Nathan Hangen

3 Steps to Becoming a Superstar

Talking about endgame is awesome, but it doesn’t do you any favors unless we create a blueprint for making it happen.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but in this instance we’ll talk about the authority model, which is by far the easiest and more effective way to create your empire.

The reason this model appeals to me is because it allows you to increase your influence while still doing what you love (not to mention making more money). In the process, you get to help people too, which is always a plus.

Step 1: Create a Platform

I’ve talked with both published authors and book agents and all of them said that in this day and age, book publishers aren’t interested in investing in first time authors unless they’ve already established a popular platform.

Two perfect examples of this are Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Guillebeau, both of whom found book deals only after they’d caught on like wildfire. The trick here is not in the platform department, but in the popularity department. In this case, popularity means traffic, comments, and loyalty.

You Need Proof

On top of that, you need to prove that people are interested in what you have to say, which means that either your free E-Book has been downloaded over 100,000 times (as was the case with Chris Guillebeau), or you’ve already built a successful business (Jonathan Fields, Gary Vaynerchuk, Darren Rowse).

If you need resources to help you create a platform like this, then you can go here, or here. If you’re looking for the short version, then know this…
In order to build a strong platform you’ll need solid branding, a special story, and good marketing. If you’re not unique, you’ll struggle here.

Step 2: The Book Deal

The trick to getting a book deal is not in writing a great book, but in hiring an agent that believes in you and then writing a killer book proposal.

Almost every non-fiction author, that I’ve studied didn’t write their book until they already had a deal with a publisher. Instead, they focused all of their energy on step one and in writing an awesome proposal so that it was ready the minute a publisher was ready to bite.

Writing a book proposal takes time, but there are a lot of free and inexpensive guides that can teach you how. Before you write yours though, know this:

1. Your Story Must Be Awesome (i.e. Lance Armstrong battling cancer and winning the TDF)

or…

2. Your Story Must Help Others (i.e. How to Escape Cubicle Nation)

For the most part, people don’t care as much about great stories as they do about creating one of their own, so try to remember that when deciding how to frame your content. A lot of this can be done during step 1.

Step 3: Become a Public Figure

I’ll first caveat this point by mentioning the story of Jason Fried (founder of 37 Signals) and David Heinemeier Hansson (parter at 37 signals), who started speaking before they wrote books, largely due to their reputation in their respective industry and in their opposition to the venture capital method in creating startups.

Gary Vaynerchuk was also speaking before he wrote a book; Tim Ferriss too. But, for the sake of direction, we’ll treat this step as the final rung of the ladder because it’s at this point in which everything falls into place.

Your Time to Shine

When you have a platform, have become an authority in your industry as a result of platform + book, you will be thrust into the limelight, at which point you can pursue speaking gigs, major consulting gigs, or investment gigs (i.e. Angel Investing). It’s at this point where you achieve market dominance because most people in your niche have heard of you, and hopefully will respect you as someone to trust, and at worst, as someone that knows what they’re doing.

How much is your attention worth?

At this stage of the game, you’re free to pursue any route you choose. People are going to be clamoring for your attention and your opinions, and your value has skyrocketed. Sound fun?

Don’t get me wrong, there are a million ways to do this, but this is one that interests me because it’s clear and precise. I’m an analytical guy and I like having systems in place. This is just one of those systems.

The point is that if you have a plan, and you play your cards right, then you’ll have an unbelievable amount of options at your feet, and that’s a great place to be.

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