What is one way you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry?
To help you establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, we asked successful business and thought leaders this question for their best advice. From passing down hard-learned lessons to the next generation to publishing content that is unique and provides value, there are several ways recommended to help you extend your influence and be recognized as a thought leader in your industry.
Here are ten ways to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry:
- Pass Down Hard-Learned Lessons To The Next Generation
- Join Networking Events as a Keynote Speaker
- Leverage Third-Party Validation
- Share Your Ideas and Industry Insights on LinkedIn
- Start a Podcast
- Write More
- Share Your Expertise and Experience Online
- Don’t Be Afraid To Express New Ideas
- Create a Lasting Impression
- Publish Content That is Unique and Provides Value
Pass Down Hard-Learned Lessons To The Next Generation
You have to put the progression of the industry, and the people in it, ahead of personal gain. Passing down hard-earned lessons from failures, successes, strategies, and tactics to the next generation establishes yourself as an authority and mentor with a unique perspective. When your methods and approaches are as effective for others, as they have been personally, you have established yourself as a thought leader.
Chris Vaughn, Emjay
Join Networking Events as a Keynote Speaker
With in-person events growing in popularity, booking a slot as a keynote speaker at a networking event can be a great way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Speaking engagements are perfect for sharing your expertise on a given topic, product, or service. Additionally, there is a large amount of networking that takes place at these sorts of events. This will help you gain exposure as a credible source of information within your industry.
Jorge Vivar, Mode
Leverage Third-Party Validation
One of the best and most unbiased ways of positioning yourself as a thought leader comes in the form of third-party validation. This is a fancy way of telling you to get into the media and press and to receive testimonials. Whenever you talk about your accolades your words don’t carry as much weight. Now, imagine your local news station or a niche blog interviews you or uses one of your quotes in an article? I’d recommend each time you get a feature no matter how big or small, you promote it to your audience and add it to your media kit. By doing this heads will begin to turn and eyes will see that others are onto something.
Isaac Mashman, Mashman Ventures
Share Your Ideas and Industry Insights on LinkedIn
Using LinkedIn is a great way to build your brand and establish yourself as a thought leader. For example, rather than posting on LinkedIn in a way that is simply advertising for your brand, consider sharing your ideas, personal insights, and industry knowledge as it pertains to your organization; this simple act will get people talking about your brand, interacting with you and other people within your organization, and will get your name out there as a thought leader—and all it takes is a bit of time and consistency.
Folks on LinkedIn are actively looking for insightful industry leaders, inspiration, and great places to work; if they find your posts meaningful, they’ll probably assume that your organization is worth checking out too. Whether these interested individuals are folks looking for jobs or for your products or services, your brand will grow, your industry authority will increase, and your marketing strategy will kick into the next gear—all for free.
Gigi Ji, KOKOLU
Start a Podcast
Start an industry-focused podcast, interviewing various thought leaders and professionals in the field. A podcast proves your commitment to the topic of discussion, showcases your expertise throughout interview conversations, and allows you to learn new industry trends simultaneously!
Amrita Saigal, Kudos
Write More
Anyone can quickly establish themselves as a thought leader in the industry by simply writing more. The current trend is to maintain an industry-relevant Substack newsletter sharing your thoughts and opinions on topics that matter the most to you. However, it doesn’t have to be this formalized. You can simply write more by engaging in conversations with online communities. Writing provides clarity to your thought processes and allows your voice to be shared with thousands of others in the space. The more you do it, the more you can establish yourself as a core thought leader in the space.
Blake Burch, Shipyard
Share Your Expertise and Experience Online
Others look to thought leaders to gain valuable expertise about their specific areas of focus, so consistently sharing content is essential. This should include maintaining an active business blog, contributing to other sites and social media, and publishing various long-form content to demonstrate your knowledge on key topics. Along with publishing well-written content, thought leaders can contribute to podcasts, webinars, and other video content to gain even greater engagement.
Marilyn Zubak, Snif
Don’t Be Afraid To Express New Ideas
Don’t be afraid to express new ideas. One way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry is to express new ideas honestly and purposefully. So often people have an inspired idea on how to change or improve their industry, but they say nothing because they’re so concerned with keeping their job or the status quo instead of leading the conversation.
When you’re honest about your industry, honest about what’s working, and honest about what’s not working and you express those thoughts, you’re going to become a leader. It can be daunting, but nobody became a thought leader by keeping their thoughts to themselves.
Karim Hachem, Sunshine79
Create a Lasting Impression
Being in the early stages, I’ve found that the key to a lasting first impression is to discuss a topic that both you and your audience care about. Asking insightful questions helps you gain a better understanding of another’s point of view and can offer you a new perspective. Showing your interest in what another person has to say shows you’re engaged and paying attention.
If your business is smaller and you’re building from a small audience, ask for their personal contact information, add them on LinkedIn or other social networks, and most importantly grab lunch or a coffee with them to keep that connection growing. Don’t neglect your connections as you’ve made them because you could be closing the door to future opportunities to work together. Doing so will help you become a reliable source to those around you.
Todd Jensen, Nursa
Publish Content That is Unique and Provides Value
One of the biggest errors I see people make is trying to establish themselves as a “thought leader” by claiming that title and then publishing a lot of stuff randomly. Really, a “thought leader” is established by other people wanting to follow your “thoughts” and you end up “leading” the industry with new and innovative ideas.
To be a thought leader you must provide value; have a unique point of view, and be consistent in publishing content that supports the above. If you do those things, over time, you’ll find that others are sharing and liking your content, therefore elevating your position as a leader in their mind — and you’ll build an audience of people that want to hear what you have to say.
Ali Schwanke, Simple Strat
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