There’s a specific business growth strategy that’s vastly underappreciated but incredibly powerful: leveraging other people’s platforms.
I recently revisited this topic in a conversation with my old friend, Tom Schwalb, and it really hit home just how critical this concept is. At Brand Builders Group, we talk about borrowed audiences a lot, but this conversation with Tom brought it to life in a fresh way. Let’s talk about how you can use partnerships to build your biz.
The Million-Dollar Question: Money vs. Exposure
Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, had the opportunity to go on Oprah Winfrey’s show. Now, picture Oprah giving Sara two choices:
- Option A: She gives Sara a million dollars to invest in Spanx.
- Option B: Sara gets to be featured on Oprah’s show with millions of viewers.
Which one would you choose?
In hindsight, the answer seems obvious. Oprah’s platform was a massive launchpad for Sara, and getting in front of Oprah’s audience took Spanx to new heights. But what if you didn’t have hindsight on your side? What if you were facing that choice without the guarantee of success? Would you pick the platform or the money?
The Value of Leveraging Other People’s Platforms
This choice highlights a fundamental question many entrepreneurs face: Would you rather have the short-term gain of investment money or the long-term, exponential exposure to the right audience?
In the business world, especially in my entrepreneurial circle, there’s a constant buzz about other people’s money. Should you seek equity investors, take out a loan, or find a partner to sell part of your business to? But there’s not enough talk about leveraging other people’s platforms to grow your brand.
By accessing a platform, you gain exposure that money alone can’t buy. Think of it like planting seeds that will grow and yield results over time versus getting a pile of cash that can be spent quickly. Access to the right audience is a long-term investment that compounds.
Building Trusted Relationships and Borrowing Audiences
One of the keys to leveraging other people’s platforms is building real, trusted relationships offline first. Money can’t buy that level of trust and credibility. It’s the trust you build over time that leads someone to be willing to advocate for you and introduce you to their audience.
A great example of this is when Lewis Howes invited us on his School of Greatness podcast in 2018. At the time, we were just starting out. We had no podcast, no email list, no social media presence—nothing. But we had a trusted relationship with Lewis, and he introduced us to his audience, which generated over a thousand leads for us. That was the catalyst event that put Brand Builders Group on the map.
Shifting Your Focus: From Dollars to Relationships
This is where a lot of entrepreneurs get stuck. We get hyper-focused on monetizing every opportunity: “How much are you going to charge for that?” or “How much are you going to pay me for this?” But if we pause and take the dollars off the table for a moment, we might see a bigger opportunity: relationships and audiences.
The right relationship can be worth millions over time, but it requires a shift in mindset. Rather than asking, “What can I charge for this?” the question should be, “What audience can I access through this relationship?”
Ask Yourself: Who and Where?
To do this effectively, you need to get laser-focused on two questions:
- Who is your ideal customer? Look at your current clients and ask, “Who do I want to replicate? Who are my best clients—the ones that are long-term, pay the most, and advocate for me?”
- Where are they spending their time? Have real conversations with your best clients. Find out where they’re hanging out online, what podcasts they listen to, which conferences they attend, and what influencers they follow. You can use tools like SparkToro to dig into this data, but nothing beats actual conversations.
Once you know who and where, you can start targeting those specific platforms and relationships to reach your top customers. You don’t need to be everywhere, you just need to be where your audience is.
Get Efficient at What Actually Works
We’re all becoming more efficient at things that aren’t even effective. We spend so much time repurposing content, automating systems, and optimizing workflows without ever stopping to ask, “Is this working?” It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing more for the sake of doing more.
Instead, it’s about being efficient with the right things. Ask yourself, “Where is my audience, and how do I get in front of them?” rather than trying to be everywhere at once. It’s better to be in one place where you’re hitting the mark than spreading yourself thin across a dozen channels that aren’t reaching the right people.
Choose Your Catalyst Event
If you’re trying to attract top customers—the kind of clients you know you can serve in a deep, meaningful way—then find your catalyst event. For Sara Blakely, it was Oprah’s platform. For us, it was Lewis Howes’ podcast. What could it be for you?
It might not be an Oprah-level opportunity right now, but think about where your ideal clients are and which platforms or relationships could give you that exposure. Doing a thousand little things makes you busy, and being busy gives you the illusion that you’re being productive. But I want you to find the one or two things that give you the best leverage for your time.
Let’s return to the Sara Blakely/Oprah example: would you take the million dollars or the platform? For me the choice is clear: I’d choose the platform every time.
