By Thomas Griffin, Co-Founder and President of OptinMonster. Entrepreneur, investor and software expert. Helping you be a better leader in your organization.
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The term ‘thought leader’ is a buzzword that you have definitely come across at some point. But for businesses and influencers, it’s more than just a buzzword. The reason is simple.
When you establish yourself as a thought leader, you develop a positive reputation for yourself and your business. This comes from the fact that you’re using your knowledge and expertise in a specific industry, field or niche to help others gain valuable insights and make better decisions.
You do that by guiding and sharing your knowledge, views and opinions with an audience without really trying to promote your own products or services. But that’s not the only reason why you need to be a thought leader. There are many other reasons why individuals and organizations are trying to establish themselves as thought leaders for their industries.
Why be a thought leader?
Thought leaders are influencers or trendsetters with a fan base that trusts them and wants to follow in their footsteps. This comes from their excellent skills, valuable insights and amount of experience in their respective field or industry.
So as a thought leader, when you speak authoritatively on a topic, people trust you. This trust encourages them to take action based on your opinions and recommendations. This means you can strategically use your status to build credibility for your business, improve your lead generation strategy and drive your audience down the sales funnel.
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As a result, your conversions will see a major boost, and your profit will see considerable growth, too. But for all that to happen, you first need to establish yourself as a thought leader. So let’s look at some of the most effective ways to get started.
1. Find and define your voice.
As mentioned above, thought leaders are trendsetters who know exactly what they are doing. Their experience and knowledge in their area of expertise help them speak in a unique voice and stand apart from the rest of the crowd. But to be able to speak in that voice, you have to first find and define the voice in which you want to communicate with your audience.
There are two types of voices you can choose from. One is the friendly and casual one that helps you connect with your audience on a more personal level. The other one is a more professional and formal tone in which you use authoritative language, leaving no doubt about your expertise.
So take your time and think about the voice you want to have. Once you identify it, make sure you use it consistently to communicate with your audience.
2. Create valuable content.
Being a thought leader starts with creating valuable content for your audience. It’s through your content that you can get your voice out in the world. But creating content doesn’t necessarily mean writing long-form blog posts. It can be a simple tweet, a social media post, a quick live session, newsletters or anything that helps your audience learn something new and relevant.
So if you haven’t started creating content, get started now. However, if you want to create and grow your personal brand, I would advise you to start a personal blog. Share high-quality and in-depth articles in your blog and promote them on social platforms to increase your reach. In doing so, make use of relevant hashtags for more exposure. After all, to establish yourself as a thought leader, you need to reach out to more and more people, right?
If your audience likes your content, they will definitely come back to your blog for more of such content and might even refer it to their friends. And the more followers you have, the better it is for you.
3. Have an opinion.
Thought leaders are different because they aren’t afraid to take a stand. If there’s something you think is the opposite of what the crowd thinks to be, go ahead and voice your opinion. If you really want to stand apart, don’t be afraid of controversies.
But in doing so, make sure your opinions are based on an informed understanding of the matter. When your opinions are backed by data, it becomes easier for you to discuss those opinions based on their merit in contrast with the opinions of others. This inspires people to trust and respect your opinion and follow you in the future too.
Over to you.
Thought leaders are not just trendsetters and influencers, but trusted sources who can inspire their audience with their creative and thought-provoking ideas. They are the ones who can turn ideas into reality and demonstrate their success to positively motivate others to follow in their footsteps.
So if you want to be a thought leader, you have to do the same to create a strong fan base of your own. And the above-mentioned tips can help you do just that. So get started today.
