How to Define, Earn and Build Thought Leadership in a Nutshell

What does it really mean to be a thought leader? Unfortunately too many digital and social marketers have a false belief that they can simply write a few blog posts, send a few tweets and increase their social influence scores such as Klout and they will quickly become the go to thought leader of their niche.

We've all seen the blog posts promising the magic 10 steps to be a thought leader in 140 characters or how to be a thought leader on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and every other social network known to digital man and woman.

The truth is that you can not become a thought leader in 140 characters. You also can't become a thought leader via mastering one single social network.

Becoming a thought  leader requires earning trust, respect and investing time in helping the human beings in your community, network and audience.

I've seen loads of businesses and people promoting their own personal brand spending months or even years of time trying to become “thought leaders” yet they have no real business. In reality they are helping almost nobody as they are too focused on becoming “influential” vs actually helping a real business or person.

Take a listen to the 155th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for an overview of what it means to be a thought leader as well as 5 steps to help you build a plan do establish yourself and your brand as a thought leader.

This episode is part of a new “in a nutshell” mini-series of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to do a deep dive on many concepts, strategies and tactics important to understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing.

Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud!

In this 15 minute podcast you will learn: 

• Definition of thought leadership
• Why thought leadership is based upon serving the top needs of your audience and clients
• Why you can not establish thought leadership overnight or in 140 characters
• How to build thought leadership
• 5 steps to get you started in building thought leadership
• Who can be a thought leader
• Why thought leadership is important for B2B and B2C organizations and brands
• Benefits of establishing thought leadership
• What thought leadership is not
• Why a content marketing strategy and framework is at the core of establishing thought leadership

Supporting Resources:

• OmniChannel Marketing in a Nutshell (episode 155)
• It Only Takes a Seed: 7 Fundamental Steps to Build Your Personal Brand (episode 147)
• Earned, Owned and Paid Media in a Nutshell (episode 138)
• Top 10 Mistakes Brands Make with Influencer Marketing and How to Fix Them (episode 121)
• Influencer Marketing in a Nutshell (episode 96)
• Influence the Influencer -Co-Created Content in a Nutshell (Episode 97)
• Are You as Influential as You Think? (episode 98)
• How to Develop a Content Marketing Framework and Plan (episode 7)
• Social media and Influencer Marketing Launch Strategies (episode 35)
• 8 Steps to Develop a Social Business Plan (white paper)
• How to Build a Social Business Strategy & Plan (episode 14)
• You Are the Media: 10 Reasons You Need a Blog (episode 111)

Free webinars: We are also launching a series of webinars and training opportunities to dig even deeper. Sign up here-> You are the Media – Building Your Media Foundation

How to Subscribe to Social Zoom Factor Podcast 

•  iTunes
• Stitcher
• SoundCloud