I haven’t blogged in almost a week because I have been learning how to be a better blogger. I just completed my attendance to the very first PLATFORM Conference with Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. The conference was held in Nashville at the Sound Kitchen. And, it was an incredible experience. My father once told me “I may be thirsty but I don’t want to drink from a fire hydrant.” Well, I feel like I’ve been trying to drink from a fire hydrant. It will take me a couple of weeks minimum to process what I have learned. But, there are some wonderful concepts that emerged during the week.

1 — Know Your Audience. Over and over, each speaker emphasized that writing a blog, starting a business, building your brand; whatever it is you plan is only worth pursuing if it CHANGES SOMEONE’S LIFE! This was so refreshing to me. The goal is not to make money. The goal is not to have thousands and thousands come to your site. If your goal is to make people’s lives better, then all of this will follow. First, care about something and then find those people who care about the same thing.

2 — Tribes! Another word for this is community. There are many of us out there who share a passion; a cause; a love; an interest. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could connect around some central “home base”? This is another key principle of building an effective platform. Find and identify your “tribe”. Match their passion for something and then make that something the center of your endeavor

3– Don’t Sacrifice Your Life for Your Tribe! Each and every speaker from Michael down the line emphasized the same principle. Your family comes before your business. As Michael said, “God first, my wife second, my family third, and then I’ll consider my platform.” Thank you, Michael. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world wide web but loses his soul?

4 — God is at work. I was one of the fortunate attendees to sit at the “Master Level” table. The first person I met was Jonathan Howe with LifeWay working with social media. LifeWay is the umbrella organization over B&H Publishing, the publisher of “Conquering Depression”. This book and its upcoming update are why I went to the PLATFORM conference. And, right off the bat, I met the man who is most intimate with LifeWay’s social media. You see, in the back of our book on depression are tear out cards called LifeFilters. In our update, we want to convert these cards to smartphone applications. When I told this to Jonathan, he immediately showed me other apps created by LifeWay and I was instantly excited! It was a divine appointment.

Later on, I met other people, some of who suffered from depression. Their stories were moving and powerful and they agreed to allow me to contact them in the future for possible testimonials.

Also, I was able to sit by Michael Hyatt and show him the old book. I told him about our plans and he was extremely supportive. And, a bonus was a years subscription to PLATFORM University, an online membership service through which I can get support and help during the next year as we build our own platform for Conquering Depression.

5 — My Chronicles of Jonathan Steel WILL continue. I received incredible support for the book series. As I search for a new publisher and consider the possibility of co-publishing versus self-publishing, I will continue to write and edit the fourth and fifth books. Jonathan Steel lives!!!

In the coming weeks, I will be working with my co-author, Mark Sutton, on building a new platform for Conquering Depression and restructuring the platform for the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel.