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On this episode of the Unofficial Linchpin podcast I talk with Michael Hyatt. He’s the author of the NYT best selling book Platform; Get noticed in a noisy world, a popular keynote speaker, he has a leadership role for the SCORRE and Launch Conferences. Mike is an equipper of writers and leaders through his blogging, products and teaching at MichaelHyatt.com.
I know you’re going to love this interview with Mike whether this your first time hearing from him or you’re a long time fan. In this 30 minute episode Mike talks about several topics publicly for the first time. We explored the blessings and curses of having a healthy on-line following and frankly I think it was a great conversation. If you have a question for me, feedback for this or other Linchpin episodes or have a guest you’d like for me to invite to be on the show call me at 615-200-TAKE or shoot me an email at feedback@takepermission.com.
Tweet this before Nov. 5 to get one of two copies of Platform by Michael Hyatt
@MichaelHyatt talks for the 1st time about the realities of a huge tribe. http://atraub.us/S8hHZ3 #Linchpin Tweet this
- Tribe demographics: Describe your tribe Mike. What’s their demographic as we sit here today at around a quarter of million people connected to you via your blog, email and twitter followers.
- Over half male
- 93% are leaders
- International audience is growing
- Tribe growth: Give us a timeline of the growth of your tribe over the last five years?
- 700 visitors – 20,000 a month
- Started being consistent three times a week
- Some of the content got noticed by Lifehacker and other sites.
- Got involved in social media (Twitter)
- Most people quit before the inflection point
- Keys to growing your tribe: Mike, what are the things you’ve done over the last five years that you attribute that growth to?
- You feel the pressure to manage your image in a way that creates something artificial.
- Unexpected realities of a large tribe: What have you experienced because of the size of your tribe that you were unprepared for? What have you done to fix that?
- Being an introvert makes it hard to be known.
- Shots come
- Unexpected benefits of a large tribe: What are the greatest benefits of having a tribe?
- A large platform gives you options
- “I’ve never shared this publicly”
- I was a literary midwife.
- Motivation: How does having a large tribe affect your motivation?
- I consider it an immense privilege.
- It affects the quality of what I do. I don’t take anything lightly.
- I forage for my tribe.
- Satisfaction: What is the key to being satisfied in the size of your audience? Do you have a goal for followers, readers, buyers of your book, attendees at the SCORRE or Launch or Platform Conference (I know that one’s coming up in February).
- You have to take into consideration what your strengths are
- Strength Finders
- Mike is an achiever so he has to see growth but
- I don’t care where you are in your journey, you’re still in the middle of it.
- Longevity: You know many famous people. Authors, musicians, artists, business people. Inevitably you’ve seen some of them handle their success well while others have had horrible experiences because of that same success. What advice do you have for people like myself that have a smaller tribe but want to be prepared for the growth so that I don’t experience the same personal failures you’ve seen others experience?
- When the public life got ahead of their personal life.
- I know when I’m in my danger zone when I’m not taking care of myself.
- Self care is vital.
- The root system is bigger than the actual oak tree
Tweet this before Nov. 5 to get one of two copies of Platform by Michael Hyatt
@MichaelHyatt talks for the 1st time about the realities of a huge tribe. http://atraub.us/S8hHZ3 #Linchpin Tweet this
Follow Mike on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MichaelHyatt
Subscribe to Mike’s blog here.
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My name is Andy Traub and I help people tell their stories in a way that maximizes their impact. If you'd like to create your own custom channel to reach the world then I can help. Just 
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats on snagging Michael Hyatt. Who do you have coming up?
Gonna enjoy this one for awhile.
I never even thought about the curse of being a celebrity as Hyatt mentions. Does this alter the way you feel about sharing your photo in social media? It certainly gives you credibility and connection, but I wonder if sticking with a logo or cartoony portrait would allow you to retain your anonymity when needed.
Loren, in order to truly build a platform as Mike describes in his book I don’t think an avatar will cut it. People want to know and follow people. There are things we can do to protect our privacy though and we should take those steps. For instance, people often use different emails and phone numbers with different audiences in order to maintain privacy. Your image though…must be out there.
That makes sense. I was thinking of people like Cliff Ravenscraft, but I think even he is transitioning away from using the avatar. A head shot certainly does allow you to connect on a personal level. Now that I think about it, I believe that a professional headshot was the #1 thing that Michael Hyatt recommended getting in his recently released “Getting Published” ecourse.
Really, I doubt it’s a problem for 99.9% of successful bloggers. I think Chris Brogan said that he could walk into a Panera and no one would know who he was. I’m not sure I’d recognize Seth Godin if he were wearing normal clothes and contact lenses.
Thanks for another great podcast – I really enjoyed the interview. And great idea with the Twitter promotion!
Thank you Andy and Michael.
By having a tribe we are getting to lead people in away. I think of how we put out positive or negative posts.
Talking about the roots of an oak is great. I have heard that analogy several times. We see celebrities fall when their roots are shallow.
K, bye
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