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emerson consulting group, inc.
box 41
concord ma 01742
(978) 371-0442
(413) 521-0013 fax
why conduct a
thoughtleader analysis?
Even the most successful management consulting firms and independent consultants can find themselves wondering how to increase their visibility and credibility in the marketplace, especially upon experiencing one or several of the following problems:
- Too few referrals. They rely primarily on referrals to develop new business but their referral marketing isn’t doing the job they want it to.
- Misunderstood in the marketplace. They feel that the value they provide their clients is not well understood by others, including prospects, colleagues, referrals, friends and family -- and sometimes even their clients. They are misunderstood in the marketplace.
- Desire for better clients. They are currently attracting companies that aren’t the best clients for them or companies they no longer wish to serve. They are missing out on the types of engagements and deals that would better meet their financial goals.
- Commoditization. They are tired of being treated like a commodity and being asked to negotiate down their prices instead of charging for value received.
- Crowd of competitors. Their field is crowded with providers and they’re having a hard time differentiating themselves and standing out from the crowd.
- Stuck! Their consulting or professional service business has been stuck in the same gear for years and they need to take it to the next level to meet their medium and long-term financial and professional goals.
- Desire to change direction. They are having difficulty changing direction, launching a new service or entering a new market.
- Recognition elusive. Other, often less qualified, consultants in the same field are getting all of the attention of the media, meeting planners and influencers.
Though these same firms or individuals may have heard that a Thoughtleading Program can address these problems and achieve positive results by increasing their visibility and credibility in the marketplace, they nonetheless wonder if it would work for them.
To definitively answer this question, we recommend conducting a Thoughtleading Analysis (TA), designed to evaluate whether the necessary fundamentals are currently in place. If not, a TA will determine the probability that such fundamentals can be attained so as to guarantee the successful outcome of a Thoughtleading Program.
What can you learn from a Thoughtleading Analysis?
During your Thoughtleading Analysis, you will obtain answers to the following questions (and more):
About Your Practice:
Do you have the type of experience and business service that would create a successful thoughtleader platform for you?
Are your ideas and business processes currently compelling to editors, publishers, and meeting planners? Also, what would be the level of interest in these ideas as subjects of articles, speeches, workshops and books?
What is your current level of experience and success in certain thoughtleading activities such as writing articles, giving speeches, and dealing with the media?
Is your current content -- on your company website, and in white papers and brochures, for example –strategically aligned with your desired business development goals?
Once determined that your content is commodity-based or thoughtleader-based, how can your content better position you and your firm as your industry’s thoughtleaders?
Do you have the appropriate case studies and testimonials to support new business directives? Can existing material be modified to fit your desired business model and/or adapted for articles and books?
How can you leverage existing press releases, articles, speeches and books to advance your visibility and credibility in the marketplace?
Would it be wise to employ other communication vehicles (e-zines, blogs, podcasts, direct mail, etc.) to communicate your messages to prospects, customers and your referral market?
How can these vehicles be transformed into more powerful thoughtleading tools?
About the Competitive Landscape:
Who are your thoughtleading competitors?
What are your competitors writing and speaking about?
What topics are NOT being addressed by your competitors?
Who are your ideal prospects and referrals?
Which media outlets should be targeted to best reach your prospects and referrals?
About Thoughtleading Activities:
Which thoughtleading actions should be pursued and in which order?
Should you begin with articles only or multiple actions?
Which organizations should be targeted for developing speaking engagements?
Should you be sending out press releases? How often and on which topics?
Which media outlets would be most interested in interviewing you?
Should you consider writing a book at this time? Should writing a book be a first step, last step or parallel path to a Thoughtleading Program?
About Possible Outcomes:
What would be your chances for overall success with a Thoughtleading Program?
What are your chances of engaging specific editors (or articles), publishers (for books), media (for press releases and interviews), organizational meeting planners (for presentations)?
About Moving Forward:
If your TA shows that all fundamentals are in place or that missing fundamentals can be developed, the final stage will be the outline of a formal thoughtleading program customized for you and your firm.
For more information, call us at 978-371-0442 (Boston) or 415-309-2231 (San Francisco), or email us at