Leadership Marketing will nearly always outweigh the risks.
Let’s think about the following scenario:
Undoubtedly, your competitors will be able to glean professional knowledge from your insight. But by simply hanging on to your coattails they risk being perceived as second-rate imitators. Imitation is fine but it doesn’t earn the premium rewards enjoyed by the originator. Rather than fearing your imitators, you should be more wary of your competitors who are putting themselves forward and delivering their own Thought Leadership programmes. How are they positioning themselves? How good is their insight? What kind of personality do they portray? What is their timing like? Do they trump you? If so, there is a real risk that you could look like the imitator; it’s time to step up to the mark and strive to do a better job yourself.
As for customers taking your insight and doing the job themselves, picture this:
You’re a painter and decorator. You’ve written a blog post, which I’ve stumbled across, telling me how to hang wallpaper. You’ve told me what paper to buy, what paste to use, how to prepare my walls and all the professional tips I need to know to ensure the paper looks perfect when hung. You’ve even included videos demonstrating the more difficult aspects of the task and high resolution photographs of the finished job.
After reading this, do you think I’m going to hang my own wallpaper?
No way! I’m going to pick up the phone and ask you to do it for me. Why? Because you have shown me that you know what you are talking about and are not afraid to put your work under public scrutiny. In short, you are a Thought Leader and I trust you to get the job done right.
OK, this is perhaps a very simple example – but the complexity could be scaled to cover any industry. In the same way I might not be able to hang wallpaper, I might not have the time to file my own tax returns, have the resources to manage a portfolio of property investments, or the technical knowledge to install a new computer system.
It is the maverick nature of Thought Leadership Marketing that makes it so accessible to the target audience. By placing an individual at the forefront of an organisation, you can humanise even the most seemingly dreary industries and turn business leaders into household names.
While most of us will never see international fame, it is entirely possible to become a star in your own niche. Think about it, no matter what industry you are in, there will always be a familiar go-to person who the media (either bloggers, trade press, local or national media) always seem to turn to for a quote, piece of analysis or interview. These people are Thought Leaders and there is no reason why you cannot steal a bit of their thunder with some careful positioning.
Who are the Thought Leaders?
Thought Leadership is a diverse and multi-facetted discipline. It offers a number of strategies that can be adopted, regardless of the industry you work in. The best way to demonstrate this is to list ten prominent Thought Leaders who I believe have mastered the practice and who I regularly look to for inspiration (both inside and outside of business). Some of the names in this list will be instantly recognisable, others may be more difficult to place.
If you want to see how the pros do it, I suggest you seek these people out, learn how they use Thought Leadership to promote their business or celebrity status (remember celebrity is more often than not a front for business activity) and effectively position themselves at the top of their game.
Jamie Oliver (celebrity chef and campaigner) – uses Thought Leadership via his regular TV appearances and magazine articles to promote the sale of his books and fill his ever expanding empire of restaurants.
Micheal O’Leary (Ryanair CEO and raconteur) – never afraid of using a sound bite to fill seats on his budget airline.
Steve Jobs (founder of Apple) – the man who made the computer and mobile telephone industry sexy.
Marc Benioff (chairman and CEO of cloud computing company Salesforce.com) – the software man who hates software and wants us all to live in the cloud.
Seth Godin (author and marketer) – probably the world’s most inspirational and popular marketing guru.
Martin Lewis (broadcaster and editor of Money Saving Expert) – started www.moneysavingexpert.com to help people save money and it made him millions.
Simon Calder (travel writer and broadcaster) – the go-to person for people on the go.
Marc Coker (founder of Smashwords.com) – behind the company that is shaking up the publishing industry one book at a time.
Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon) – the man who shaped the way we buy books, CDs, DVDs and virtually everything else online.
Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas (founders of The Primrose Bakery) – the original UK cupcake entrepreneurs and bestselling authors.
Are you a Thought Leader?
To find out whether you have the potential to be a Thought Leader ask yourself the following questions. If you answer yes to them all, you are halfway to Thought Leadership.
Do I possess a detailed knowledge of the industry I work in?
Do I have an opinion about various topics within my industry?
Do I have the ability to communicate my opinion effectively (either written or verbally, although preferably both)?
Am I able to demonstrate my opinion is worth listening to, using case studies or references?
It is important you answer these questions honestly. Many people try and position themselves as Thought Leaders without the right credentials. Some even get away with it and make a name for themselves, often at the expense of people seeking quick wins and get rich quick schemes – the internet is full of these. Don’t be tempted to do this yourself – your reputation cannot stand the risk.
Experience is the only thing that makes Thought Leadership credible. If you’ve got it, then you should go for it. If you haven’t, put this book down for now and pick it up again in a couple of years when you have built up more experience.
Typical reservations about Thought Leadership
I speak to a lot of people who tell me they believe Thought Leadership Marketing would benefit their business significantly. They buy into the concept that it could not only help position their business as a significant player in their vertical, but also help to reduce (or at the very least maximise potential from) traditional marketing and sales budgets. But when push comes to shove they fail to engage, normally hanging on to one of the following four excuses:
1 No time: Time is in short supply and you just cannot find enough of it to invest in building a solid Thought Leadership programme. There is a good chance you identify with this and believe it to be a valid excuse. But before you make this assumption, take a look at your day and ask yourself what you are doing that adds value to your business and what you are doing simply out of habit. How often do you check sales figures or other business
