The Platform Lab

Grow Your Business With a Media Platform – The Most Effective Way to Win the Minds and Hearts of the People You Serve

During the 4 Week Platform Lab, We’ll Walk Through All of the Steps You Need to Take to Get Your Media Platform DONE

I’m writing to let you know how valuable I feel my telephone coaching sessions have been with you.

As you know, I’m an experienced marketer with 20 years of consulting experience. Your ability to quickly see through my current process and make high quality recommendations, immediately impacted by business.

You did a great job of pulling me forward to think in a fresh and powerful way. In the last week alone, 18 high quality prospects surfaced that I can directly relate to your recommendations.

You kept all of the promises made in your marketing material. I appreciate your integrity and concern for growing my platform.

I’m thankful for your work and competency.

Regards,

Dr. Steve Greene
CEO

I had a BIG Problem… Only after spending Thousands of Dollars- building my Marketing funnel. Months of course creation. Tons of video editing. Website. Squeeze Pages. Video Upsells. Follow up Email Series. Face Book Ads. Test Pricing. All that, and more. But something always just “felt wrong.” Sadly I finally realized my mistake. I HAD NO CLARITY. No clarity in what my niche wanted. What they needed. Heck, who they really even were! I had it ALL WRONG. Then my solution came to me- in the Daily email I’ve been reading for years… My Solution was a course being offered by Jason Leister. A person with a platform that I enjoyed everyday. But for some reason, that day it just clicked.

THIS WAS THE ANSWER

So I signed up for the Platform Lab course. You see, Jason is a deep thinker. And I knew this would be 4 weeks of challenge. But if anyone could help me “see the light” it would be him. Sure enough right away we went deep. He makes you think. Somehow you become the niche, the target market you’re serving. You understand the way they feel. He simplifies everything for you. And his talent truly is amazing. Simply put he makes sure YOU FIND CLARITY. Then he teaches you how to display your CLARITY in a Platform. Your simple Platform will perform TWO vital steps. The first- it serves your niche in a valuable yet scalable way. The second, it provides YOU: Clarity and Purpose which leads to a feeling of Fulfillment. Jason truly has found his Life Skill and luckily for us he serves it up Daily. Without hesitation I can say- I was once was LOST …but now Jason helped me SEE.

Many thanks,

-Shawn

Jason is a living demonstration of how his platform works. I live a country away from Jason and through the platform he has built, I have been hooked and lured in to become one of his grateful clients. I am one of those .1% that happens to like his ideas and so I also subscribe to what he says. The fact that I have become a client of Jason’s is all the proof I need that his platform works. I am a frugal stereotypical accountant who hates to spend money on anything. I have implemented Jason’s strategies and they are already paying me back for my investment both in personal and financial growth.

-Renee

Almost 12 years ago, after getting fired by a client and losing a $180K/year retainer because I was naive and the opposite of “street smart,” a much angrier version of my current self sat down and started writing about my trials and tribulations in the world of business.

Each day, I sat down and wrote a short email message about issues I was working through in pursuit of building an enterprise that could support my family and provide the resources required for the life we wanted to live.

I talked about getting clients. I talked about setting fees. I talked about dealing with all of the head trash and self-worth B.S. that we are programmed with inside of the Matrix.

Little did I know that my new form of self-therapy and anger release would eventually lead me to a completely new way to think about business and the art of exchange.

As it turns out, serving people is a valuable thing to do in our world.

And while most business owners are taught to serve only those who pay them, I accidentally (thank you Universe!) bumbled my way into an experiment where I found out what happens if you just serve people without demanding anything in return.

I also discovered that it is possible to scale the creation of deep and lasting relationships. And to broadcast your signal, in a valuable way, to far more people than you could ever serve one-on-one.

The best word I have to describe what happens when you do this clearly, when you do this consistently, when you do this long for a long enough period of time (it’s usually longer than you would choose) is… MAGIC.

Things that shouldn’t be possible become possible. Things they “don’t happen…ever” happen for you.

As it turns out, you can build a thriving enterprise based on giving first. If that’s an idea that resonates with you, then consider this your invitation to join me on the journey.

There are two things you need to know before we start:

First off, if you think that getting clients means you should chase them into a corner, wrestle them down and “close” them, you’re not going to like this path. Get my free daily Daily Journal and read it for about 30 days. If you’re not turned off or completely offended, then come back and read this invitation again…

Second, if you’re not interested in work, this definitely isn’t for you. This method of attraction is WORK. It’s work where you have to spend more time thinking about your prospects than yourself. It’s work where you have to spend more time thinking about what you can give than what you’re going to get. This disqualifies many folks who just aren’t ready to play at that level yet. If you’re just in it for the money, I respect your freedom to make that decision. So no harm, no foul. But you won’t make it here.

This journey is about service.

If you’re still reading, the best advice I can give you is to stop trying to “get” anyone to hire you. I know this sounds crazy. After all, if you work with clients, what else IS the goal except to get them to hire you or buy what you have?

That is the goal, but the direct route just lumps you in with all of the other salespeople who are trying to get attention. So if you want to be perceived as something different and better, you can’t show up the same way as everyone else does.

You Don’t Pursue Clients Directly, You Develop a System That “Reverse Engineers” the Result You Want – The System Brings the Clients To You

In order to do business on your terms regarding fees and working terms, you can’t be chasing your clients down. They have to come to you. Otherwise, you won’t have any leverage in the relationship and you will be perceived as little more than a “vendor.”

This isn’t about having the upper hand just so you can call the shots. This is more about maintaining control of your business so you can have it support the life you want to have.

It is also about generating a level of respect so that your advice, counsel, recommendations and guidance are received in a way that will provide maximum impact.

You never want to live in Vendorland. It sucks.

When you’re a vendor, there are basically only three questions clients are interested in getting answers to:

  • Are you competent?
  • How cheap can you do the work?
  • How fast can you do the work?

These are not the questions you want to be answering.

Really, you shouldn’t be answering too many questions at all. You should be asking the questions. That’s where you want to be. That’s how service begins.

And the way you earn the privilege to do this is to attract interest in the services you provide, not to force it on people.

The Most Powerful Force in Selling

Think about the company Apple® for a moment. Think about their retail stores and how they present what they have to the world.

When you walk into an Apple® store, you don’t stare at all of their wares in boxes up on the shelf. No, you walk right over to the thing you want and you try it out. You basically give yourself a demonstration of the product.

Ask any smart salesperson and they will tell you that demonstration is one of the most powerful forces in all of selling.

Talking about an iPhone® can only make you want one so much. But once you’ve seen what they can do… or have even tried it out for yourself. Well, you just want one.

Demonstration is the route I’ve chosen to go to attract those with whom I work.

I don’t try too hard to sell… I don’t spend much time trying to talk about what I do. Instead, I choose to demonstrate what I do and know in a very leveraged way to a lot of people at once.

I do this through something called a Media Platform. I didn’t name this thing, and I really have no idea who did. But I can’t think of a better name for it, so I’ll just use the one I’ve got for now.

What is a “Media Platform?”

A media platform is a fancy name for a newsletter, a podcast, a blog, a video series or some other publication you put out into the world on a consistent basis that demonstrates the value you offer to the world.

This is deceptively simple and extremely powerful.

It is rarely exciting, however. Which means, should you choose to pursue this method of client attraction, you will most likely have very little true competition.

This path is simply too much work and far too slow for most people.

The Scarcest Resource in Most Service Businesses and How a Platform Can Help

When you’re a solo service provider or a small business, building leverage into your operation is something that can improve your profitability and overall quality of your life.

Most service providers have zero leverage. They don’t have leverage in the delivery of their service and they don’t have leverage in the marketing of their service.

This leads to overworked, underpaid, and barely sane business owners.

Ideally, you could press a button, clone yourself and be able to serve 10X the number of clients you currently can manage.

Until that happens, you can build a platform to provide some of the leverage in the marketing of your service.

A platform keeps you in touch with an ever growing group of qualified prospects.

Month after month (or even day after day), these people hear from you in valuable ways. At various times, certain prospects step forward and express interest in working with you.

You don’t really care when an individual steps forward, all you care about is continuing to add value to their lives over time.

When the first day of each new month comes around, you’re not starting your marketing efforts from scratch.

Instead, you just watch and wait as a new prospect on the receiving end of your platform “matures” into a client.

You don’t have to “go out and get clients” because they will come to you. It can be a very graceful process if you do the work required to get momentum going.

Take a look at your own business in its current state.

I have no idea how many prospects you are talking to at any one time, but just imagine if that number went up by a factor of 10… 20… 100… 1000?

That’s what a platform can do. And once that happens, one of two outcomes will eventually appear:

  • You’ll get more clients.
  • Or, you’ll get better clients.

Sales is a numbers game, but that doesn’t mean that bigger numbers require more work. Bigger numbers, when done well, mean bigger results and better results with less effort. That’s the goal.

Building a platform is slow and steady and it’s something where the momentum can take a while to build.

But we’re not digging ditches here (thank GOD), so when I say “real work,” it’s relative. It’s mainly relative to the general state of laziness in society when something doesn’t promise immediate payoff.

There’s a Smart Way to Build a Platform and a Not So Smart Way To Do It

The key, really, is to design your PLATFORM in a way that makes you an invited and welcomed guest into the world of your prospects.

If you don’t do that, you end up being noise. You end up being a bother. And you end up getting grouped in the same “salesperson” bucket as everyone else.

But when you build your PLATFORM the smart way, you’ll find your prospective clients actually asking you to send them your “marketing” materials.

In fact, eventually you get to the point where they actually MISS YOU when you don’t show up. And that’s exactly where you want to be.

But here’s the problem…

Even the Smartest Client Attraction Platform is Worthless Until It’s Actually DONE

The Platform Lab is a 30 day, 0mph to 60mph process for getting your Platform designed and off the ground, with my help and guidance along each step of the journey.

Here’s how it works:

You’ll get four modules of instruction, one delivered per week. You will be able to go through the modules at your convenience. Each will come with homework that will be submitted for my review and feedback.

This is how we will strategize, plan and structure. You do the building work, I help with strategy, positioning, naming etc. I point you in the right direction for implementation if you need help there.

We end our work together with a final, 60 minute, one-on-one phone call to make sure every detail is clear.

Here’s how the process flows:

  • WEEK 1: STRATEGY (What are you really selling, what are they really buying, what is the PURPOSE of your Platform in the eyes of your clients?)
  • WEEK 2: STRATEGY (The foundation of your Platform: the BIG IDEA. What are your big ideas that will support and direct the content creation?)
  • WEEK 3: STRATEGY (Naming your Platform so it’s instantly attractive. Also determining format, frequency, etc.)
  • WEEK 4: STRATEGY (Decision points. How do you go from subscriber to client? Most importantly, how do you generate leads?)
  • 60 MINUTE PHONE CONSULTATION: (This is where we’ll do a final review of the plan you have for your Media Platform and make sure everything is clear for you to get started.

You are investing in accountability and direction, and I show up and do my part. So be prepared to focus for 30 days to get this done. Before it’s done, it’s just an idea in your head. And ideas alone don’t pay!

Enrollment for the Platform Lab is $1,997.

To my coach Jason,

Right about the time I began production on my first back end product, I took your advice and started a platform – a weekly podcast.

Once per week I sat down and took four hours to do what should’ve taken one hour – outline, script, record, edit, upload, write, and schedule an email telling my audience the broadcast was ready.

I didn’t make a huge deal about getting my customers to sign up for my podcast, because I knew neither how successful it would be, or even if I would continue the podcast beyond the sales test of my first back-end product’s introduction. Still, I was able to sign up about 23% of my total customers – approximately 1800 people – to my podcast email notifications.

After creating the first few episodes, my listenership declined to around 700 people. I was highly discouraged! I felt as though the market was shouting at me that they did not want my podcast! However, by the time episode 10 came around, I was back up to about 2400 listeners every week.

And then came episode 14 – when I was finally ready to sell my first back end info product. This product cost $97.

Let me also add that by this point in the platform journey, I was very tired of putting my podcast together. Even though I had streamlined, it still took me at least 2.5 man hours of work per week to get an episode up. I was almost hoping that the platform would not prove effective, so that I could throw in the towel and not feel bad about it!

And so: I set up my big launch test.

To my platform, I was going to record a special edition of the podcast that would focus on the problem that my new back end product solved, then ending the 15 minute podcast with a five-minute blurb all about the new product and how excited I was to offer it to them. Not much of a sales campaign by most Internet standards! But by this point in the journey, even if I didn’t particularly enjoy building my platform, I had enough respect for my podcast listeners to know that bombarding them with emails was simply not an option. I had talked to too many of them – they were real people whose time I respected. This audience was about 2500 people.

To the remainder of my customer list – those who did NOT sign up for my platform, I planned a regular email style sales campaign. You should also know that I did nothing to keep up a relationship with this audience of non-podcast listeners. I respected their choice to not be communicated with, and I placed my faith in the hope that they would remember me and the product they originally purchased from me whenever I was ready to try to sell them something new. The size of this audience was 9600 people.

I sent out the 14th episode of my podcast, and I hit “send” on the first email in my campaign to the big non-listener list. And I promptly shut off all my electronic devices and went grocery shopping! Lunches are just too darn stressful 🙂

I wasn’t sure what to expect: Jason, through all of your strategic coaching, and in all of our weekly pep talks, you encouraged me to keep up with building a platform saying that you were positive the platform was the surest way to guarantee successful back end sales down the road. I didn’t want to believe it – it was so much work!

But two weeks later, the results are crystal-clear:

Products sold to the 2500 podcast listeners? 433 copies of my latest program.

Product sold to the gigantic list of 9600 previous customers? 114 copies sold.

Unbelievable!

Jason, I doubt I could ever express how fortunate I am that I stuck with your coaching. You are one of the absolute fewest remaining voices of wisdom repeating the mantra of one of my personal heroes, Paul Harvey: that perspiration itself… hard work… seems to be the fertilizer of success. If something sounds easy? It’s probably too good to be true. If something seems so difficult that you just want to quit week after week… that’s probably what you should be doing!

Perhaps the most touching evidence of all demonstrating the complete success of your platform concept is the fact that of the many positive and supportive replies I received to my 14th episode which – let me remind you – focused on SELLING a product, there was from a gentleman who said “Hooray! It’s Tuesday, which is “Pat day” for me. Pat day is my favorite day of the week already, and now I have another one of your programs on the way. Thank you and keep up the great work!”

Thanks again Jason. You speak the truth, and I am now $40,000 wealthier because I was humble enough to listen to you.

Yours,

Pat S*****