You’ve probably heard it before: “You need to build a platform to grow your business.”
But most people misunderstand what that really means. It’s not just a podcast or a social feed. It’s an aligned ecosystem that works together to grow your business without draining your energy.
Too often, “platform” gets mistaken for only referring to your social media channels. But real influence isn’t built on rented land. In this episode, Samantha and Leon break down what it really means to own your platform and why that ownership matters for your visibility, credibility, and cash flow.
If your content feels like it’s disappearing into the void, or your audience isn’t converting the way it should, this is the strategic reset you didn’t know you needed. You’ll learn how content turns into currency, how to build trust in a noisy market, and how to create an ecosystem that positions you as the obvious choice.
Your platform isn’t just where you show up. It’s the engine behind your influence, and the sooner you take ownership of it, the faster your audience grows.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- Why your platform is more than just a social channel (03:05)
- Real-world examples of platform empires and how they started from zero (06:54)
- Turning content into currency and how to know when your message is working (08:51)
- Why omnipresence matters more than ever and how to build it without burnout (20:17)
- How to know if your current strategy is building trust or just making noise (23:21)
- Three mistakes keeping you from building real momentum (25:28)
WANT TO EXPLORE WHAT’S POSSIBLE FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
If you would like to brainstorm a plan to explore what’s possible for you, I invite you to book in for a Scale Session.
In this quick 15-minute call we’ll dive into…
• Reviewing your niche, offer, and pricing to map out your immediate growth potential…
• Evaluating your marketing, sales, and delivery systems to pinpoint what’s working and what’s not…
• Identifying the primary bottleneck that’s holding you back from growing and scaling…
• Build a 3-step growth and scale plan rooted in positioning, profit, and simplicity
Click Here to book your no-charge Scale Session
CONNECT WITH SAMANTHA RILEY
Instagram @thesamriley
CONNECT WITH LEON FLITTON
Instagram @leonflitton
SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW BUSINESS GROWTH LAB
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TRANSCRIPTION
Samantha Riley 00:00
Your platform is the stage that you build so that your message can be seen, it can be heard and it can be felt at scale. It’s how you stop being a secret and start becoming the obvious choice in your market and and that platform is what turns your expertise into influence, and where your ideas stop being content and start becoming currency. Hey, Leon, you’re back. Welcome back. I didn’t scare you off last week, and I’m going to take that as a win.
Leon Flitton 00:44
Alright? Apesa fan, of course, I’m back.
Samantha Riley 00:46
Excellent. So good. So today we’re going to talk about the power of owning your platform. And the last episode, episode 631 I interviewed Mark Mawhinney and we talked about building a platform, and he talked about the three platforms he’s consistently built, which is his email list, his podcast and his Facebook community, and he talked about how he’s built all of those and how he’s built consistency. But I’ve had a conversation with a few people since, and it’s a conversation, actually, that I’ve had lots of times before I interviewed mark, to be honest, and it’s lots of people don’t really understand what a platform is, and many people misunderstand what it actually is. Yeah.
Leon Flitton 01:34
So I think when people hear platform, I think what they’re thinking is like, it’s one singular thing, like it’s a tick tock or an Instagram channel, you know? But what we’re actually going to be talking about is something a lot deeper. And I think this is part of a business foundation that a lot of experts skip, and then, you know, they wonder why things like the sales feel so hard and stuff like that. So, but in reality, a platform is actually much more than that. So, and I think when it’s done right, it can really do, you know, some amazing things, like grow your business, for example, or build your authority, you know, even to the point of, well, it should be bringing your leads in exactly,
Samantha Riley 02:11
and that’s why I want to unpack it in today’s episode. Like, what is a real platform? And in the online space. We’re noticing right now that trust is lower than it’s ever been before. So this platform matters more than ever before. Success leaves clues, right? We’re seeing people like Megan Markle, who’s got a brand new podcast, she’s got a new Netflix special, she’s got, you know, all sorts of things going on, and she’s leveraging businesses off that. One of, I think probably the original platform builders that most people know very well is Oprah right. She had her talk show that went to the own network, she had a magazine, she had a podcast, and she’s built this media empire worth billions and billions of dollars, and created this space where her values, like vulnerability and empowerment and spirituality all have become part of pop culture. And when we think about platform, because she’s built this. So many people in my world, I say, you know, if you could have your, I guess, interview with like your dream host, who would it be? They always say, Oprah, right? And that’s the power of a platform, because they know that if they want to share a message that Oprah has built this platform that’s going to have huge reach. And essentially, that’s what that platform is. Brene Brown’s done it with, you know, she started with her TEDx talk, and then books and podcasts, and she’s got a Netflix special. And it’s really important, because that is what makes our influence really grow. It makes it scalable. It means that we can get our message to more people. It’s about not just authority, but it’s about reach.
Leon Flitton 04:08
Can you imagine how much more you know impact and influence you can have by actually getting access to that platform? But Oprah particularly totally
Samantha Riley 04:18
but let’s flip that on its head. Oprah started off at day one. So it means anyone else can too, like, yeah, you know, she’s had a whole heap of things going in her favor. We know that. But instead of thinking, Well, how could we get onto her platform, what about if we all started thinking of ourselves as a media company and started building our own platform so that we had the control, and not in a controlling way, but so that we could control the narrative like she has, and so that we had that influence. And
Leon Flitton 04:53
I was just going to say that she controls her platform, and I think that’s something. Very important about that, and not to be a control freak, so to speak, but being in control of your own platform is important. I think we need to come back to that later on, and we have a few things to say about that absolutely.
Samantha Riley 05:09
So let’s start with a definition, because I think that’s really important. Because you talked before about a platform isn’t Tiktok, it isn’t Instagram. So what is it? And your platform is the stage that you build so that your message can be seen, it can be heard and it can be felt at scale. It’s how you stop being a secret and start becoming the obvious choice in your market and and that platform is what turns your expertise into influence, and where your ideas stop being content and start becoming currency. So
Leon Flitton 05:44
just as a break it down a little bit more, what would your platform include, so to speak. So I’m thinking there’ll be things like your email list, your podcast, your website, so the blog on your website, and things like, you know, LinkedIn and Instagram. Is that what you’re talking about absolutely,
Samantha Riley 06:05
your YouTube, your videos, your book, all of these things. It’s all of these little mini stages that you’re building. Like, you know, even speaking from stage, it’s all the stages you’re building to share your message at scale. Now, what I did just mention is where your ideas stop being content and start becoming currency. And I think this is really important, because I think people really struggle to see the end of content and the beginning of the new thing, because they think content is the end, but when your ideas become currency. That’s when people pay you because of how you think or your frameworks. They get licensed or referenced or shared, referred to clients, quote you back to yourself. I’ve had that happen twice today. Nice,
Leon Flitton 06:56
yeah, right, that’s pretty cool.
Samantha Riley 06:59
It actually happened as well. I was interviewed for a summit, and the summit host came straight on and she said, Oh my goodness, you have to speak on the diamond factor. She said, every time I hear Rihanna’s shine like a diamond. She said, I think of you, and I always think, Oh my goodness. Have I got my clarity on my message? And have I got my, you know, my IP, my, all my, you know, frameworks unpacked. That is super cool, right? Because I’ve built that platform and I’ve shared that message, and I’m being referenced back. What
Leon Flitton 07:32
a great example of how, you know, it’s getting cut through, though absolutely remembered, like when someone plays a song that’s not your song, but I love what you love the way you said that, though, like, so your ideas become currency. I think that’s really cool.
Samantha Riley 07:46
Yeah. So essentially, what that is, is your ideas are moving from information to influence, which is what I was just talking about, and from influence to income, because it’s a stage you own. It’s where your ideas really start turning and becoming currency. So what does it
Leon Flitton 08:07
really mean? If you break it down, when your ideas become currency, it’s
Samantha Riley 08:11
exactly what I was just talking about. You’re not just posting your positioning, you’re not just sharing tips. You’re creating trust, you’re creating demand, you’re creating desire, and it means that your ideas are circulating and working while you sleep. So it’s it’s really moving into scale. People start quoting you, they start tagging you, they start referencing you. And that’s when you know that your message isn’t just noise, it’s actually movement. And I don’t know about you, but the idea of creating a movement and creating this legacy piece is so exciting. Like Oprah has created a massive legacy, so is Brene Brown. You know, any of those big platform owners, that’s what they’ve done. They’ve created a movement, and they’re leaving and living their legacy every day, because they
Leon Flitton 09:05
created so much influence as well. When I think about what they can do and how they can help, you know, and the legacy, yeah, it’s just huge, isn’t it?
Samantha Riley 09:14
Well, it’s power. Just think about Oprah’s book club. Any person that gets lucky enough to be on Oprah’s book club automatically goes New York Times bestseller. Yeah, that’s the power on not just relying on the algorithms or ad spend. It’s really, it’s, you know, Oprah’s built her own stage. She owns the land. No one can cancel that. And just by having her, you know, choose your book and you go New York Times bestseller like, that’s a pretty powerful platform, yeah.
Leon Flitton 09:54
What a cool stage beyond, though, right? Totally.
Samantha Riley 09:56
But you know, Oprah didn’t wait to be involved. Excited. She built this media empire by creating stages, like I said, her talk show, her own network, her podcast, her books. Brene Brown went from research papers to Netflix because her ideas became movements.
Leon Flitton 10:14
So here’s the thing as well, is you don’t actually need to have millions of followers. You just need to have the right followers, so that’s the right people, you know, tuning into to hear your message, and doing that all the time, so you can consistently tuning in. So whether it’s, you know, like podcast, which email list or a blog, I think they say it’s probably like a vlog, but they’re your community, so yeah, if they’re tuning into you, they’re building trust. And you can see that because, and I talk about leads a bit like getting leads from different places, but you know, if someone comes through to you, and some of our clients say the same thing, they come from, they come to their like a sales call, for example, and they go, oh yes, we listen to you on the podcast already, and you can see who has built a trust before they even got to the call. You know? Yeah, I think that’s pretty cool,
Samantha Riley 11:05
yeah. And the sales cycle has changed a lot since I’ve been in business. So back when I started business in the early 90s, that was the days of the Yellow Pages, someone would, if they had something that they wanted to buy, they would open up the Yellow Pages, and that’s when their research phase started, because they would ring around different businesses, and they would speak to those businesses, and they would get information, then they would digest that information, and then they would buy now it’s actually different. Now people with social media and podcasts and so forth, they actually do their research first. By the time they’ve booked a sales call, generally, they’ve already decided this is what I want. Because when we’re creating content in this way and building our platform, we’re building trust before someone actually books the call. The call doesn’t come first, and this is all built around an ecosystem, like you mentioned Leon at the beginning of the show. It’s not one thing. It’s not Instagram or Tiktok. It’s actually an ecosystem. And what I see is most people using one platform in isolation, but the true momentum happens when all of these different mini platforms work together in an ecosystem like your podcast builds trust, and people might listen to that and then go and join your email list, and that might drive conversions, or they might or from your email list go, oh, Sam’s got A Facebook community over here, and that builds connection. And what they do is they feed each other, and that’s when we have this compound effect. Yeah,
Leon Flitton 12:49
just something I know we mentioned it earlier, about controlling your stage and controlling your platform, having the ability to bring them into your ecosystem. So you might have them on Facebook, and you might have been LinkedIn, and you might have hopefully on your email list. I hope is a very good thing as well. So you’re controlling the fact that if you only have one platform, you can lose that platform. How often you heard someone being hacked on Facebook, and they’ve lost their face control their Facebook profile group, or whatever it is, you know? So, you know, having control in that regard, I think is a really good thing as well. So you know, and particularly, I’m a big fan of the email list, so if you can get them to your email list, you’re also doing really
Samantha Riley 13:29
well. Alright, so let’s start off by talking about if you’re starting from scratch, or if you’ve built some platforms in isolation and you haven’t really intentionally created your platforms like an ecosystem, because I think you know, awareness is the first step. So yes, start off with one core platform you can commit to, and whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, your podcast, YouTube, whatever it is, fully lean into that platform. So for example, if you decide that you are going to choose Instagram, don’t just post in the feed. Make sure you’re posting the feed. Make sure you’re creating reels. Make sure you know posting stories. Make sure you’ve got a DM strategy so you’re choosing one, I guess, core little stage, and fully commit to that, because that’s how you can start to build out that ecosystem and build consistency with that before you start to bring in the rest. So even though we’re talking about choosing one platform, if you’re starting from scratch. I honestly believe that right now, you need to think about omnipresence, definitely.
Leon Flitton 14:48
I think this is something that’s become more apparent, probably the last six months, even from where we’ve been. I think the landscape is changing dramatically. Why? Yes? Start with one channel that the need to be in. Places is really very apparent right now. And
Samantha Riley 15:02
I think we alluded to this before. You’re feeding all these platforms into each other. So on your email, maybe in your signature, you’re saying, hey, subscribe to my podcast, follow me on Instagram, maybe come and join me on youtube for this live training I’m giving, and then on the live training on YouTube that you’re giving, you say, hey, put your hand up, or if you would like this free resource, and that’s going to your email list. So you’re creating this ecosystem. You want people in as many places as possible. You want people to be thinking, oh my gosh, that person’s everywhere. Because when that person’s everywhere, that’s when you start owning the narrative, or it’s when you start owning the platform, exactly like Oprah did. She was everywhere. Everyone wanted to be interviewed by her, and that’s how she kind of got out there.
Leon Flitton 15:55
Yeah. And just before you freak out and go, How do I get, like, you know, six different platforms or channels up, up and running on my platform and go, How do I get that out there? There is such a thing as repurposing, so I would suggest that that’s actually a good way to get yourself up and running without having to create, you know, six different kinds of very similar content to actually be omnipresent. Yeah? So yeah, a big fan of batching and repurposing, yeah.
Samantha Riley 16:22
And I’m also a believer that each different platform has its own language, and it has a way that does better. However, Done is better than perfect. And while you’re building out this ecosystem, repurposing and keeping it similar is completely fine to get to a point where you’re able to create or just tweak the information on each of those platforms. Yep. Love that. So Leon, we talked about your ideas being becoming currency. What are some of the things that people can take a look at to know whether this is or their platform or their content strategy is working, yeah.
Leon Flitton 17:07
So I think this is the case of, if you’re doing it right, you should see some of these things happening. So for one, are you getting leads from it, which is probably a good thing that you want to have happening, and probably, you think, probably be me, yes, are we running a business or not? So, yeah, exactly. So something you alluded to before was people were quoting you, which is amazing. Well, actually referencing your content, you know, which is a really cool thing. So, you know, it’s getting cut
Samantha Riley 17:37
through. So I think that you’re repurposing content and not reinventing content, which is what you just talked about. And I also think you’re not constantly chasing new ideas. You have a core topic, and you absolutely stick to that topic. You know exactly what it is you’re talking about. You’ve got frameworks that you reference. You know exactly who your ideal client is, so you’re able to speak to that through their fears and their aspirations. So you know exactly who this topics for and what the topics about. Yeah,
Leon Flitton 18:13
love that because we don’t want to be running around getting burnout either. So you know, creating content can be quite draining if you’re not like maximizing what you can get out of it and the way you’re going about it. So I think that’s really cool, totally.
Samantha Riley 18:25
I think people, where people go wrong with this is that their messaging isn’t clear, so they are posting all sorts of different ideas, I guess, without really a point of view, and then that creates noise, and also means that people not really sure about what it is that you do or the kinds of people that you work with. So I think your messaging needs to be really clear. So that’s number one. Number two is a big one. Most people miss call to actions because visibility without an invitation is just wasted effort. You need to be able to provide people with what the next step is. People don’t know what that is, and if you don’t lay it out clearly for them, then they can’t take that next step. And then number three, and I am huge on this, and I think this is the biggest opportunity for anyone that’s in business, and that’s being consistent, because I see most people where most people miss the mark is no consistency, and a week of hype and then silence for the next three weeks isn’t going to build trust. It has to be consistent. You know, the reason that we’re 632 episodes in is because I’ve released two podcast episodes every week for nearly 10 years. And if those numbers don’t add up, that’s because there’s been other podcast. Us in there, but I have always released at least two episodes a week. It’s consistent. People know I’m going to show up. People know what I’m about. People understand I was going to say. They understand me. They probably don’t. I’m a little bit on the crazy spectrum. At least they understand what I mean what I’m here for,
Leon Flitton 20:21
crazy fun. It is crazy
Samantha Riley 20:22
fun. I like it. I think most people call me batshit crazy, but that’s a whole nother story. I
Leon Flitton 20:30
was gonna say why you’re talking about building trust as well and being consistent. The other thing is that, how often have you heard the overnight success took years?
Samantha Riley 20:41
Yeah, and you know what the that overnight success that you’ve seen or heard about that did have overnight success usually has 20 years of hard work behind that maybe was packaged up as something else, yeah, there is no such thing as overnight success. You can have an overnight success, but there’s going to be some foundations
Leon Flitton 21:05
there. Yeah, there’s 10,000 hours or something behind it. So
Samantha Riley 21:08
exactly,
Leon Flitton 21:11
I think it’s a good point to make as well, that we’re not necessarily doing all these things for vanity metrics. You know, it’s because you want to do something that you know that really matters. So there’s someone out there waiting to, you know, to hear what you’ve got to say, and for you to share your information with and your expertise. I’m
Samantha Riley 21:32
going to add here that you said vanity metrics don’t necessarily matter. They actually don’t matter at all, because if you’re listening, how often have you signed a client that may have referenced a social media post from eight years ago that you didn’t even know existed in your current ecosystem because they never even commented on a post? Just because people don’t engage with your content doesn’t mean they’re not watching. That’s why you need to be so consistent with posting and also with your message, because people are watching and they’re not necessarily engaging. I’m sure every single one of us has has had that happen. So build your stage, use your voice, own your message. Influence isn’t built by accident. It’s built by design. You need to build this platform. You need to design your ecosystem so it makes sense, and then just get to work.
Leon Flitton 22:30
So if this hits home for you, and you’re wondering where to start, or what’s prioritized next, I think Sam may have something that might help with this.
Samantha Riley 22:37
I do my spidey senses. Was hoping you were going to say that I’ve created a visibility filter, which is how to help you understand each of these areas and what exactly to do in what order, so that you can start to put your ecosystem together and stop being invisible and start being influential. So this is super easy. Just head over to Instagram. My Instagram link is down below wherever you’re listening the link is there. Just go to Instagram, DM me with the word visibility, and I will get that visibility filter straight to you. You know, what’s super cool about this tool? It’s not a six week thing. It just takes three minutes. It gives you clarity so you know exactly what to do next. And that’s what I really love about this little tool. So the visibility filter just DM me on Instagram the word Leon. Thanks for joining me for this episode talking about platforms. Thank you for listening to another episode of business growth lab. We will sign off for now and catch you next week. Ciao
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