Platform, by Michael Hyatt: a book review - Gather Writing Essential

A physical platform gives you a place to stand out, to be heard, to be seen. That is why, of course, the word platform has become shorthand for ways to to build and maintain your visibility in the worlds of business, the arts, education, and other areas.

That sort of visibility is what Michael Hyatt wants to help you build with the ideas in his book called, reasonably enough, Platform. He is well qualified to do this: in the space of a few years, he built his own platform -- mainly through his blog, MichaelHyatt.com -- to the extent that he has been able to step away from his work as CEO of Thomas Nelson, a large publishing house, to focus full time on writing and speaking. In addition to this he brings experience in a variety of work in the world of publishing, from author to literary agent to a number of jobs at Thomas Nelson.

In Platform, Hyatt structures what he?s learned into sixty short chapters organized around five areas. These include start with wow, with ideas on how and why to make what you have to offer compelling; preparing to launch your platform; building your home base; expanding your reach; and engaging your tribe. Hyatt is a man in love with lists, so you?ll find most of the chapters filled with things like five reasons to do this and ten steps to take to make that happen.

He has organized things so you can move in and out of chapters at will, according to what is of most interest to you at the moment. He talks about mistakes he?s made as well as successes. There are many, many practical ideas and steps, and now and again a bit of inspiration as well, encouragement to think about your goals and the big picture of what you wish to accomplish and why, for example, which work well in the mix. Hyatt writes in an informal style: many of the chapters, in fact, were developed from posts on his blog.

Will you agree with all the ideas he shares? Most likely not: he?s giving out hundreds of them. There are certainly areas where I don?t at all agree with his approach, and where I choose very different strategies than what he offers -- and he does tend to offer his ideas in a ?what works for me works for everybody? style, which can get a touch wearing if you read the book straight through from cover to cover.? That said. I found loads of useful ideas and perspectives, and as to style, you do have to admire his confidence, and his willingness to distill and share his knowledge in a cheerful, forthright and upbeat manner.? I have been reading Hyatt?s blog for some time, too, so one of the things I?d wondered was how all this would come across in a book, and if I?d learn anything new. I did. Among other things, the structure he has chosen helps define the focus and process of how to go about building your platform, whichever of his ideas you may choose to use or not. The whole book proves instructive as to how to turn blog posts into something more, as well.

You have likely come across the need to have a platform to help you get the word out, to, as Hyatt?s subtitle has it, stand out in a noisy world. Whether you are an artist, a writer, an educator, a musician, a film maker, you work in business, you?re someone with a cause to support,? if you are someone with something to say, Michael Hyatt?s book Platform offers you hammer, nails, and lumber -- and now and then a bit of inspiration as you look up from the work of building -- to get your ideas going, and to raise them to the next level, as well.

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Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World

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Kerry Dexter writes about the arts and creative practice at Music Road and is the Music Editor for Wandering Educators, where she writes about music and travel. Her work appears in National Geographic Traveler, Symphony, Perceptive Travel, Ireland and the Americas, and other publications. She is also a former music correspondent at Gather.

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