Make Sure You’re Working On Becoming A Thought Leader Within Your Space
Learn the steps to take to become a leader in your industry
Each month, around 543,000 new businesses are started. Recently, small businesses have added more new jobs than large businesses. And when it comes to startups launching, the industries that are seeing the most success are finance, insurance and real estate.
You may work at a corporation that has been around for years. You may have recently started your own brand. And you may work in finance, insurance, real estate, construction, event planning, education or the medical field.
No matter what size company you are at, what role you hold or what field you work in, you need to make sure that you are working on becoming a thought leader within your space.
A thought leader is one whose views on a subject are taken to be authoritative and influential. For instance, Tony Robbins is one of the nation's most popular business strategists. Sheryl Sandberg is considered a leader in the world of technology. Jay Baer is a go-to source for marketing. And Vijay Govindarajan is an expert on innovation.
What do all of these well-known influencers have in common? Why are they considered thought leaders?
Below, we are going to go over some traits seen in these leaders and how you can apply them to your industry and life.
PRESENCE
First and foremost, you need to develop a presence. Everyone reading this has probably heard of at least one of the thought leaders mentioned above, and their names are everywhere; they speak at conferences, they sell their books in numerous stores, they have active social media accounts, they appear on/in the news...And even if CNN isn’t calling you up for your opinion, you, too, still need to have a presence within your space.
Attend local meetups relating to your line of work or pitch yourself to become a speaker at an industry event. Create and sell digital materials through your website or blog, such as printables, tips and e-books. Post to social media regularly, and engage with others who are talking about your industry. Offer up your insight to reporters and bloggers, and distribute press releases when your company reaches different milestones.
All of this and more will help get your name out there.
BRAND RECOGNITION
After you start building up your presence, you will then focus on brand recognition. The plan for any business is that more and more people start talking about your specific product/service until you, hopefully and maybe, become a household name.
Besides sending out tweets, press releases and event reminders pertaining to your company, you can also use branded swag. Everyone loves free stuff, and your official launch, your holiday parties and your regular networking events are all great times to hand out swag.
Power banks, earbuds, laptop cases and journals are just a few of the gift items you can give out to one and all; everyone needs and uses little items like this, and now, think of all the people that can own swag that shows off your brand!
KNOWLEDGE
We have given you tips on how to get your name out there, how to stay active in your community and how to make sure as many people as possible know about you and your brand.
And we have saved the most important aspect in all of this for last: knowledge.
You could speak at events every week. You could have thousands of followers on your blog. You could give out products that sport your logo to everyone in your city. But none of this matters if you do not have knowledge and share knowledge.
Hopefully, you are an expert in your field or you are on your way to being one, as you studied this subject matter in school, read about its progress regularly and/or find it interesting. And since you work in this particular industry, you can share your thoughts and opinions on it with the world! You can show that you know what is going on in this world, and people will start turning to you for advice and news. This, in turn, will help your brand stand out even more.
If Jeff Bezos was giving a talk on technology entrepreneurship, people would listen. If Elon Musk blogged about space, people would read it. And if people want to know more about your business and your industry, make them come to you, and do all you can to be a thought leader within your space.
