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Ideas from Guru Chris Brogan on Creating An Author Platform

I am no expert. I know a lot about somethings..other things, not-so-much.

But that\’s OK because if I don\’t know, I do know of where to go find the answers. I have my \”honey hole\” of industry experts and thank goodness these experts are extremely generous with sharing their knowledge.

One of my many favs is Chris Brogan. Honest, real, funny, and smart as heck. I\’ve listened to podcasts from him with his kids snorting, sneezing and coughing in the background. I didn\’t mind a bit, because…well, he\’s just That.Good.

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Chris recently did a really wonderful article on 97 Ideas for Building A Valuable Platform. I am not going to try to recreate all 97, but there were definitely a few that leaped out at me:

4.Get in the habit of writing daily, even if you don’t post daily. Start with 200 words. Then 300. The current best bet for a blog post’s length is between 300-500 words. You can get that.

7.We are in a consumption society. People can barely read a tweet. Keep everything brief. Note how a numbered list helps with this? Do similar things. Think bite-sized.

34.Sharing other people’s ideas helps show that you don’t feel you know it all. (Humble, remember?)hey, that sounds like something I just said.

48.Never let your shortcomings become your reasons why not. Richard Branson is dyslexic. Ryan Blair went from gang member to millionaire success story. Excuses are Band-Aids on wounds that don’t exist.

62.If you want your platform to succeed, you have to become comfortable with selling. Sell yourself. Sell your product. Whatever you’re looking to do, learn how to be open, clear, and honest with how you sell.

75.It takes a lot of “kitchen table” time to find ideas that can bring you success. But you need to test those ideas out at the “lemonade stand” to know whether they have any play in the marketplace. And ultimately, the beauty of this platform you’re building will be that it provides a “campfire” around which you can gather and further develop the community.

To read Chris Brogan\’s article in full, go HERE

How about you? What tips do you have for delivering value, staying relevant and being visible in these crazy times?