On Words and Business

When you think about things like marketing, thought leadership, or creating content for your company, does it make you seize up? From either fear of doing it wrong or fear of being overwhelmed if you do it right?

Stop — Take a deep breath.
Look — See that your customers are looking at you for information and education.
Listen – Hear them asking questions and telling you exactly what they need.

You are the one who knows your product or service or company. You are the one who answers these questions day in and day out. You are the expert.

Now go out there are create content like the expert you are!

Here is a fascinating article on the evolution of thought leadership in an organization.

• Stone Age: subject matter experts tackle it on their own
• Medieval: marketers are let into the mix, but not given much authority
• Industrial Age: proficient at creating thought leadership
• Post-Industrial: masters at research and coming up with the big ideas

Where is your firm on the evolutionary chart?

When it comes to marketing your product or services with content and thought leadership, it becomes a control issue.

You gain control by becoming the publisher, creating materials on your own schedule, and telling your stories in the best way for your company.

You lose control by opening up the conversation and inviting comment.

It may seem like a risk to jump into this river on your own. But consider the risk if you let everyone else pass you by.

Check out these two excellent article by Dorie Clark on how to become a thought leader:

How to Become a Thought Leader in Six Steps and How to Create Thought-Leading Ideas

Some key steps (culled from both):

• Create a robust online presence. This is a vital and easy step.
• Flaunt your connections. If you’ve got high powered connections, use ‘em.
• Cross-pollinate. Combine thinking about disparate fields or topics to build new ideas.
• Grapple with trends. Try to figure out all the repercussions of a trend, then run with it.

Thought leadership is not:

• Same old, same old. It isn’t taking an existing idea and calling it leadership.
• Ordinary. It isn’t saying the same thing everyone else is saying.
• Small. It isn’t shyly whispering your ideas into someone’s ear.
• Safe. It isn’t standing still under the shelter of how you’ve always marketed.
• Trite. It isn’t looking to the past and recycling content without adding something fresh.

Read this article to discover what thought leadership is and how you can lead the conversation.

Some questions to ask yourself about anything you want to call thought leadership:

1. Am I saying something new?
2. Is this important to share?
3. Can I take a stand or take a risk?
4. How innovative is this?
5. What is the vision?