5 Steps to Creating an Invincible Platform (2019 Update)

How you can use social media to clarify your purpose, become financially independent, and become luckier than all your friends.

Transcript

1. 5 Steps to Creating an
   Invincible Platform
   How you can use social media to clarify your purpose, become
   financially independent, and become luckier than all your friends.
   

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2. How to Get Rich Without Getting Lucky:
   Productize Yourself
   

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4. Build up leverage for yourself & future ventures
   1. Build a Personal Brand Moat
   
   2. Build a Business Growth Engine
   

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5. "Productizing" yourself online multiplies your
   luck and unlocks new opportunities.
   Chance I: Blind Luck
   
   Chance II: Motion
   
   Chance III: Recognizing good fortune
   
   Chance IV: Directed Motion (It seeks you out.)
   "Chance IV comes to you, unsought, because
   of who you are and how you behave."
   

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6. This is what it can look like: Big & Small.
   

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7. Free tickets to a
   marketing
   conference —
   twice.
   

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8. Leveraged LinkedIn to connect with 25 growth
   professionals from great companies in ~24 hours
   

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9. Opportunities to meet
   founders & CEOs
   from Hubspot, Drift,
   Shareaholic & more
   

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10. Why did
    Winston win?
    

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11. He built a
    platform.
    10 million words
    published
    •11 volumes
    •400 articles
    •350 speeches
    In 8 years…
    

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12. You can build a platform to
    create the life you want,
    faster.
    “It is the ultimate insurance policy and the most
    durable form of influence and power.”
    - Ryan Holiday, Author
    

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13. Hi, I’m
    Matt Woods.
    Growth
    mattwoods.io
    @matopher
    

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14. Where does
    Social Media
    fit?
    

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15. Passively absorb
    without adding to
    the conversation
    For most people social media is a distraction.
    No clear direction or
    mission
    Pretend to be
    experts at
    everything
    

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16. What if you
    did the
    opposite?
    

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17. Lead a
    passionate tribe
    by giving first
    Solve real problems &
    lean into big movements
    Don’t create;
    Document.
    What could a strong platform look like?
    

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18. State your
    mission
    2
    1 3 4 5
    Understand
    your tribe to
    find 1,000
    true fans
    Document
    consistently
    &
    generously
    on 1 channel
    Do things
    that don’t
    scale
    Build
    momentum
    and
    repurpose
    what’s
    working
    How do you get there?
    

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19. Get aligned by understand your hedgehog concept
    

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20. What’s the wrong that you can help
    people make right?
    STATE YOUR MISSION
    

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21. Everyone wants to be part of a
    larger movement that matters.
    

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22. Make your customer (or audience)
    the hero.
    

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23. Pick one primary channel that makes
    sense for you to go deep on.
    ➡ Ask: Do the people you need to know like to spend time there? Do
    you like spending time there? 

    ➡ Who do you already know? Text/Call/In-person 

    ➡ Treat every channel like its own country. LinkedIn has powerful
    network effects. It’s your business card / resume. Twitter is great for
    talking to strangers with common interests and events.
    

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24. Two contrasting specialties = your superpower
    MATTWOODS.US
    Software
    Development
    Marketing
    (Skill #1)
    Your
    Superpower
    (Skill #2)
    

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25. Major to Networking (Without Being
    Looking Like a Try-Hard)
    • Flashbulb effect. Successful people want to be seen with
    other successful people. Your initial connections in a space
    carry FAR more importance than your later ones.
    • Only post when you have unique value to add. Then make
    it count.
    • When an opportunity happens - jump on it. Momentum
    dies when you sit on it.
    • Don’t be afraid to jump out of digital-only communication.
    Send an email. Hop on a call. Schedule a coffee meeting.
    

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26. Who is the
    smallest group of
    people you’re
    uniquely
    positioned to
    help?
    

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27. Hand to hand
    combat > Going
    Viral
    

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28. Endless follow-up = your new default.
    Don’t attribute to hostility what can be
    easily blamed on busyness.
    

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29. Do things that
    don’t scale.
    You can’t write 1 million
    people a hand-written
    note — but that
    shouldn’t stop you from
    starting the habit!
    

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30. Once I followed
    up with an
    investor 48
    times until I got
    a meeting.
    -Steli Efti, CEO
    @ Close.io
    “ “No,” can mean
    “not right now.”
    

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31. General Follow-Up Schedule
    Day 1: First follow-up (+2)
    Day 3: Follow-up (+4)
    Day 7: Follow-up (+7)
    Day 14: Follow-up (+14)
    Day 28: Follow-up (+30)
    Day 58: Follow-up (+30)
    … (from there on once a month).
    

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32. You only need 1,000 true fans.
    True Fan = Someone who will purchase anything and
    everything you produce.
    

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33. $100 x 1,000
    fans = $100,000
    

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34. How do you find true fans?
    Focus on helping, not self-promoting.
    

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35. Pick 1 primary channel
    (and stick to it.)
    

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36. Don’t be a guru. Just share
    your raw experience.
    

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38. Start small & consistent
    

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40. State your
    mission
    Understand
    your tribe to
    find 1,000
    true fans
    Document
    consistently
    and
    generously
    on 1
    medium
    Do things
    that don’t
    scale
    Build
    momentum
    and
    repurpose
    what’s
    working
    2
    1 3 4 5
    5 Steps to Creating an
    Invincible Platform
    

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41. What about growing a
    business?
    1. Understand your growth loops
    
    2. Iterate your way into the "4 fits"
    

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46. The 4 Fits
    

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47. 1) Discover new pain points
    2) Validate ideas quickly
    Tap your community for on-
    the-fly insights
    

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48. Social Post -> 1:1
    Follow-up
    

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49. Justin Mares validated Kettle & Fire with in
    2 weeks with for less than $100 using
    Bing Ads.
    Source
    

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50. Build a Three-
    Circle Network
    

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51. MATTWOODS.US
    Inner
    Circle
    Professional
    Network
    The Crowd
    Start with
    your Inner
    Circle and
    grow naturally
    

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52. Inner Circle
    Prioritize Mentors, role models 1-level above
    you, best-in-class peers, and mentees
    “Who can I learn from for 10x growth and tough
    decisions?”
    

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53. Professional Network
    Professional groups, “superconnectors,”
    classmates, family friends, relatives, former
    coworkers
    “Who can I ask a favor from with a quick
    message?”
    

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54. The Crowd
    Social media followers, email subscribers,
    website visitors, blog post readers
    “Who can I meaningfully help today?”
    

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