Over 150 people were crowded into the small room with round tables and black chairs back to back. I was one of the “chosen” and I had a seat at the “masters” level table directly in front of the podium. We were huddled in the Sound Kitchen, a famous recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee for the first ever PLATFORM conference under the direction of Michael Hyatt. Over the years, I have learned to allow God to direct me to the place where my “divine appointment” awaited. I chose a seat at random at the masters’ table, sat down, and waited. A young man sat beside me and introduced himself. He asked me why I was at the PLATFORM conference. I told him I was a published author and my newest publisher, B&H Publishing had offered me a contract to update my “Conquering Depression” book. I was here to learn how to build a platform to promote myself as a public speaker and a published author. The man looked at me strangely, pulled out his smartphone and informed me he was in charge of social media for LifeWay, the parent company over B&H Publishing. We ended up having a twenty minute conversation on promoting the book and he introduced me to the man who would be building the smartphone apps for the book. A divine appointment!
I cannot emphasize enough how life changing this conference was for me. I had already attended another conference put on by this group of people. The SCORRE Conference, once known as Dynamic Communication Workshop, changed my life and taught me more about communicating with clarity than 25 years of public speaking. It, too, was a life changing experience. I cannot convey all that learned at the PLATFORM conference but I highly recommend it to any author who wants to build a platform for their work and gather a “tribe” to follow their books.
I can give our readers of this blog a brief overview of what I learned. Just follow this link to my website for my post on the PLATFORM conference.
6 comments:
I always appreciate your positive, upbeat posts, Bruce. I wish you all the best with your speaking and writing efforts.
Hi Bruce,
Just visited your website and read more about your experience at the conference. Divine appointments indeed. I did join the online Platform University recently and hope to gain valuable information there. Blessings with the depression book. Being a full time counselor I know just how important that book can be to encouraging others.
Question: Did anyone mention what worked well for them when they couldn't immerse themselves in building their tribes because of family responsibilities. I'm guessing it's staying on task and writing the next book.
This is an excellent resource, Bruce. Thanks for providing it. The atmosphere of book marketing and promoting is always changing. It's great that this conference provides the most up to date information.
Jillian
I can't address your question specifically. Most of the attendees were like me -- overwhelmed at the task ahead but really inspired and excited about the possibilities. But, the speakers were all Christians and time and time and time again they emphasized the importance of balancing their work with their family. Michael Hyatt said, "God comes first, my wife second, my family third, and then my work."
And, most of these speakers were under 30 years of age and already had a great deal of wisdom for their age in the realm of balancing work and family time.
I highly recommend Platform University if you cannot go the conference (which is only held once a year!).
Each speaker had a slightly different practical way to balance that work/writing time and family time. You might check out "The Barefoot Executive" by Carrie Wilkerson, a speaker at the conference. She is a full time mother, speaker, and writer and had some wonderful things to say about achieving this balance.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks! And I did join Platform University last month. Will see how that goes and I like Carrie's blog, etc. Thanks for the tip.
I just joined myself. I was fortunate to receive a year's subscription through the Platform Conference. I'm anxious to see how it helps.
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