Your Marketing Brand / Platform
Your Brand is the look and feel that commonly represents you publicly in marketplace perception, public identity, promise of your work and reputation. Think of companies like Nike, Target, Costco, Sears, Coke, and Apple; now think about Kleenex, an example of branding that went so deep in the market that all facial tissue is called Kleenex.
A Marketing Platform is the foundation of your work made visible using media, marketing and messages. It’s a current buzzword for being visible and for having an audience – it’s everything you bring to the table. A Platform is similar to branding but it is a step beyond because it means that your business is developed in many areas, including your personal awareness about who you are and what you really offer; essentially, it is reputation management at the highest level.
By definition, there are three types of platforms:
1) It can be a raised surface or “stage” upon which something is presented. This would include getting yourself in the spotlight by getting prominent positions on websites, quotes as an expert in blogs, articles and press releases. Promote your expertise via joint ventures, teleclasses, interviews, blogs, podcasts and more to showcase your expertise.
2) It can be a political platform from which a candidate establishes his presence and proclaims his message. Like a political platform, a successful expert will have a well-defined message. You need to be able to clearly articulate what you do and who you help. It’s your secret sauce – it’s what you offer to your target market to make their lives better with your solution and all that entails (who you are, the results you deliver, etc.).
3) In technology, a platform is an underlying computer system upon which application programs can run (like Windows, Mac, Unix, etc.). As with computer platforms, your platform of expertise is your underlying message upon which everything is built. Your message should filter through everything you do and will, obviously, impact all your systems, products and services (including the interaction you have with your clients).