Book Yourself Solid for Coaches and Consultants

PART 3BUILDING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.

—Bill Gates

Social media sites come and go. Two decades ago, when I wrote the first edition of Book Yourself Solid, Ryze was one of the most popular business networking sites on the internet. You’ve probably never even heard of Ryze. Why? Because it got wrecked, never to rise again. So, it’s important to understand the principles that support successful social networking and personal platform building (how well you’re known) before you focus on any particular platform.

There is so much conflicting noise about the necessity of social media, and there are so many shiny attractions promising overnight success if you just use this one new social media toy. More important, however, is to tie your web strategy back to Module Two—establishing oneself as a category authority, building trust and credibility, leading back into the sales cycle process and keep-in-touch strategy.

What most folks miss in the midst of all the noise is that social media (and the greater web) is just a tool. Many people obsess over getting lots of likes, followers, and views. They miss the critically important concept that your followers are not your email subscribers, and as a consequence, they fail to build a real community, a real tribe, and wonder why they aren’t getting the traction they want and deserve.

In previous editions of Book Yourself Solid, I attempted to detail all the ins ...