Soapboxes were boxes that speakers stand on to be heard above the crowd as they wander by. They are a platform to stand on where you can present your case and gather an audience.
Soap boxes, stages, or platforms can be real, physical places. Speakers’ Corner at Hyde Park in London is known for people given speeches on their soap boxes. But now they don’t have to be.
You and I can start building our soap boxes from the comfort of our living rooms. Or coffee shops. Or the beach. Anywhere you can have a computer and an internet connection. We just need to take the leap, start putting ideas out into the world, and connecting with an audience.
Why should we build our soap boxes? One, it allows you to connect with people, fans, and followers. The new world is about connecting and interacting with our tribes. Soap boxes allow us to meet those people and help lead the tribe.
Second, it helps us fight the interference that we face. We can work on our soap box without feeling the fear, doubt, and shame that can come from putting our art into the world. Seth Godin, explained in Linchpin:
“I’m trying to sell you on the idea of building a platform before you have your next idea, to view the platform building as a separate project from spreading your art. You can work on the platform every day, do it without facing the resistance. As the platform gets bigger and stronger, you get to launch each idea a little farther uphill.”
Finally, it allows you to show your work. You can document what you are experiencing in the moment instead of trying to create. To show people what you are doing from day-to-day and week-to-week. Making your art is often a grind. Most people just see the finished product and forget about the toil through the blood, sweat and tears that we have to put in to get to the finished product. Share the journey with others.
You don’t just have to have one soap box either. Build the blog soap box. Build the Facebook soap box. And the Twitter. And the Instagram. And the Snapchat. And the Medium. You can stack them one on top of another and make a bigger soap box.
This is my soap box. I’m building it board by board and nail by nail. I hope you decide to build yours.