We’ve never had more options to broadcast our messages. At first glance, that’s amazing. At the same time, it can be daunting for someone new to the online space to get started because of how many options there are, leading to immense frustration. In the brilliant book, The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz argues more options make us less fulfilled and ultimately less satisfied. What I’ve noticed is many young, new entrepreneurs choose a bunch of platforms, and never see much traction only to give up shortly thereafter.
In this post, I’ll share how to identify the best platform to broadcast your message, how to identify your unique strengths and how to build a tribe based on your expertise, passion, and ability to provide solutions to the marketplace.
What Does Your Unique Personality Showcase?
Start by identifying your strengths and what you already love doing. If you’ve always loved being the person in the back of the room expressing themselves through writing, then use that and start your blog. Write on Medium or here on Influencive.
If you’re the life of the party and love being on camera, harness that energy. Start broadcasting your videos all over the place. Remember, you’re only picking the one to get started with and use as a foundation. Over time, you’ll be able to transition to others, which may require different skills.
Which Platform Do You Spend Time On?
When I made the transition from fitness training to maximizing human potential in mind, body, and spirit, I had a decision to make. Which platform do I pick to showcase my message, find my tribe and build raving fans?
The second question we must answer is:
Where do you already spend most of your time?
If you’re spending hours a week on YouTube or consuming in-depth podcasts, or on Instagram, that’s a great place to start. Not only do you know more about the platform, but you’ll be able to identify trends, what’s hot, what’s worked to engage you and more on your path to broadcasting your message.
Where Does Your Target Audience Hang Out?
Once you’ve identified your unique personality and the places you’re hanging out, it’s time to find out where your dream audience spends most of their time.
18-24? Snapchat.
24-35? Instagram.
50+? Facebook.
If your core offering is a $10,000 coaching experience for C-Suite entrepreneurs, Snapchat and Instagram are probably not your best bet. But if you’re core audience is brides-to-be looking to get in the best shape of their life, Pinterest and Instagram may be absolutely perfect. Pay attention to where they hang out most, and identify the top two places.
What Is Your Vision?
Once you’ve identified the above, start thinking bigger and answer the question:
Where do you want to take this long term?
For me personally, I love practicing and mastering the arts of communication, including:
Conversations, asking the right questions, connecting with influencers and going deep into people’s stories of challenge and growth to extract wisdom.
Picking the podcast platform for me was a no-brainer based on the above and what I’m looking to create as I grow and expand. Start to think long term about what you’re creating and how the platforms you’re considering fit into that picture.
Less Thinking, More Shipping
Once you’ve done your due diligence, it’s time to get ruthless about execution and consistency in how you broadcast your message. From what I’ve observed, people use the lack of technical details, waiting for the right time or other excuses to simply put off what Seth Godin calls ‘shipping.’
The power of shipping is twofold:
- You flex a muscle of being a creator, instead of a consumer.
- You begin to achieve extreme clarity in your message.
Get out there, get started and watch what happens as you begin to create momentum, attract your tribe and build a community of raving fans.
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