Here’s a follow up of my continuing adventures at Platform University. Specifically, I want to share how it’s helped me with email marketing, social media and surveying my audience. Plus, how I think it could help you.
My story so far
Ever since creating my first display ads for Folsom High School’s Bulldog Times, I’ve wanted to help local businesses reach more people.
But now, even with over a decade of experience in graphic design and website development, I still question my own marketing experience. Plus, I’ve always struggled with blogging consistently.
How I enrolled in Platform University
You’ve heard the joke about the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, right? Well, there’s a similar connection that got me to Platform University:
- First, I started listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcast, who mentioned Dan Miller.
- Then I started listening to Dan Miller’s 48 Days Radio Show podcast, where he mentioned Michael Hyatt.
- Then I started listening to Michael Hyatt’s podcast, and that’s where I heard about this thing called Platform University.
Starting my Junior year
This May marks the start of my third year as a student of Platform University. I wrote previously about how I struggled my first year due to a number of things, and got to the point where I was about to give up. But after the folks at Platform University reworked their courses into a new curriculum, I became interested again and now I’m starting to make some traction.
Why I recommend Platform University for local businesses
Seriously, I’m not trying to sell anything here. I don’t get a commission on new Platform University students, but I’ve found the membership helpful and I think you might too. Here’s three areas in which I think the courses could help any small business:
- Focusing on what your business is and you are and who you’re trying to reach.
- Designing a WordPress-powered website with the content you need from the beginning.
- Creating a simple, yet comprehensive strategy for content creation, email marketing, and social media marketing that will help you reach and retain more customers.
What I’ve learned in the last two months
I’m now half-way through Platform University’s core curriculum and here’s what I’ve done with what I’ve learned so far.
- I’ve honed in on the content I want to create on a weekly basis, focusing more on creative, practical solutions for small business owners who want to use their digital media to reach and serve more people.
- I’ve restarted my weekly email newsletter where I provide creative tips every Tuesday.
- I’ve worked out a new social media strategy, focusing primarily on LinkedIn, but also using Twitter and Pinterest for sharing resources. I’ve also used the class resources for setting up Buffer and Hootsuite for optimized social media scheduling so I can schedule things in advance.
- I’ve got ideas on what to ask readers like you so that I can better serve you. One stumbling block I mentioned before was that I struggled with surveying my audience right off the bat, when I didn’t have a plan for getting an audience yet.
So that’s where I’m at now and there’s about six more modules to go. I’m really looking forward to it.