The Two Content Platforms Every Successful Creator Uses in 2024

If you’re a creator who’s putting your heart and soul into your:

• Emails
• Blog posts
• Podcasts

But…nobody is taking notice…

Your work is going unnoticed and unappreciated…

The amount of people on your email list isn’t growing.

Your podcast listens aren’t going up.

Your blog isn’t getting more visits this month than the last….

I feel you.

This has been my biggest challenge since entering this creator economy.

But, I paid a lot of money to a mentor to figure out what I was doing wrong, and I want to share what I learned with you so you can fix this now.

It turns out, I didn’t understand the larger game being played on social media and how to think about all the different platforms out there so you can stop spinning your wheels and get traction in this competitive environment.

When I started out, I put hours into making amazing content.

I poured everything I had into my emails and podcasts.

I wrote lengthy blog posts that gave everything away.

But, as I looked at my metrics, I knew I had a problem.

The number of people consuming my content was not growing.

Was it because I sucked?

Was I an imposter?

How were other creators growing explosively — when their content wasn’t any better than mine?

I shared my frustration on a call with my mentor.

Here’s what he told me:

“Brian, your content is great.

You’re not growing because you don’t understand the larger game being played.”

“You don’t understand the difference between getting in front of new people, versus getting them to trust you enough to buy from you”

That was my first learning moment. There are two “phases” that happen online:

1. People find out about you in the first place
2. People get to know you and trust you over time

Let’s start by talking about #2 — the “getting people to trust you enough to buy” part.

Google conducted a large-scale study and found that — on average — a customer spends 8 hours with a brand before making a purchase.

This is the time they spend really getting to know you.

They subconsciously make decisions like:

• Do they like you?
• Do they feel like they can trust you?
• Can you solve a problem they have?
• Do they see you as credible?

Since it takes at least 8 hours of contact with you for them to make those decisions, it’s not going to happen quickly — if all they do is consume your 60 second Instagram reels.

Remember how we opened by talking about platforms like:

• Your blog
• Your podcast
• Your email list

Here’s what I learned:

This type of platform is called a relationship platform.

These are the places where you deepen the relationship with people.

These platforms lend themselves to longer form, more authentic content.

They are the best place for your audience to rack up those 8 trust-building hours with you.

As early as my real estate coaching days, my best customers were the ones who listened to my podcast or read my book Fire Yourself.

By the time they reached out to me, they had already made the decision to hire me as their coach.

Relationship platforms are critical. Without it, nobody would trust you enough to take the next step and buy your stuff.

You must have a relationship platform as part of your online strategy.

But, here’s the kicker:

Relationship platforms are notoriously bad for getting new eyeballs.

Podcasts have little to no “discovery”. ITunes doesn’t recommend your podcast to new listeners.

For the same reason, your blog post is unlikely to rank on the first page for someone’s Google search.

People don’t just show up on your email list.

So, what do you do?

You find a way to go out and get new eyeballs onto your stuff.

This is where we introduce the second important concept, called discovery platforms.

Discovery platforms are ones you know well, such as:

• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok
• LinkedIN
• Facebook
• X

These are the places where you go to get new eyeballs onto your work.

Most people don’t even know who you are. This is true no matter how big you get.

So, making noise on a discovery platform is critical to your success.

In fact, this is how you grow your relationship platforms.

You get in front of new eyeballs on Instagram, and then direct them to your email list.

You reach new people on YouTube, and then point them to your blog.

You post a reel on TikTok, and promote your podcast.

The flow looks like this:

Discovery Platforms > Relationship Platforms

Get new eyeballs > Deepen the relationship

Here’s Where I Got it Wrong

The first thing I got wrong was not understanding what we’ve talked about so far.

The second thing I got wrong was trying to build multiple discovery and multiple relationship platforms at the same time.

Bad idea.

Don’t bog yourself down by trying to succeed on more than one of each. Your results will suffer.

There are different rules to succeeding on each platform. Growing on LinkedIN is different than growing on Instagram.

Growing a YouTube channel is a monster on its own and will require your complete focus if you want a chance of succeeding.

Trying to figure out multiple platforms — unless you have a huge budget to hire an agency to help you — will lead to subpar content on each platform.

Subpar content will lead to no growth (failure).

My recommendation is to:

1. Pick one discovery platform
2. Pick one relationship platform

How Do I Decide On My Platforms?

There’s nuance in making this, but here’s the Golden Rule:

They all work. Pick the ones you can do with joy for the long haul.

If you love writing, X plus an email list might be a good route to go.

If you love talking, YouTube + a podcast seems right up your alley.

Either way, create a simple plan to get yourself discovered, deepen those relationships, then rinse and repeat.

In the long run, this is as close to a foolproof plan as you’re gonna get.

You will be handsomely rewarded over time.

Brian