How & Why To Build An Online Platform-4 Simple Ways by Sherri & Joelle
Building an Online Platform
Creating a platform for yourself online might seem intimidating- many thoughts may come through your mind: “why do I need to put myself out there?” “Who really cares about who I am and what I have to say?” “Who is going to follow me amongst the sea of established media personalities, writers, and entrepreneurs?”
Building your online presence can be highly beneficial to you and others. A dynamic platform can lead to more job opportunities, networking with people who live around the world and whom you’d normally never meet. It also encourages you to get those creative juices flowing and finally share your knowledge with others.
4 simple ways to create a strong platform and why
1. Develop a home base: you should have a website or a blog where you’re consistently active. You don’t need to invest in a fancy web designer if you don’t have a growing business that needs an e-commerce feature. You can start with an easy, user-friendly CMS like WordPress.
Your website should always have an “About Us” and a “Contact” section. “About Us” should provide your reader with a clear picture of who you are and why you’ve created a website. Have fun with this: add your personal touch like your favorite quote or who inspires you in life. The “Contact” section should have your various social networking icons. Before going live with the site, ask yourself: does my website convey the message I am trying to communicate in an aesthetically pleasing manner?
If you prefer blogging, make sure that your content stays purposeful and to the point. You must be creating value for your readers. Ask yourself before publishing a post “have I provided useful, compelling content? “Am I sharing something unique or can my audience find similar content elsewhere?” Your goal in blogging should be to build online/offline credibility and develop a stong following. This way when and if you write a book,do something outstanding and powerful in your field you will have your platform, your foundation, the BUZZ will begin.
2. Don’t underestimate the Power of Pinterest: many people don’t take Pinterest seriously, mainly because it’s a purely visual network. This is a mistake. The power of Pinterest for personal brands and businesses is outstanding and exceeds any other social network. As of 2013, a pin generates 78 cents in sales on average. Pinterest is just as useful if you’re more interested in building your personal brand than selling product. The social network generates two site visits and six page views on average, encouraging pinners to engage with your home base and become a part of your core audience.
3. Don’t neglect email marketing: in the wake of Facebook and Twitter, many mistakenly believe that email marketing is dead. Your weekly newsletter is as important as the rest of your online activity; as it keeps you visibly active to your audience. Two important points to keep in mind for your weekly newsletter: ensure that you’re using an email marketing system such as Mailchimp, so that you can track if readers are actually opening and clicking through your emails. You’ll need to track what can be improved (i.e. subject lines, visuals) and what your readers appreciate. If you have a large email list, be sure to collect proper information on your subscribers so that you can create customized lists, with relevant content for each list. Or, if you are like me, your email marketing is much more personalized, which is my style to begin with. This is also the point, find your STYLE and use it.
4. Literary Agents: If you want to sell your manuscript to a publisher, that’s one of the first questions a literary agent will ask. Do you have a platform?
Good luck on creating your platform! And give us feedback! We want to hear from you!!!!
Tags: authors, book publicity, books, literary agents, NYC, pinterest, publicist nyc, publicity, publicity nyc, sherri rosen, Sherri Rosen Publicity Int'l, sherri rosen publicity nyc
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2014 at 4:36 am and is filed under Clients, Friends and Colleagues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
