People used to ask me,
“Joseph, you’re a lighting designer… what do you know about building a social media platform?”

It’s a fair question.

Back in 2010, I was in Las Vegas, working on what would become the world’s largest chandelier. I had built a solid career as a lighting designer for hotels, casinos, and high-end residential projects. I had worked in-house for two of the top decorative lighting manufacturers and went on to consult for 28 of the industry’s top lighting companies.

I loved the work. It was creative, technical, and precise. But then came my “ah-ha” moment — the kind of moment that completely shifts your trajectory.


The Spark

I started to notice something unusual.
Major design firms — the same firms I was getting my fixtures specified into — were using social media to discover products, ideas, and inspiration.

The problem?

The social platforms weren’t built for designers. They were built for everyone.

Design professionals needed something different. Something purpose-built. A place to connect with peers, manufacturers, and clients in a way that made sense for the industry.

So I asked myself a question that changed everything:
Could I create a social platform for the interior design community?

And I did.


The First Attempt — and the Lesson

My first attempt failed. Completely.

But that failure set the stage for something bigger.

By 2014, I had built an incredible team and launched Dezignwall — a social network for the design industry. Within one year and nine months, we had over 500,000 new monthly visitors.

We did it. We built a working, thriving social platform for interior designers.

Now, making money was a different story. I didn’t monetize fast enough.

It’s the kind of lesson every startup founder learns the hard way. But we built something that worked — and that mattered more than anything.


From Building Fixtures to Building Platforms

Here’s what came out of that experience:
I learned how to build a social platform — not from a marketer’s perspective, but from the platform builder’s perspective.

And that’s a completely different mindset.

After Dezignwall, I began consulting with and learning from some of the best minds in tech — advisors from Snap, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Instagram.

That’s when I realized:
There are racecar drivers, and there are racecar builders.

Marketers are drivers. I’m a builder.


The Mindset Shift: From Practitioner to Platform Builder

Most marketers operate as practitioners. They’re experts in using platforms — they know how to design campaigns, analyze metrics, and build content calendars.

But platform builders understand how the ecosystem itself works.

They don’t think about campaigns. They think about infrastructure.

They don’t ask, “How do we get more engagement?”

They ask, “What kind of system would make engagement inevitable?”

That’s the difference between a marketing practitioner and a marketing platform builder.


The Foundation: Customer-Centric Marketing

The core principle of every social platform is something I now call "Customer-Centric Marketing"

It’s what Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Kevin Systrom, and Reid Hoffman understand at a fundamental level:
They’ve built multi-billion-dollar companies by turning their customers into their marketers.

How? By understanding humanity’s inherent incentive to self-promote.

Every social platform is built on that psychological truth. People don’t share because they love your product — they share because they love what sharing says about them.

That’s Customer-Centric Marketing in its purest form.

The Problem With Most Marketers

Here’s where most marketers get it wrong:
They behave like consumers, not builders.

Marketers are taught to promote — to “drive traffic,” “increase awareness,” “generate leads.”

But platform builders don’t promote. They create ecosystems where others promote for them.

That’s what makes platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn so powerful. They don’t sell ads. They sell access to self-expression — and the users do the marketing.

Most brands and agencies still see marketing as a transaction:
“Buy my product.”
“Hire my service.”
“Click my link.”

But that mindset is stuck in 2005.

Today’s marketing leaders need to think in terms of platforms:
“How do I give my customers a platform to talk about themselves?”
“How do I turn my brand into a platform?”
“How do I design a system that taps into my customers network?”


A Real-World Example

Let’s take Starbucks:
Starbucks sees itself as a coffee company. Its marketing is focused on selling more coffee.

But Starbucks isn’t in the coffee business. It’s in the co-working and community business.

Most customers aren’t going there for caffeine — they’re going to meet friends, take Zoom calls, or feel part of something familiar.

So imagine if Starbucks launched a user-generated content magazine or a community social platform for local creators, entrepreneurs, and remote workers.

It could easily outgrow LinkedIn and Forbes combined — because Starbucks already owns the physical network. They just don’t realize they’re sitting on a media empire disguised as a coffee chain.


Marketers Sell. Platform Builders Scale.

Marketing practitioners might create a viral campaign. They might win awards. They might even move the needle temporarily.

But platform builders? They create permanent systems for growth.

A marketing practitioner will spend money to acquire new customers.

A marketing platform builder will design a system where customers acquire other customers.

One is transactional. The other is transformational.


The Bottom Line

So, when people ask,
“Why would I hire you, Joseph?”

Here’s my answer:
Why hire a marketing practitioner — someone who only drives the car — when you could work with the person who builds the racecar?

Because when you build a system that empowers your customers to become your marketers, you’re not just saving your marketing budget — you’re creating new revenue streams that didn’t exist before.

That’s the difference between a marketer who promotes, and a strategist who builds.

I’m not a marketing practitioner. I’m a marketing platform builder.

And that’s how I help brands grow —
by turning customers into marketers,
and marketing into momentum.


Joseph Haecker
Fractional CMO | Platform Strategist | Founder of Open To Work Social
Helping brands build systems that turn customers into marketers.