Becoming a Business Thought Leader
Thought leadership?is the ability of an individual/company to inspire and lead others to reach both professional and personal goals. Just because you’re in a position of authority, doesn’t mean you’re automatically a?thought leader?in your field.?
Thought leaders have a?rare combination?of?authority?and?influence?in their field of expertise. Becoming a thought leader is something worth striving for, for all business leaders.?
Many leaders have a grasp on how to be influential, but few have true authority in their field. At Forbes Books, we specialize in helping business leaders become the authority in their field.?
Our goal for every member is to leverage our?Authority?Media Services?to heighten your?brand awareness?and?grow trust?with?your audience. This guide will show you how to develop a?thought leadership plan.?
How To Develop Thought Leadership?
Thought leaders?separate themselves from their peers by offering something more valuable than a sale. Thought leaders freely provide expert knowledge in their field of work. They don’t try to sell you anything in their speech, just belief, positivity, and knowledge that will help you advance your career.
If you’re thinking about who are the thought leaders in your field, think about the people you look to for important information. Is there a person you look up to, professionally? For most of us, we look up to specific leaders because they’ve built trust through the honest exchange of information.?
With thousands of snake-oil salespeople online trying to sell you things you don’t need, it’s hard to know who to trust. Therefore, experts must use facts to back up their statements. For example,?according to Gallup,?68% of Americans trust small businesses, whereas only?14% trust big businesses.?
Gallup also uncovered the fact that?73% of the Americans?polled said they have?little to no trust?in major?U.S. institutions. Before you start any thought leadership campaign, it’s vital to understand how to build trust.?
What Is Micromedia?
Our CEO,?Adam Witty, discusses in his new book (Rusty Shelton?co-author)?Authority Advantage?the importance of?micromedia.?
According to?Adam Witty?and?Rusty Shelton, Micromedia is?“individuals with the Authority Advantage who teach and provide value in a variety of forms, from books to YouTube videos to podcasts and beyond.”
As we’ve stated before, the?trust?in the?major news outlets?and?big businesses?has plummeted to a?Gallup poll?(started in 1973)?low of 23%. Simply put, now is the time to use your experience on your own terms, through owned media assets.?
If you’d like to learn more about micromedia, our?Sr. Copywriter?offers some great insights.?From Corporate Media to Micromedia?is your guide to getting the most out of your marketing efforts.
How To Use Micromedia To Enhance Personalized Value?
Instead of leaders reading the?New York Times?(NYT) or?Washington Post, they’re looking for smaller publications in their specific niche.?
The NYT may write an article about your niche, but their audience is too diverse to write about only one topic or industry. Even though the NYT is a journalism giant to others, there is a phenomenal opportunity to leverage original content through lesser-known mediums.?
Instead of looking in a newspaper, why not find advice from a financial services specialist? It may seem impossible to compete with big companies, but offering tangible value will offer your consumers fresh, unique insights.?
Creating?podcasts,?YouTube videos, and?social media posts?can have a greater impact on your ROI than what traditional media is receiving right now.?
How Should Thought Leaders Use Google Analytics?
Installing GA into your website will give you the most accurate data for who your customer base is. Discover where they are (Geographically), how long they stay on your website, and much more to have a better understanding of your audience.?
Step 1: Click on the “Audience” tab and click “Interests”
Step 2: Analyze the “In-Market Segment” to determine what your audience is searching for on your website. Although this is generic data, the search queries for this test site show us what topics we should focus on for?thought leadership content.?
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Step 3: Build a?content strategy?based on the?interests of your audience?and relativity to your business.?
Our CMO,?Beth LaGuardia?Cooper,?created the?Forbes Books guide for content marketing if you’re interested in learning more.?
Authentic Thought Leadership
It’s no secret that we’re all different; we like different food, fashion, and we consume content differently. Furthermore, celebrating your personality in your brand is a way to connect with like-minded people. You won’t win everyone over, regardless of your charisma or eccentricism, which is 100% fine.?
For example,?Elon Musk?is the savior of humanity to some people, but also just another billionaire exploiting emotions, to others. His?thought leadership?stands out because he’s innovative (electric cars, reusable rockets) and constantly?engages his audience?through multiple platforms (Twitter, TV, and Facebook).?
Musk seems to consistently think of new products/services to make life easier for people and is?never afraid of failing. That fearlessness and acknowledgment of failure help him relate to his audience. The reason consumers trust his companies more than others is because of his?authenticity.?
Thought Leaders Provide Unique Perspective in Their Field
Thought leaders consume content through?business podcasts,?whitepapers, and?blogs. When you think about it, business leaders look to thought leaders to learn something new. One of the biggest problems for CEOs and other leaders is the lack of time for research & development (R&D).?
So, in order to affect your target audience, you’ll need to provide unique information. CEOs may not get time to research, but they often get a few minutes here or there during the day to keep up on industry news.?
As a thought leader, this is your chance to create short-form content that is unique and offers remedies to common problems facing your industry.?
Thought Leaders Create Original Media
When deciding to use images and videos on your website, it’s important to follow?Google’s guidelines. Images must be relevant to your topic or users won’t be able to connect the imagery to the text. They also need to be as high quality as possible if you want the images to be used in organic search results.?
Think about how many websites use stock photos that are generic to all businesses, instead of personalized photos. As a?thought leader, it’s imperative to your success that all your?content is original?and is?relevant to your business.
You may want to consider using?professional media services?to help you boost your reach and enhance the quality of your content and media assets. Podcasting, PR, content creation, and video production are all examples of avenues you can use to stand out as a thought leader.?
What Are the Benefits of Being a Thought Leader?
Being a thought leader has many benefits, but only if done right. If you follow the advice in this blog, you’ll see several benefits from your hard work.
Final Thoughts on Becoming a Thought Leader
As an integral piece of your organization, it’s important to relate to and get to know your customers in the digital media age. There is so much information available online that it’s incredibly difficult to determine good content from bad. The single most important thing you can do as a leader is to connect with your customer base and create content they want to consume.?
Adam often reminds the marketing team that “people buy from people,” which means it’s easier to connect with a person than a brand. For this reason, you can leverage your personal mission to enhance your credibility and trust with your audience.?
Fortunately, if you’re looking to create your own micromedia and need help to establish your thought leadership, reach out to?Forbes Books for a consultation. Our new?Authority Media Services?offers our members much more than authorship.?
Written by Kyle Wycoff, SEO Specialist at Forbes Books