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By Ken Lizotte CMC
Lately the age-old business development dilemma of how to stand out from the crowd has been haunting company executives more than ever before. All too many products nowadays look too much alike, and marketing strategies to distinguish them seem to fare no better. Glossy brochures and websites, news releases, advertising: when everyone employs these same methods, we all end up vying for the same narrow window of consumer attention.
To escape this marketing black hole, many smart executives have adopted a uncommon marketing strategy, one that raises both executive and company above the fray. This approach involves positioning the company and its expert professionals as "thought leaders."
Names of those leading this charge are not only well-known but sometimes even the stuff of legend: Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Richard Braniff, Martha Stewart, to name a few. Rather than abandoning marketing to a marketing department, they inject themselves into the heart of the process, churning out books, articles, conference speeches, media interviews to keep their visibility machines boiling. Amid the resulting excitement and industry debate, they simultaneously personalize their company, expand their products' exposure, and deepen both market share and loyalty from their customers.
Richard Braniff, for example, has taken his Virgin conglomerate literally to new heights by attempting such stunts as piloting an air balloon around the world. Martha Stewart, despite her legal troubles, has made herself and her firm rich beyond words by melting away the branding lines that traditionally divide a company's products from a CEO's personality. These are only two examples of results the process can produce.
Becoming a thought leader wraps a company in a futuristic panache, labeling it "ahead of the curve," separating its products from those of the rest of the competitive pack. Products become distinctive even if they may not in fact be any different at all. How substantially different, for example, can Martha Stewart's towels really be, compared to those of her competition? Yet her aura as a thought leader makes Stewart's customers think they must be.
This capacity to reach beyond traditional marketing approaches is available to us all. It's a process that only needs to be chosen and then implemented within often-ignored channels. There are two main vehicles that must be employed: (a) publishing articles and/or books, and (b) delivering talks and presentations. Such center-spotlight marketing draws out attention and recognition from a buying public in ways more commonplace marketing tools cannot sustain.
If you are ready to take the plunge in this novel direction, there are two effective steps to take that will get the process moving in the right direction. Step one is to publish your ideas, either in book form or as articles in business publications. You can successfully achieve this by first composing a list of good article ideas, or identifying a book concept, that align with your firm's business objectives. Ask yourself: Which products do I most wish to promote? What expertise/service do I most want my firm to be known for? Are there products or services even my oldest customers may not realize my company has to offer? Your answers will translate into publishing ideas.
Next, once you've answered such questions, go hunting for an editor or publisher who finds your ideas intriguing. Pitch article ideas to magazines read by decision-makers who typically hire your firm. Pitch book ideas to publishers of business books. Create a list of each using library directories or by searching the Web. Your marketing department or PR firm can help you with this legwork.
What's important to realize at this point is that business editors and publishers out there regularly depend on business leaders just like you to feed them publishable ideas. They only know what to publish as a result of input from those on the "front lines." So don't underestimate your knowledge, expertise, product value or insight. Ideas that might seem mundane to you may be seen as among the best-kept leading edge secrets in the business world when you share them with an editor.
After you begin getting published, step two involves speaking at conferences and other business events. Some speaking engagements may come about because a conference planner read your book or article and wanted to invite you to come and speak about it, but most such gigs will get arranged if you actively leverage your published works. Send email announcements to your company and personal e-lists, send out a news release announcing your new publication, post the article or news of your book on your company's website, pass out your article or book to customers, colleagues, prospects, employees, vendors. Don't just wait for people to happen to see it, instead leap into action so as to insure that your work gets read. Build a buzz!
You can also search out "calls for proposals," especially from organizations of which you are currently a member. Your published ideas have now become a dazzling credential enhancing your value and allure. Meeting planners LOVE published authors for their speaker slots, so be sure to emphasize your publishing credits right up front when applying for a speaking engagement.
At your actual talks, always distribute your article for free or offer your book for sale. Promote your availability as a speaker too and, if you can help it, when you are offered almost anything, don't turn it down! Larry Winget, a highly sought-after motivational speaker, has stated, "The very best way to get speaking engagements is simply to go out and speak!" Exposure breeds exposure, exponentially growing your speaking schedule. And speaking may lead to more article assignments as well as you never know when an editor may be sitting out there in your audience and loving what you have to say.
By following all these steps, your credibility (and that of your firm) will leapfrog over that of your competitors. Third party "endorsements" from publishers and conference planners tends to solidly establish an author/speaker as a leading thinker, elevating in the bargain the expert's products and services as well. Once this happens, bona fide thought leadership will have officially arrived. From there on, enjoy the ride!