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MODULE THREE : TOPIC 3
HOW TO MEET PEOPLE
Transcript
Building
a Platform
TRANSCRIPT
MODULE THREE : TOPIC 3 [Link] HOW TO MEET PEOPLE
[Link]
Building a Platform
At the beginning of this module, we talked about how to see the world as
people. We then delved into how to meet those people, in the real world and
online, in a way that creates real social capital.
We’re now going to wrap up this module by exploring how to amplify that
value in order to meet people more quickly, accelerate those relationships,
and deepen them from the start.
We’re going to do all that by giving your social capital a microphone -- by
creating a platform.
So let’s start by talking about what platforms are, and why
they’re so important.
It seems like people are constantly telling us to build a platform. Every
self-help book tells you to start a blog, record a podcast, create a newsletter,
or host an event. For most of us, that sounds kind of intimidating. It also
feels like a whole new job in addition to your current job.
But actually, the idea of having a platform is really simple. It’s also ancient:
Prehistoric man painted animals on cave walls and invited people in his tribe
to collaborate. Thousands of years later, the printing press allowed people to
publish and share their ideas with their fellow citizens. Those ideas inspired
citizens to host salons and coffee-shop discussions where people would hold
court and exchange opinions -- until hundreds of years later, the internet
allowed anyone in their apartment to start a podcast.
Different platforms, same basic idea.
Because what a platform does, really, is amplify social capital.
It takes an idea and propels it to more people, more quickly.
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It takes a relationship -- with a subject or with an audience -- and deepens it.
And it takes emotional support -- passion for ideas, arguments for a cause,
support for a movement -- and shares it with the world.
A platform is a microphone for your social capital. Instead of just whispering
it to one person, you share it with a bunch of people. As a result, new contacts
become way more likely to pay attention and engage with you. A platform
gives you the means to amplify your own social capital and the social capital
of everyone around you -- in other words, it’s a tool to amplify your generosity.
If the best way to build relationships is to focus on creating value for other
people, then you can see why having a platform is so important. With a platform,
you can create much more value in much less time, and generously share
your social capital with a much wider audience. Not surprisingly, having a
platform is one of the things that sets world-class networkers apart.
So let’s talk about what those platforms might look like.
Most people think that building a platform means investing a ton of time,
money and energy into starting a podcast or creating a blog. They feel they
don’t have the skills or the ambition, and the whole thing seems like more
trouble than it’s worth.
But platforms don’t have to be “big.” They just have to be meaningful. And
they don’t even have to be digital -- they can be analog, out there in the real
world.
A great platform that anyone can create is the dinner party -- a live event
where the people you know can gather, meet one another, and share ideas.
The best networkers have some sort of dinner party (or breakfast, or group
hang, or movie night) in their schedule. And not just because they’re good
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connectors, but because they know how to turn these gatherings into a plat-
form.
What makes a dinner party a platform, as opposed to just a fun event?
The answer is the way you host. Hosting is a key skill that turns any moment
into an opportunity to create social capital. Hosting is the glue among your
resources.
A bunch of people eating dinner at a table is an event. The moment you, as
the host, turn to the group and say, “So Ben just launched his new meditation
blog, and it’s awesome,” you’ve turned your table into a microphone, and
your dinner party into a platform. Now people know about Ben’s new venture,
and you can start a conversation about it. Then Ben will share some more,
inspiring someone else to mention what they’re working on, and before you
know, your platform is working for you.
So that’s your first step in creating a platform: bringing small groups of
people together on a regular basis, and using those moments to celebrate
and promote them.
The best part? This is an easy, relatively cheap, and super fun way to build a
platform. It doesn’t need to get any more complicated than that.
But as we’ve said, networking isn’t so much an activity as a way
of looking at the world. A platform mentality is more important
than an actual platform.
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With a platform mentality, you can find opportunities to promote people
wherever you go. Your friend mentions that she just invented a board game,
so you tell your friends who are parents to check it out online. Your friend
launches his meditation blog, so you tell the people in your yoga class about
it. In these word-of-mouth cases, you are the platform, amplifying your
friends’ social capital.
So remember that great platforms don’t have to be sophisticated ventures.
They can just be a layer on top of your existing life -- a way to organize your
social capital and share it with the world.
Now let’s talk about digital platforms.
Digital platforms, like creating a blog or building up a Twitter account, are
just like dinner parties, but made public. You could have six people sitting
around your breakfast table talking about interesting things, but if you
recorded your conversation, you could have thousands of people listening in.
The principle is the same, but the impact is bigger.
The beauty of networking in the digital age is that a few companies have
already done the hard work of building the platforms we need. In fact, most
of us already have a platform in the form of Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin
-- we just haven’t been all that deliberate in using them.
Now, building an audience on those platforms is a huge topic in and of itself,
so we won’t be covering it here. What we will be focusing on in this lesson is
how to use those platforms in a more deliberate way.
The basic function of Facebook is to organize and connect you with your
friends. Twitter, in its own way, does something similar. Same with Linkedin.
But the publishing side of those tools is where the magic is. Posting a status
update, tweeting something out or writing a Linkedin post is like sitting at
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the head of your dinner table, except everyone you know was invited. That
means you have a platform available to you with a built-in audience right
now.
So start looking for ways to share your social capital online. Think about all
the principles we’ve covered up till now, and how these platforms can help
amplify them.
If you read something useful, post it to your Facebook with a couple sentences
on what you enjoyed.
If your friend lands a new job at a cool company, give her a shout-out on
Twitter.
If you notice that an old friend has written a status update about how hard
it’s been to land a new job, post a word of encouragement, consider giving
him an endorsement on Linkedin, or offer an introduction to someone in
your network who might be able to help.
In all these examples, you’re doing the things you’d do in everyday life --
mentioning an article in conversation, congratulating someone on a new gig,
tell someone to not give up -- but you’re doing those things on a platform,
which means that the impact will much bigger.
And just like the dinner party, these basic tools can become your platforms.
It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that. Take your platform
mentality, apply it to the tools at your disposal, and watch your social capital
multiply.
As you do that, you might find that you want your impact to be even bigger,
or that you need an even stronger microphone to reach the people you want
to meet.
In that case, you’ll want to explore more sophisticated platforms.
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You look around at the interesting people you know, and you realize that
they would be great to interview on a podcast.
You love exchanging opinions with people, so you think about starting a
blog.
Maybe the articles you’re sending to your contacts would be useful for an
even larger group, so you think about pulling them together into a weekly
newsletter.
All of these are crazy valuable platforms, and can take your networking to a
whole new level. And as we’ve said, they’ve never been easier to build.
So let’s quickly touch on the different kinds of platforms available to you.
Starting with:
Blogging. In a matter of minutes, you can create a Wordpress or Tumblr
account and start putting out a high-quality blog on your own. If you’re
looking for a built-in audience and some additional prestige, you can also
look into blogging for bigger sites. Forbes, for example, takes guest
submissions from new bloggers all the time. Anyone can publish on Medium
dot com. Hundreds of other sites will publish posts from new writers. That
makes blogging one of the easiest ways to create a platform for your social
capital.
Podcasting. Podcasting involves a bit more work than blogging, but all you
need is a laptop, a human, and a few hours of your time. iTunes or other
podcast networks will distribute your stuff for free. A podcast might give you
a platform to interview your friends, rant about topics you’re passionate
about, or explore the ideas you find interesting.
Like blogging, there are few barriers to starting a podcast. But as they
become trendier, it’s getting harder to stand out in the crowd. It’s still easier
to create a good blog than it is to create a podcast of similar quality, given the
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format and production requirements. Still, podcasting offers a more engag-
ing experience, which is why more and more people are choosing to listen
rather than read. They’re also behaving differently as a result: Over 60% of
podcast listeners say they bought a product or service after hearing it adver-
tised on a podcast.
Email. Weekly emails to your network are a crazy powerful way to deepen
your relationships. They’re also one of the easiest with help from tools like
Mailchimp. Whether you’re sending an informal update or a curated
newsletter, email is an easy, cheap and universal way to instantly create a
platform. It’s also a killer way to stand out at work. Using that platform to
become a thought leader within your company is one of the best ways to up
your profile, get promoted, and build deeper relationships with your colleagues.
These three media -- blogging, podcasting and email -- are the easiest and
most powerful ways to build a more sophisticated platform.
Again, you don’t need to have these platforms, but as you become more seri-
ous about building your network, you’ll probably discover that you want to
have one.
Oftentimes, these more sophisticated platforms will evolve from less sophis-
ticated ones. You realize that all your friends listen when you promote a cool
new blog, so you decide to start a newsletter. You’re hosting dinner parties
with a bunch of interesting entrepreneurs, so you decide to interview them
on a podcast.
Usually, the best platforms grow organically from real-world experiences. If
you keep focusing on your platform mentality, the platform will usually
follow.
The question you’re probably asking yourself is: How do I choose
the right platform?
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That’s actually really simple. Just choose the medium that feels most comfortable
to you.
If your most profound thoughts come out while you’re brainstorming out loud,
try being a speaker, panelist, or podcast host. If you’re more of a writer, or you
just like revising your words before you share them, consider writing a newsletter
or a blog.
Pick a format that best fits your personality. How do you want to reach people --
and how do you want to be reached? That’s the format for your platform.
Now that we’ve explored the types of platforms and how to choose
them, let’s turn to the most important topic: how to use your
platform to build your network.
As we’ve said, a platform is a tool to build and share social capital. The most
immediate benefit of having a platform? Meeting new people becomes
significantly easier.
Why? Because now, you have a great excuse to reach out to someone new,
and an immediate way to create value for them.
This is the big secret that people with platforms share. They don’t have to
stress about inventing ways to be generous, because they already have a
built-in generosity machine -- their platform!
And that can completely transform your first impression. Instead of asking
for someone’s time, or just offering your help, or searching for creative ways
to be mutually beneficial, now you’re reaching out with a clear and simple
offer: the value of your platform.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you should begin every new relationship with
an invitation to join your platform. Platforms are powerful, but they can
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also be misused.
If you’ve ever seen a self-promotional Facebook post that makes you roll
your eyes, you know exactly what we mean. We know false generosity and
transactional networking when we see them.
So make sure that when you lead with your platform, you’re doing it for the
right reasons. Not everyone you meet should be a guest on your podcast or
get a spot on your newsletter. A platform isn’t a one-size-fits-all relationship
magnet, and it shouldn’t be. Trying to force every new contact into the
funnel of your platform isn’t just unnecessary, it can also be transactional
and imposing.
How do you avoid misusing your platform?
That’s actually very easy: Just stick to the values we discussed in module one.
The same things that make networking genuine, authentic and meaningful
in the real world also apply to your platform. A platform just amplifies who
you are in real life, good or bad, which is why it’s so important to use it effec-
tively.
Rather than lead with your platform, think of it as one of the
many forms of value you can provide.
When it’s appropriate, you can offer your platform up as a form of social
capital. For example, we’ve met hundreds of fascinating people through The
Art of Charm podcast, where our show was just the excuse, the initial reason,
for us to build a relationship. But we’ve also gotten to know thousands of
people outside of the podcast. If we tried to kick off every new relationship
with a podcast interview, it would turn our platform into a random and
transactional tool, and the show wouldn’t be very good as a result.
At the end of the day, a platform is an instant and powerful way to
extend social capital to new people, kicking off the relationship
based on generosity -- when it’s appropriate.
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Using that principle, graduates from The Art of Charm have met some truly
amazing people with their platforms.
One of our students, who’s an aspiring TV writer in Los Angeles, met one of
the head writers of the show Modern Family by offering to interview him for
The Huffington Post. He sent a pitch to the editors there, they approved it,
and boom -- suddenly one of his heroes was in his network. That writer is
now a mentor to our alum, and has given him notes and guidance on his
writing career.
Another one of our students wanted to land a job at a hot mobile startup in
New York City. There were only eight people working there at the time, and
she knew that competition for jobs would be tough. So she started a blog
about mobile networking trends, and started putting out weekly pieces with
her perspectives on the industry for a couple months. Instead of writing the
founder of that startup to ask for an interview, she asked to interview him for
her blog. He gave her 15 minutes of his time, she wrote up the interview, and
about a month later -- after several conversations -- she joined the company
as head of marketing.
Those examples can teach us a lot about how to use a platform the right way.
In both cases, our alumni built their platforms because they wanted a great
reason to meet new people. Then they used those platforms to connect with
those people in an organic and appropriate way. From there, they built those
relationships using the principles in this course, and found that leading with
generosity created mutually beneficial opportunities down the road. Over
time, they return to their platforms time and again to deepen their relationships
and keep them alive. Our TV writer alum still profiles his friends on The
Huffington Post, and our startup alum still maintains her blog about the
industry.
And that’s how you build and capitalize on a platform --
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-- one of the most powerful accelerators for your network.
Remember that when it comes to broadcasting social capital, a platform
mentality is more important than the actual platform. Treating your
conversations, dinner parties and friendships as opportunities to exchange
social capital is more than enough, and will never be replaced with a blog or
a podcast.
But if it feels organic and useful to you, then a blog, podcast or newsletter
can really transform your network. They are relatively easy to create and
have a huge impact, even with a relatively small audience.
The key is to choose a format that feels most natural to you, and to treat your
platform as an extension of your personality. Maybe that’s as simple as host-
ing a movie night once a month or posting on Facebook once a day. Maybe
it’s collecting your thoughts into a regular email or sending out a weekly
newsletter with links to your favorite articles. Or maybe it’s starting a podcast
that continues interesting conversations, the way The Art of Charm Podcast
did.
From there, treat your platform as just another form of your social capital,
and continue to focus on your authentic generosity. If you do that, a plat-
form will make a huge difference in your network and in your life.
It will also help you deepen your existing relationships, which is
what we’ll be exploring in the next module.
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