Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt is written in an intriguing style. It is a collection of blog posts in a sequence
“Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World” by Michael Hyatt is one of the few books that have good content with a lot of actionable items in a logical sequence like a collection of blog posts.
I am into blogging for quite some time and follow his blog as well but I still could find some of the items really actionable.
The book is written in a very interesting and intriguing style. It is a collection of blog posts in a step by step sequence to be able to build your blog and social media presence. Each chapter is only 2 to 3 pages with a lot of bullet points for you to read and act. Pretty much similar to his style of writing blog articles.
It is a must-read book for every new blogger. As a freelancer, if you are planning to be a blogger (I am of the view every freelancer should blog), you should definitely start your blog only after reading this book.
So let me share the table of content of the book and it will help you understand what it is in the book.
Part One: Start With Wow
- Create a Compelling Product
- Bake in the Wow
- Exceed Market Expectations
- Beware of the Obstacles
- Don’t Settle for Less than Great
- Give Your Product a Memorable Name
- Wrap the Wow in Style
Part Two: Prepare to Launch
- Accept Personal Responsibility
- Think Bigger . . . No, Bigger!
- Define Your Platform Goals
- Create an Elevator Pitch
- Set Up Your Branding Tools
- Assemble Your Pit Crew
- Secure Raving Endorsements
- Get a Great Head Shot
- Develop an Online Media Kit
Part Three: Build Your Home Base
- Understand the Model
- Focus Your Efforts Online
- Beware of Self-Proclaimed Social Media Experts
- Start a Blog (or Restart One)
- Create the Content Yourself
- Use a Blog Post Template
- Maintain a List of Post Ideas
- Write Posts Faster
- Create Video Interviews
- Don’t Hire a Proofreader
- Protect Your Intellectual Property
- Avoid Common Blogging Mistakes
- Create a Better About Page
- Develop Your Landing Pages
- Build a Speaking Page
- Forget About Metrics (for Now)
Part Four: Expand Your Reach
- Kiss Marketing Good-Bye
- Understand What’s Not Important
- Generate More Blog Traffic
- Build Your Subscriber List
- Promote Your Older Posts
- Write Guest Posts
- Give Stuff Away
- Stop Losing Readers
- Watch These Metrics
- Embrace Twitter
- Understand Twitter Basics
- Don’t Write Off Twitter!
- Devote Thirty Minutes a Day
- Get More Twitter Followers
- Keep from Getting Unfollowed
- Use Twitter to Promote Your Product
- Set Up a Facebook Fan Page
- Employ Consistent Branding
- Be Prepared for Traditional Media
Part Five: Engage Your Tribe
- Get More Blog Comment
- Don’t Respond to Every Comment
- Keep the Conversations Civil
- Develop a Comments Policy
- Practice the 20-to-1 Rule
- Monitor Your Brand
- Defend Your Brand
- Don’t Feed the Trolls
- Monetize Your Blog
You can add “How to” or “what is/are” before each chapter like how to defend your brand or how to monetize your blog or what are the metrics to watch etc and you can get the answer to it in the chapter.
The best part of the book Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World is you can skip few chapters from between for topics that you already know about or you can just skim through the chapters to go through few subheadings and not all of them.