Information, inspiration, and accountability. Why you need all three to succeed.

Several years ago, I reached an interesting point in my personal journey toward developing an online platform. I had come to the point where I felt like I had done all I could think to do and I wasn't sure where I wanted (or needed) to take my platform next.

By the numbers, I was certainly enjoying a healthy amount of success. My podcast downloads were in the millions. Healthy traffic was visiting my blog on a daily basis. I was earning advertising revenue and other streams of income, and I had been offered a book deal with the largest publisher in America (Penguin Random House) that came with a generous advance. But something felt missing. I felt like I needed something more to keep me moving in the right direction because I was trying to do too much on my own.

Up to this point, I was generating ideas and inspiration from books, blogs, videos, and podcasts. I still look to these as helpful sources of information, but I also sensed that I needed more accountability and greater interaction with other people who "spoke my language." I didn't know too many people who wrote, recorded, and earned an online income, so I went on a search to find them.

I started attending business conferences and retreats. I joined a business mastermind and other groups. I carved out time for lunches and meetings with other entrepreneurs. In the process, my overall platform continued to grow, and I regained the motivation to keep working on it because I was connected to people who are also doing the kind of things I'm doing.

If you're attempting to build an online platform through writing, speaking, coaching, and podcasting, I'd like to point out something to you that you may or may not already know. If you'd like to experience long-term success in these areas, you're going to need to find sources of information, inspiration, and accountability. In my opinion, it takes all three to succeed when you're building a message-based business. If any one of those three ingredients is missing, you'll miss important opportunities, make unnecessary mistakes, waste valuable time, and lose momentum.

When I decided to start Platform Launchers, I wanted to make sure it was structured to provide information, inspiration, and accountability. I know it takes all three to succeed and I wanted to make sure our members had the opportunity to experience each element. I'm also mentioning this because I know you may be thinking about creating a membership community of your own someday, so let me explain how I'm trying to incorporate each of these facets of platform development into the membership community I lead.

Information

Most people who join an online membership community initially join for information purposes. I actually think that's a very logical starting point. We all want to learn what it takes to make our businesses better. When people join our Members Club at Platform Launchers, they'll learn how to build, grow, and monetize their online platform. My goal is to present everything I know and everything I'm learning in digestible ways.

I host live training each week that teaches concepts our members will need to learn. I record that training so it remains in an online training vault inside our membership website. I host monthly office hours to answer general questions our members have. I have a seven-class course called "The Launch Plan" that explains all the key elements of developing and monetizing an online platform. And each month, I invite guest experts to share their wisdom with our Members Club. This is a lot of information to make available, but it's helpful and necessary.

Inspiration

But if we're going to succeed with our efforts to develop online platforms, we need more than just information. We also need inspiration. This is one of the primary benefits of being part of our Members Club. When like-minded, message-based entrepreneurs get together and share their stories, they inspire one another to succeed. On our weekly calls, we also celebrate our wins and the progress that we're making as we take action and work on our platforms. It's inspiring to watch each other succeed. It's also inspiring when we directly observe novices becoming proficient and then becoming experts. When others succeed, we're reminded that we can succeed as well.

Accountability

In addition to information and inspiration, I'm convinced we all need accountability. In fact, I truly believe this is the secret ingredient that propels people forward at the most rapid pace. When you make yourself accountable to others, you're setting yourself up to succeed because you're going to have to answer to the people you're accountable to for what you do or you don't do.

I mention this to our Members Club all the time, and I think they provide great proof that what I saying is true. There are people who join Platform Launchers and only use the video replays of our training calls. I hope they're doing well, but the truth is, I don't have any way of really knowing how they're doing because they keep that information to themselves.

But those who make a habit out of joining us for our live calls are doing great. I can point out multiple people who have made significant advances in their platforms over the course of the past few months. We have people who weren't earning an income, but now they are. There are others that were struggling to connect with an audience, but now they've found one. We also have other members who needed help to refine their message, and now they've found clarity. Much of that has come because they invited me and the other members to speak wisdom into what they were building. Accountability noticeably propelled them forward.

Give your business a boost

If you're in the process of building an online platform or a message-based business, please let me encourage you to find sources of information, inspiration, and accountability. Be very intentional about this because it can make or break what you're building. I believe this is one of the major reasons some of us succeed and some of us don't.

And if Platform Launchers seems like a good fit for what you're building, we'd love to welcome you to become part of our community. I'm certain you'll find the information, inspiration, and accountability you need to build something really special.

-John