Become a Thought Leader

TV commercials and print ads have been losing their effectiveness for decades. The Internet has only accelerated that curve. Today's TiVo and delete key are yesterday's fast-forward and channel-surfing. As far as print ads go, have you noticed how thin magazines are lately?

So what's a marketer to do? You still have to reach your target audience, right? You now need to put useful and relevant information in that ad space you buy. Your ads can't just talk the talk, they must walk the walk. Some would argue this can only be done in b2b marketing, not b2c. I disagree. Look at the leadership role Apple has taken with iPod. Below are examples of Thought Leadership Marketing.

Talk Less, Listen More...

I've met my share of industry leaders, gurus, wizards and virtuosos. I find most of them ask loads of questions of everyone around them. The seasoned ones tend to be reflective and very observant of what goes on around them. The older they are, the quieter they get.

Start a Newsletter, RSS and/or Blog...


If your product or service has a long lead time, it makes good sense to start a periodic publication online. An email newsletter is the most obvious way to go, but you should probably augment and amortize the content by employing other channels, such as publishing your own blog (which can also help boost your rankings in search engines). When done right, there's no better way to spend your marketing money.

The Power of Public Speaking...


Some people are scared to death to speak in front of audiences while others think they're really good when in fact they aren't. Sometimes, what you have to say is so strong it doesn't need to be polished into a perfectly controlled presentation. But if you are going to be presenting in front of an audience, you might as well communicate as clearly as possible while letting a bit of your personality shine through.

Get Published...

There is a distinct halo effect when you can add the word "author" to your self attributions. If you can get a well-known book publisher to publish you, so much the better. While it is maybe less important in today's digital age than before, it's still impressive. Don't expect to make money on your book. Even with a decent advance you're likely to spend more promoting it, yourself and your firm than you get in an advance.