DO I NEED A MARKETING PLATFORM BEFORE I START MY BOOK-TO-COURSES TRANSFORMATION?

As a book author, you’ve probably heard a lot the term Marketing Platform which includes elements like a web presence, media contacts you’ve established, articles you’ve published, public speaking services you offer, TV shows, Podcasts, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your work known to your readers.
Creating courses out of your non-fiction book is also a great way to build your own unique marketing platform. But it can be more than just a way to market your book. Taking your expert knowledge and turning it into something that creates value for your audience,actually becomes another stream of income for your business.
It’s good to know that in the Online Learning world a Platform is also a marketplace for online courses. A Learning Platform provides tools which enable users to create a course, promote it and earn money from student tuition charges.
A Learning Platform allows you to build online courses on topics of your choice. You can upload videos, presentations, PDFs, audios and live classes to create courses. Instructors can also engage and interact with users via online discussion boards.
Some Learning Platforms also offer marketing services. In some cases the platform can retain up to 50% of the earnings if the student comes through the platform’s own marketing efforts.
From what I’ve experienced, authors who identify their audience and start speaking to it directly, are the ones who succeed today. The ongoing conversations build connections and opportunities to catalyze their relationship over time and create a strong community. People follow those who have a unique story to tell, those who speak their audience’s language, those who show up, and those who provide tools and support. Building a marketing platform for a book or a course should be about building a community – a natural and ongoing process.