You've encountered this trope in countless films, TV shows, and stories. An ambitious youngster sets out to master a particular set of skills or gain profound wisdom and insight. The youngster makes a long and arduous journey to sit at the feet of a guru who agrees to provide precious nuggets of knowledge. After much thought, study, and practice, the student eventually becomes the next master.
We all have our gurus in life, even if we've never met them or studied with them. I'm talking about thought leaders, those individuals we turn to for the first or last word on a particular subject in a particular field. When we want an expert's opinion, we turn to these thought leaders. In the business world, the most respected professionals, the ones who display the most expertise, typically get the most business as well.
Are you an expert in your field? Would you like to be perceived as one? If you answered yes to either question, you need to produce thought leadership articles for your blog and other media channels.
A thought leadership article goes above and beyond the typical blog post. Yes, any article you create should grab your target audience's attention, provide entertaining or useful content, and compel readers to follow your posts and/or connect with your business in some profitable way or other. But a thought leadership article also includes genuine insights and original concepts that sell you as an expert in your field. By establishing your authority in this manner, you not only convince potential customers of your knowledge and wisdom; you also impress your peers and other members of the business world to lend you their ears, so to speak.
Thought leaders position themselves as deep thinkers, which means that they typically spend more time digging more extensively into specific topics. You might produce tons of shorter, lighter blog articles that cover lesser issues while spending extra time and effort delving into a more limited number of thought leadership articles. These detailed, insightful pieces may inspire others in your field (or thought leaders in related fields) to refer their own target audiences to them through valuable links and quotes. Now you're being touted as an authority by others who carry a certain amount of weight within various circles.
Thought leaders stay ahead of the curve, so your thought leadership articles must follow suit. Don't create a few epic works and then expect them to draw the same attention for many years to come. Times change, and so do products, services, methods, and opinions. Demonstrate your relevance by writing periodic thought leadership pieces that reflect the cutting edge in your industry or your target audience's ever-evolving needs and concerns.
Need some help planning and creating your thought leadership articles? Contact me to leverage my quarter-century of professional writing experience. It's high time you took the lead!
