Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World Kindle Edition

On Tuesday, May 22, influential blogger and former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, Michael Hyatt, published his new book called Platform. He's been promoting this book for a while now, and I've been very excited to purchase it. In fact, I even had it preordered. Here are eight reasons why I'm recommending this book even though I haven't read a single page.1. Michael Hyatt is a man of integrity. His Christian faith influences his work and personal life, and he's not afraid to talk about all three. In a podcast episode about learning from failure, he shared multiple experiences of failure in his own life. I have been frequently impressed by his candid nature when describing his own experiences. Michael Hyatt does his very best to walk his talk authentically.2. I have learned the immense value of living life on purpose from Michael. Consider the way Dave Ramsey helps us to be intentional with our money. Michael does to our whole life what Dave does to our finances. Through Michael's Ebook about creating a life plan, I've refocused my priorities.3. The thoughts espoused in this book come from real industry experience. Michael doesn't just spout off sound bites that have no basis in reality. He only prescribes ideas that he's had some personal experience with. And I value his experience because he has had success in his field. Dave Ramsey always suggests that if you want to be a millionaire you should talk with millionaires about what they do. Michael opens a window into how he has gained reach in order to influence hundreds of thousands. If I want to influence people, I should listen to him.4. Not only are Michael's thoughts based on his experience, they are practical. He discusses steps that I can take tomorrow, next week, or within 90 days in order to strengthen my ability to influence others. It's not a bunch of theory that won't actually impact my life. I love learning about ideas that can tangibly shape my life. This content will do that.5. Michael is humble. There's no faster way to irrelevance in my mind than when somebody is conceited. I don't want to learn from somebody who thinks they're all that. I don't want to be like that kind of a person. Michael values his contributions, but he's open to learn new things and quick to admit when he has room to grow. That's the kind of leader I want to follow.6. Encouragement is Michael's gift. A few weeks ago I had four hours of driving and I knew that Michael had started a podcast recently. I downloaded every episode and listened to them while driving. I tell ya, I felt like I could conquer the world by the end of that day! His words got me so energized that I came home and completely reworked my blog. His motivation is the reason why I have been writing so consistently over the last few weeks. He has fueled my passions regularly and often.7. He legitimately wants you to succeed. At the end of each episode of his podcast, Michael says, "Your life is a gift. Now go make it count." He truly means that. While he worked full-time in the publishing industry as a CEO, he didn't have to share so many tips and tricks that he had picked up from his experience. His two Ebooks about publishing are tremendously helpful.I remember after reading one of his books, I had a question about some of the content. I shot him an email about it and he promptly responded to me. And this was during a time when the monthly visitors to his site numbered in the hundreds of thousands. From his public speaking, his blogging, his podcasts, and his social media engagement, his desire for others' success becomes so clear.8. I've learned from him that success is not antithetical to the Gospel. Michael makes money encouraging and equipping others because of his Christian witness. In a sense, he basically makes a living promoting himself and the impact of his Christian faith. Any time money and faith come close together, we tend to get cautious... and rightfully so. However, as I've gotten to see Michael's character while he's built his own platform, it's become so clear to me that he is not trying to swindle people.I believe it's similar to financially supporting a pastor as they seek to enrich people's lives based on their Christian calling. Purchasing his products gives him the ability to influence more people and enlarge his opportunity for impact. This is what every Christian leader desires. The only difference is that Michael doesn't have a church with a weekly collection plate financially supporting him. He has to ask for that support on his own.In case you couldn't tell, I have a lot of respect for Michael Hyatt, and I'm very excited about all the content he publishes. Do yourself a favor. Check out his book. If you purchase his book this week you'll get a slew of exclusive bonuses.If you're a skeptic, still do yourself a favor, and visit his site, michaelhyatt.com. Subscribe to it, and you'll get his very helpful Ebook. Not to mention you'll wake up every day to a dose of encouragement and practical advice.To be clear, I'm not receiving anything for writing this. This is purely voluntary. In reality, it's a testament to his effectiveness if he's made me this much of an evangelist.

As someone who has recently passed through the long and sometimes painful process of finding a literary agent, submitting a book proposal to numerous publishers, and then negotiating a book contract, I know how important the word "platform" is.Although I'd previously associated it only with trains on my daily commute to work in Glasgow, I now know that it's probably the number one thing that most publishers are looking for. You can have the greatest idea or epic story, and you can write like C S Lewis or J K Rowling, but without a platform you're not getting near the bookshelves, I'm afraid.A platform is basically what we stand on to raise us above ground level. It's what lifts us a bit higher than our surroundings. In the publishing or business context, it's whatever gets our writing or product noticed or stand out from the crowd.In the "olde world" a platform was built out of marketing and advertising, newspaper ads, TV and radio commercials, brochures and leaflets, etc. In the new digital world it's built out of Blogs, Tweets, Status updates, Likes, Youtube, podcasts, etc.Good and bad newsAnd that's good news and bad news. The good news is that building a platform today is much cheaper and much more accessible. We can all do it; in fact, we are all doing it; the only question is how consciously, thoughtfully, and deliberately we are doing it. The bad news is that it's so time-consuming, so difficult to do well, and so spiritually hazardous.And that's where Michael Hyatt comes in. Michael has been involved in publishing for many years and is presently Chairman of Thomas Nelson. I've learned so much from reading his lively blog over the past couple of years. He has great insights on leadership, writing, and publishing - his Writing a winning book proposal was a godsend to me.Social Media PioneerBut it's in the vast and challenging area of social media that Michael really excels. As one of the world's social media pioneers, he has huge experience and expertise to share. And if Michael's anything, he's one of the world's sharers. That's probably why he's been so successful in social media; because the willingness to share value, to involve, engage, benefit, and bless others is the DNA of any edifying and effective social media strategy.Well, you'll be glad to know that Michael's impulse to share has led him to publish a book on this subject. It's called Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. He describes it as "A step-by-step guide for anyone with something to say or sell." And if you buy before May 25 you can get $375 worth of bonus material.Blook?I finished the book last night while waiting in the forest for Thanksgiving Dinner (they didn't oblige, but we'll be back tonight!), and appropriately enough it was the first book I've read entirely on my iPhone! The format of the book really helped that because it's split into five main sections with numerous blog-length chapters in each section, all of them characterized by compact, practical, lively writing, and most of them presented in list/bullet format.And whether we like it or not, I think Michael's ahead of the curve here again in his employment of blog-style writing in book form (a blook?). It definitely works. And I learned a lot, or at least realized how much I have to learn, because this is a book I'll be coming back to again and again.Spiritually hazardousBut let me briefly return to the "spiritually hazardous" nature of social media and platform building. Probably most Christians, especially those in ministry, wish that this subject would go away. The idea of building a platform seems, on the face of it, so antithetical to the essence of Christianity. How can we possibly square this with personal humility, meekness, self-denial, and John-Baptist-like "He must increase, I must decrease" etc? Although Michael touches on this, its a question I'd like to see him tackle at greater length, perhaps on his blog or on his podcast.There must be some specifically Christian guidelines for this, some way that Christians can be refreshingly different from the world. For those in ministry, maybe it all comes down to who's really on the platform. Is it me? Or is it Christ? Am I building up myself? Or am I building a platform for Jesus?

This book was stuffed so full with information about raising your profile and building your platform that it's easy to feel as though you've already become successful online without actually doing anything other than reading it.In all the instructional books I have read over the years, this one really breaks the mould. Normally these books follows this sort of pattern:1 - Introduce the topic to the reader (about the first 10% of the book)2 - Really hammer home how by reading the following chapters the reader's life will change or goals will be achieved (30-40%)3 - Actually giving you the information they've been building up to for so long which by now can not live up to the hype (10%)4 - Justifying that information and once again trying to stress how important it is that you use it (final 40%)In most cases I end up feeling frustrated thinking that the authors could have saved a lot of time and me a few quid by condensing their 'wisdom' into a blog post and sticking it online.This is not the case in this book.This author is a successful blogger who has written every chapter of this novel like one of his posts. His repeated mantra of get to the point quickly, keep the information relevant and keep the content short is evident in his writing and it was a welcome change of pace.Because of this you'll be glad if you decided to take notes when you read it because every chapter is filled with about 3-4 points that you just need to turn into actions or put aside for further exploration at a later date.I won't say too much more else this review start to get a bit sycophantic so I'll just finish by stating that I can't recommend this book highly enough.

I was looking for more of a 'how to'. This book is fine, and it's an entertaining read, but I'd look elsewhere if you're looking for clear instructions on how to improve your social media output.

I have to confess I've skipped chunks of the book - but that's because I've been around for a long time as an author and speaker. However, for newbie writers, Michael Hyatt, as usual, has much to offer. Plenty of great advice here on how to build your platform, and how to be heard in a noisy world.

I a practical, clear, step-by-step guide for people who are seeking positioning in our crazy world. Though I enjoy lending my books, I couldn't with this one. I mind mapped the actions I need to take after reading it. Every week I review my mind map and refer to the pages I marked. This book is more than a book..it's having a consultant in hand.

A fab book. Not so much detail that it gets too complicated, but enough to really make a difference to my daily life.