Illustration of a market.

Guide to creator platforms

As a creator, you depend on online platforms to make money from your work. Whether you’re an author, selling books on Amazon, a musician on a music subscription service, or you make videos for YouTube. But platforms change all the time. You need to be strategic about how you use them, and build relationships with your audience that go beyond any individual platform.

Being effective on a platform

Your initial approach to platforms may be to get your work on as many of them as possible. Amazon, Apple, Google, etc. This is a good start, but be careful not to spread yourself too thin. Be more selective and maybe just focus on a select five.

Each platform you choose should make sense to your audience. The big ones should be as a convenience for your audience to use what they’re familiar with. But also keep an eye on smaller, more niche platforms where you can gain a new audience who is looking for something very specific.

You should also understand the nuances of how each platform works and work the platform to get the best results. Don’t just create a profile and throw up your work, think of each platform as a marketplace to setup shop at. Look into what each requires for their search algorithm. For example, it may make a big difference to get some initial reviews for your work.

Connecting with fans beyond the platform

Keep in mind that platforms are in full control of how your work gets out and can change how they work for any reason (and have in the past). So think about how you can have fans follow your work outside the platform. Have a website as your home base with a blog of updates. Setup your own digital downloads store. Start your own email list.

Point people to your website as much as you can. In your ebook, include a link to your site. The same for any promotion you do, including on your social media. And from your site, present your audience with the platforms they can buy from along with any other way you want them to connect with you and your work. That way you’re the one in control!

TLDR — Utilize platforms for what they have to offer, and connect directly with your fans as much as possible!

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