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In the world of business, it is a common misconception that companies generate ideas. It’s people who bring ideas to the table, and often the most innovative and valuable concepts do not originate from senior executives alone. Thought leadership can originate from anyone with the right strategy, know how, and dedication.
Not sure what this all means, or why it’s important to you or your company? In this blog, we’ll explain why it’s essential to establish oneself as a thought leader in today’s competitive market.
What Is A Thought Leader?
The #1 Reason Why You Need to Become a Thought Leader
Enhanced Personal Brand
In today’s highly competitive business landscape, building a strong personal brand has become more important than ever to set yourself apart from the crowd. Thought leadership offers a powerful way to achieve this. By sharing insights and knowledge about a niche area, you can establish yourself as an expert in your industry. This can create a unique identity that resonates with your audience.
When individuals establish themselves as thought leaders, they build a reputation as a go-to source for information, advice, and solutions in their industry. This reputation can be leveraged to build a personal brand that is synonymous with expertise and credibility. By consistently sharing high-quality, valuable content, thought leaders can build a loyal following of readers, viewers, and listeners who trust and respect their opinions.
Building a personal brand through thought leadership is not just about establishing oneself as an expert; it is also about creating a unique identity that engages your audience.
The Trailblazer of Thought Leadership
Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of being a thought leader in your industry, it’s time to introduce you to the guy who caught our attention about the topic in the first place.
His first post on LinkedIn got 12 views.
One year later, his posts would get 30,000 views.
By 2021, his content had been viewed 33 million times in a single year.
Meet Justin Welsh. He spent the last decade building two $50M+ ARR companies, with teams of over 150 people, and raised over $300M in venture capital. Then, in 2019, he walked away from his executive job at a high-growth startup with dreams to build his own portfolio as a one-person business.
How did he meet success so quickly? Short answer, he mastered what it takes to be a true thought leader.
Pulling Off the “Impossible”
Justin learned the importance of marketing himself and his brand as an entrepreneur. He started writing about topics he already knew well and slowly built his side hustle before deciding to quit his full-time job. He found a lot of value in working for someone else as that is how he himself grew in knowledge and skills, and he got paid while doing it.
A big tip here is to view thought leadership as a marathon rather than a race. In other words, pace yourself. You can’t expect to reach your goals overnight.
He worked on his craft and found a unique niche to offer his audience, which led to a successful product generating $75,000 over 18 months.
According to Welsh, if he were to start another business tomorrow, these are the steps he would follow:
- Understand one problem that one specific group of people have.
- Create a clear and concise roadmap to solving that specific problem.
- Figure out your product format.
- Figure out where to host it.
- Find some customers.
- Turn your customers into testimonials.
Visit here for an expanded explanation of these steps.
Final Thoughts
Think you have what it takes to become a thought leader in your field, but are not sure where to start? Contact us today to see how we can assist you! Our team of specialists have tons of industry knowledge and are skilled in creating and distributing engaging content. We’ll work with you to develop your personal brand and to establish your online presence as a thought leader.
