Who Are You... and So What? Developing Your Platform, Your Brand and Your Identity

When you finish writing a sermon you are taught to ask yourself, "So What?"

Jesus is Alive and Coming Back! So What? What difference does that make to those who heard that sermon? You must have a "so what" or writing is an empty exercise.

The same is true when discovering, building and nurturing your brand. Your writing is a part of your identity. A big part. Just like any part of your brand, it needs careful development and grooming.

Writer's Digest posted a great article on that subject, recently and I find it carries some important branding information about Who You Are, and So What.


The Hardest Part About Developing Platform - Who Are You Anyway?
by Jane... from Writer’s Digest

http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CategoryView,category,MarketingSelfPromotion.aspx

The hardest part about developing a platform is deciding what you're all about. In business terms, it would be considered your unique selling proposition (USP).

Identifying this USP—or your reason for being!—involves deep self-knowledge, an understanding of what you want out of life, and how that interrelates with what other people need and enjoy.

It boils down to 3 questions:
• What are you passionate about?
• Who's your audience?
• What are your strengths?

What are you passionate about?
What's the unique content, authentic experience, or remarkable work you would undertake even if you weren't paid for it? What motivates you to get up in the morning?

Who's your audience?
What are the needs of your audience? How do they want to be approached? What kinds of appeals are they most receptive to? Where can they be found?

What are your strengths?
When are you strongest in interacting and reaching and serving? What formats or mediums are a good fit for you—and match your passion? When is your content/service/product at its best? (Example of bad fit: Your passion for the cave dwelling Luddite movement combined with your Twitter marketing strength.)

What you're looking for is that moment of peak experience, when who you are and what you're passionate about and how it is expressed or manifested all comes together to create a compelling experience that your audience needs and loves.

Think about times when you've experienced peak performance, the times when you felt you were in your absolute element, better than anyone else in the world at what you were doing in that moment. You felt happy, fulfilled, relaxed, joyful. Some people call it "flow."

That's the seed of your platform.