Lets be honest, In the age of social media, anyone with time and/or money can be an influencer. But being an influencer is not the same as being a thought leader.
Being an influencer is about having a large following and peddling products. Being a thought leader is about being an expert in your field and providing valuable insights to your audience.
You might be thinking, "I don't have time to be a thought leader. I'm too busy running my business/working my day job." But becoming a thought leader doesn't have to be time-consuming or expensive. You don't need to hire an expensive PR firm or buy ads. You just need to start producing quality content and get it in front of the right people, and if you need a hand, you can always count on Bauslabs Agency!
Here are 4 tips on how you can become a thought leader in your industry:
Produce quality content
This one should be obvious. If you want people to take you seriously as a thought leader, you need to produce quality content. That means writing your insights as posts, articles, sharing posts with comments, recording podcasts that are informative and/or entertaining, shooting videos that don't need to be professionally edited (just a little is always good), include graphics, etc.
Be active on social media
Platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are great places to share your content and engage with your audience. But don't just post links to your articles/podcasts/videos and call it a day. Use social media to start conversations, answer questions, and provide valuable insights.
Engage with other thought leaders
One of the best ways to become a thought leader is to associate yourself with other thought leaders in your industry. That could mean:
Commenting and sharing their posts on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
Writing a blog posts and citing their insight.
Appearing on their podcast or YouTube channel. Or inviting to yours!
Recommending an article or book to them.
Have a personal website
Nowadays, building a beautiful personal website where people can find you and your content takes one week and its very affordable so why not have it? If you do decide to have one (highly recommend it), make sure its simple, SEO friendly and responsive and build it on a modern CMS. If you need help or a recommendation, feel free to shoot us a message.
If you want to improve your online presence, increase your network and grow your sphere of influence, you should start creating and leveraging content online — you need to become a thought leader.
Though leadership isn't something that happens overnight; it takes time, effort, and dedication. If you're willing to put in the work (we can help), though, it's more than worth it. Follow the tips outlined above and you'll be well on your way to becoming a respected authority in your industry.
All the best of luck and we hope to hear from you soon!
We specialize in Finance Marketing and work with many CFAs, CAIAs, ACSIs, MSCIs Popular Investors, Portfolio managers, Economists, Financial influencers and more, directly and with their companies.