek, the first step is to start asking the right questions.

Listed below are the steps of the process. This is a summary as you can go pretty deep with each of these. Why would you do that? Clarity. The more clarity you get about the true value you provide, the easier it is for those who WANT that value to recognize you are the one who has it.

STEP 1:
Figure out what your clients are actually BUYING. This is often not what you currently think you are SELLING.

STEP 2:
What are the ways you relieve the pain your prospects are in (pain could be something they don’t want or something they do want but don’t have) and how is your journey to the solution unique? The end result here is a handful of “big ideas” that form the foundational content of your Platform. In other words, once you get these clear, you’ve minimized the chances of not knowing what to write/talk about.

STEP 3:
Figure out the practical parts of your Platform. What’s the media, what’s the format, what’s the frequency? The answer to these questions are to be found at the intersection of where your prospective clients are at, how they digest information and what you actually like to do and produce.

STEP 4:
Figure out what happens next. Create the “decision points” that allow people on your Platform to raise their hands and WANT to take a step towards you. Oh, and you have to figure out some ways to get them coming in the first place.

Time is running out on the days where you can just “buy” attention. These days, you have to earn it. That’s what a Platform does.