You Don’t Need Followers

As a ghostwriter, when I ask executives their goals for publishing, I often get the same hedging response: “I’m not trying to be famous.”

When I dig in, they clarify that instead of fame, they’re looking for concentrated influence within a narrow group of people. They want to be a trusted voice amongst their peers and customers. 

To me, this distinction is the difference between building an audience and building a platform. It’s an important one.

Audience is usually measured in quantities. 50,000 is better than 5,000, which is better than 500, and so on. 

Platform is seldom measured in numbers. It’s more useful to think of platform as a barometer for your level of influence and recognized expertise. In a question: Do your words carry impact among the people you care to influence?

Often platform includes an element of audience, because expertise is a magnet for fellow subject-matter experts, but the terms are not interchangeable. 

Years ago, I worked with a FinTech company whose entire sales funnel was spearheaded by one individual who golfed weekly with the heads of major banks. No one would describe this person as having an audience. But sharing phone numbers and tee times with his ideal clients means he had influence where it mattered.

He had a platform. 

Real influence doesn’t compete for attention

In my early twenties, I went to a bookstore on a strange mission. I realized how little I knew about world history and wanted to change that. I sought to broaden my knowledge by perusing the shelves of general history.

I didn’t think to research ahead of time. Instead, I scanned the used books hoping the best ones would be self-evident. My arms were soon full of random books with catchy titles and descriptions. 

An older man saw me and my stack of books. He asked, “What are you looking for?” 

“I’m just trying to find books that give me a broad understanding of history.”

The man eyed my books a second. “I think I have one that might be a good start.” He took me to another aisle and pulled Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jarod Diamond from the shelf.

I didn’t know this man. Something about his temperament told me that he’d read many books and knew the subject. There wasn’t an urgency, just a desire to be useful and the knowledge to back it up.

I took the book home and enjoyed it. It’s still one of my favorite history books I’ve ever read. 

This is a decent analogy for platform. 

The flashiest book cover and best marketing doesn’t stand a chance against a trusted book recommendation from someone who clearly knows what they’re talking about. 

Building platform differs from building a following insofar as platform isn’t competing for attention. It’s more often associated with quiet confidence. 

I’m talking about trust built on expertise, experience, and reputation. 

Last week I was on a lead call. Near the end, the person mentioned that I was one of several ghostwriters she’d interviewed recently. I was the only person who wasn’t actively sales-y or show-y. 

She asked how long I’ve been doing this. I said almost ten years. She said, “I can tell.” 

Platform is measured in trust and reputation

Anyone can point out the evidence of platform in another person. It’s harder to turn those details into action steps because platform is a measure of trust and reputation. It’s not something easily hacked or cobbled together. 

The evidence often resembles fame or accomplishment: Did you write the book on the subject? Have you been quoted in reputable media outlets? Are you peers with other people on influence? When you speak and publish, who reads and interacts with your ideas?

But platform starts deeper. You build it by combining rare attributes: demonstrating expertise publicly, offering educated opinions, writing with clarity and voice, and sharing real stories.

People respect the author because writing a book is hard. It signals that you know enough about your subject to fill 200 pages. It’s proof that you’ve spent more time with the subject than almost anyone else.

Being quoted in reputable media is another signal. Someone judged you credible enough to risk their own reputation by featuring you. 

The same psychology applies to your peers and followers. If you’re in good company, people assume you belong there.

Over the long run, I believe executives are better served by building a platform than by building an audience. One leans on the strength of your numbers, which rise and fall and fluctuate with every algorithm update.

The other leans on the strength of your reputation. Platform is more in line with the “seamless web of deserved trust” that Charlie Munger often spoke about. Everything that matters in business—sales, leadership, management, product vision—gets easier when trust is the anchor of your work.

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