Do Christian Writers Need a Platform?
One common question that Christian writers have is, “What is a platform and why do I need one? Why can’t I just write?”
If you want to write words that other people read, whether that means traditionally publishing a book, self-publishing, writing blog posts, or any other kind of writing, those readers have to be able to find your writing in the sea of other words out there. Your work won’t serve people if your readers can’t find it. Building a platform is bringing together a group of people who want to read what you are writing.
So yes, if you want your words to serve others, you need a platform.
One objection that Christians face when it comes to building a platform is that we confuse a platform with a pedestal. It can feel like we’re supposed to exalt ourselves, which Jesus clearly teaches us NOT to do. In putting our words out there, we might become guilty of self-exaltation, but it doesn’t have to be the case.
What’s the difference between a platform and a pedestal?
A pedestal is decorative stand where we put statues or artwork. It’s meant to display something for us to admire and look up to. We put people figuratively on pedestals when we think they are smarter, more holy, or more popular. However, they’re just humans and God did not designed anyone to be put on a pedestal. Sinful humans have a nasty habit of falling short of our expectations and toppling off their pedestal in spectacular fashion. We have a tendency to put missionaries, pastors, Christian speaker, and authors on pedestals where they don’t belong. They’re normal people trying to serve God with the gifts and abilities He’s given them.
A platform, on the other hand, is a raised place where someone stands so that others can see and hear them more effectively. Think about a pastor preaching from a stage, or the worship team leading worship from the same stage so we can hear them and sing along. It’s not meant to exalt those on the platform, but to facilitate the crowd hearing the message.
That’s the type of platform we’re talking about. We’re trying to establish a logistical way for others to read our words who will benefit from them. Can we slip into trying to exalt ourselves? Sure. We need to be wary of our heart posture. But that shouldn’t keep us from building a writing platform so others can benefit from our gifts and experiences.
Another misconception many writers have is that having a platform means having a lot of social media followers. Your platform can include social media or it doesn’t have to. We’ll talk about that in depth in a few weeks.
So then what practically IS a writing platform?
An effective platform is centered around an email list as its hub. All of your efforts should drive people to your email list, while also helping those readers get to know you, like you, and trust you to speak into your topic. You have control over those email addresses, unlike social media. Other platform-building activities can be really helpful, but they should ultimately drive people to your email list. If you speak at a 300-person event and don’t have a way to communicate with those people after the event, you’re missing a big benefit from that opportunity.
Whether you’re teaching a seminar, collaborating with others, doing a giveaway, or using SEO to drive traffic to your website, you ultimately want those people on your email list. We’ll be talking in the weeks to come about some practical ways to do that.
What does your current platform look like? If you don’t have one, yet, that’s OK! Everyone starts at zero.
Here are some next steps:
1. Set up an account with an email service provider. Mailchimp, Mailerlite, Kit, and FloDesk are all options. Some have free versions if you have under a certain number of subscribers. You can also use a Substack, which is always free, as a place to post your writing and collect email addresses in the process. You can always take those emails and move them to a different provider later if you choose to.
2. Decide how often you can plan to communicate with those who subscribe. Consistency is helpful, even if it’s once a month.
3. Create a lead magnet. This is a piece of content, like a digital download of some sort, that will help your reader with an aspect of the problem you write about. Set up your email service provider so that readers can receive that lead magnet in exchange for their email address. The details of how to do that will vary according to which provider you use. Then promote that lead magnet in the places that your readers hang out and look for info.
I realize that some of you likely have all this set up already. If that’s you, what is your next step in growing that platform?
Others of you may feel like I’ve been speaking Greek and you have no idea how to go about any of this. If you’d like some help figuring out your next steps, book a coaching session and we’ll talk through your specific situation and create an actionable plan that makes sense to you and fits into your actual life. You can find all the info at amylynnsimon.com/coaching.
Another option if you’d like to learn more about growing your platform, is the self-paced course, Launch Your Writing Platform. You can take a look at that here.
Happy writing!