How I Used My Platform to Live Stream for One of My Favorite Brands

Before I get deep into what my platform has done for me, if you haven’t seen my videos on how you can use your passion without starting a business, you may want to check those out starting with 3 Ways to Pursue Your Passion Without Starting a Business.

Earlier this month I invited you to my Instagram Live takeover with Blavity for their Side Hustle Saturdays relaunch. I spent just under an hour talking to their audience about how to incorporate your side hustle into your daily life.

But why was I qualified to do that?

Blavity has about a quarter million followers on Instagram. How and why I was the right choice to relaunch any part of their brand?

I don’t even have 1,000 followers on Instagram.

I haven’t written a book on side hustling.

And a YouTube channel? Nope. Not one that anybody’s checking for.

So why me and not someone else?

I have a little platform, you may have heard of it, called Side Hustle Business School. I built the platform around an online course that has three different learning tracks for freelancers, content creators, and product sellers.

The course teaches people how to take their first steps in entrepreneurship. For example, it teaches freelancers how to get more clients to say yes and how to manage those client relationships so that you get paid the way you want to.

Side Hustle Business School is young—just over a year old. It has not made me a million dollars. And, true story, I created the program by accident.

Side Hustle Business School was not a part of my master plan.

Still, over and over again, it has created opportunities for me. Opportunities like live streaming for one of my favorite brands and even collaborating with a company that made one of my favorite apps.

In fact, I’m still building relationships and working behind the scenes with a few companies I’m sure you know of. I can’t talk about them yet, because we’re still building, but I’m excited—so excited—to tell you about them when the time is right.

All of this is happening for me because I created a platform. A platform I built because I was passionate about something.

Just like Remi did.

I talked to you the other day about Remi—the guy who created a simple platform that landed him in a supremely influential position at a top organization is his dream industry (you can check out his story here).

Remi started his platform with no money and a dream. Less than you need for the lotto.

But he still hit the jackpot.

I’m telling you all of this because I want you to see that you might not be as far from your dream goals as you think you are. If there’s an opportunity that you know could take you where you want to go, you can set yourself up to get there.

And it might not take years and years for you to make the name for yourself you want.

If you’re waiting for someone else to notice you, finally appreciate you, or make it all happen for you though, you may be stuck where you are…well…forever.

Creating your own platform is like making a key that unlocks doors you couldn’t previously open.

Or building a sexy fold up chair that grants you a seat at the tables you didn’t know you were cool enough to sit at.

So if you have a message you want to share, if there’s attention you want to bring to a cause, or if there’s exposure you desperately need to get for yourself, this might be a way to get you exactly what you want.

If you’re talented and have put in work to get as good as you are—don’t be modest right now—then go ahead to put it to use. Let em know how good you are at your stuff.

Stop hiding it if you actually do want to affect people.

Because you can’t affect people if no one knows about you.

Again, don’t be modest: do you want to have an effect on people?

Do you want to leave your mark on an industry?

Do you want to share your message, your art, or your passion with people who want to hear from you?

Because there are people waiting to fall in love with what you’re doing—the way you’re doing it.

They just don’t know that you are a possibility yet.

So, go ahead, let em know.

And don’t let your follower count, current income, “formal experience”, or number of years in the game keep you quiet.

Go make noise.

P.S. Later this week I’m going to let you know about an opportunity that can help you build your own platform in less time than it took me.

P.P.S. Here’s the opportunity.