Having a brand and a platform means being visible. But how do you become visible? Growing your author platform and increasing your visibility is a process. Increasing your visibility isn’t the only work you will do to grow your author platform, but it happens alongside developing your unique voice, choosing the visual elements of your brand and finding and defining your audience.
If you’re starting from scratch you can follow these four foundational steps to increasing your visibility. If you’ve already done some of this work, you can simply move on to the next step.
“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.” —Earl Nightingale
Step One: Growing Your Author Platform Starts with Your Supporters
Your supporters are those already in your network. This network of supporters will serve as your initial market research and your springboard to getting the word out as you’re building your author platform.
These are the people who believe in you, who are most willing to share your content, and will open doors to the contacts you need to make things happen!
Now, you don’t want to overwhelm your supporters by asking for too much, too often. So it’s helpful to categorize them into three groups and make a plan so that you call on them at the right time, for the right reasons.
Who Are These Supporters?
Your support categories might look like this:
Tier One: Those who praise everything you do and can give you a much needed boost when your confidence is waning. These are close friends, family, and others with whom you have long-standing connections.
Tier Two: People you trust and who will be honest with you and give you critical feedback to help push you and challenge you. These are people you can call on for limited help when you really need it.
Tier Three: This group may not be close to you but you still have a connection. This group knows the right people and can open doors for you (and help gain access to much needed endorsements for example). These people should be called on sparingly at strategic points in the process of growing your author platform.
Once you have your list, put a plan into action. Identify 5-10 of the supporters who will help you along the way and to whom you will reveal your plans. Remember to check in on these supporters and update them. Also, give back and find ways to help them too. You can read more details about this here.
How You Can Find Supporters if You’re Lacking
You can find supporters while you’re growing your author platform by:
- Joining local writers groups
- Attending industry conferences like Pub-U
- Starting a read and critique group
- Forming a book club
- Going to Meetup events
Getting out and networking is really powerful for so many reasons. It’s the best way to go if you’re building your list of supporters from scratch.
Step Two: Endorsements Will Help Increase Your Visibility and Trust
When growing your author platform, building trust with your audience is key to continued success. We all know reviews and endorsements from others lead to that trust, so it’s important to think of possible people to reach out to to get these endorsements.
These endorsements can come from a variety of people but it’s helpful to categorize them as well. Start by thinking of ten people you want to get endorsements from, then categorize them like this:
- People you know personally and who you feel confident will endorse you.
- People you feel confident you can reach (you know someone who knows them).
- Your wish list. Maybe they feel out of reach, but list them anyway. You never know.
When someone writes you a professional, or book, endorsement, asking them to post it on places like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Amazon and others adds to the strength of your online visibility. Then you can copy and paste from there to your other marketing materials (like your website and print collateral).
Step Three- Growing Your Author Platform Within Your Domain
Before you put energy into growing your author platform by increasing your visibility, you must know your domain. Just like you need to know and define your audience. What is your domain? Think of it as the area that you dominate in or want to be known in, such as your topic, genre or industry. This is the space where your sphere of knowledge adds to the conversation and attracts meaningful engagement. To build your visibility in your domain you need to know where the people of your domain gather and chat and share information. Where are industry experts and influencers actively engaging your audience? Where does your audience go to find the answers to their needs?
You’ll be looking in spaces like:
- Online groups
- Industry periodicals
- Social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, or Reddit
- Associations and member-driven organizations
Remember, Growing Your Author Platform is a Process
You don’t have to go all out and jump in head first—you can start small and dip your toe in the water. To become known in your domain as you’re growing your author platform, you must begin by getting the attention of the known leaders and influencers who already have the attention of your audience. This is how you walk in through the front door. Once you know where to invest your time, you can then strategically develop a plan to join the conversation.
Can you think of ways and spaces where you can begin contributing to the conversation by actively engaging, increasing your visibility by creating content, or seeking media attention?
You can consider any or all of these:
- Networking
- Online groups
- Contributing to publications
- Collaborating with Influencers
- Giving talks or leading workshops
- Podcast or other guest interview opportunities
How will you dominate in your domain and stand out from the crowd?
Step Four- Content Creation Grows Visibility and Engagement
Once you’ve done the incredible amount of work developing your voice and identifying your superpower, you can put all of that work to good use by letting your voice be heard and sharing your expertise. What do you have to say to contribute? What is your unique viewpoint that your audience needs to hear?
When growing your author platform, writing quality content and sharing it with the world helps you gain authority and builds trust. When you write content that touches a nerve and resonates with the needs of your audience, you build loyalty.
Authority equals trust. Trusted storytelling equals connection. Connection equals loyalty.
When people trust your content and believe in your message, they are more likely to invest in your brand and tell other people about you. How will you provide value? How will you touch a nerve? You’ve already answered these questions—it’s time to put your hard work in action.
How to Start Growing Your Author Platform by Creating Content
You may feel like you don’t know where to start creating this content, but don’t worry, there is a process for figuring this out too. Remember, during the process of growing your author platform you have found your voice and you do have something to say that your audience wants and needs to hear. So, now it’s just a matter of creating a plan and setting into motion.
- Think of three to five topics in your domain that you are passionate about and feel comfortable writing on. Make these your main focus, and don’t go too far beyond this or you will begin to confuse your audience and dilute your brand.
- List and create outlines for three topics you could expertly write about today. Include possible titles, an overview, and note the value they hold for your audience.
- Come up with keynote speeches you can give, or workshops you could teach. Repeat the process used for article or blog creation above to flesh them out.
- It’s also a good idea to think of free gifts and giveaways you can offer your audience. These should offer something appealing and provide value to your audience. These could be used to promote your book through contests on social media and elsewhere. They could also be used on your website to incentivize subscribing to your newsletter or blog feed, or signing up for your courses.
Then it’s just a matter of keeping up with quality and consistency. You can create a schedule that works for you. Just make sure it’s something you can stick to. Remember, this should all be sustainable. It should bring joy and not overwhelm you.
Growing your author platform is a process. But it all starts with a plan and a roadmap you can follow to success. Are you ready to begin?
