5 Reasons Why It’s Easier to Succeed With Thought Leadership Than You Think
By Ido Lechner, Magic Media Co-Founder & Head of Strategy
Though most entrepreneurs intuitively understand the ROI of social media for their business, there’s still a reluctance to build their personal brands. There’s something vulnerable and elusive about building your own online presence, and it can be quite daunting to start.
For sure, there are many of reasons why people with valuable insights don’t share their opinions online, though the two most common reasons I’ve encountered stem from this: time and anxiety.
What’s become clear to me over the years working as a content strategist both for corporate and personal brands is that apart from creating content for these individuals, my work also revolves around training them to be comfortable with exposure — both when they receive it, and when they don’t.
Beyond telling them to project their voice and signaling not to slouch when we record a video (yes, vice presidents of global organizations are people too), I also remind them that these interviews they’re putting out there, the articles they’re publishing, the soundbites they’re recording — its not just for them. People want to see it too. They want to be informed, and learn about the future of your industry.
Thought leadership is not the same as being an influencer.
Reframing your perspective as “putting out content that educates, inspires, and engages your network in an authentic and meaningful way” brings purpose to the content you’re putting out there. Someone out there will enjoy what you make; it will resonate with them.
Let’s expand on the common fears surrounding content creation we mentioned earlier (time and anxiety) and discuss why becoming a thought leader is more likely a mental barrier than a logistical issue.
1. “In order to ‘maintain’ an online presence, I need to post consistently and I just don’t have that kind of time.”
There are a few misconceptions to address here. First, it doesn’t take much time to remind the world you exist. Sharing a story with your network serves a dual purpose, in that you create a conversation around a topic, and you also pin your name to it. The content doesn’t have to be original, it just has to have your captioned touch on it.
Second, not all content is time sensitive necessarily. While it obviously never hurts (and only actually helps) to keep generating content — we’re not discouraging that — you can choose to staple your best content to your profile. People will come to know you for that content in particular when they visit your profile page a second, third and fourth time. Consider it a chance to leave a positive impression of yourself and your company’s brand by extension.
Additionally, here’s a way you can create content at scale without eating up too much of your time.
2. “I should focus on my company’s branding first, my own can wait.”
Like it or not, your personal brand is interlinked with your brand brand. Tesla shares dropped 9% when Elon Musk smoked weed on air in Joe Rogan’s podcast. Kanye leveraged his personal brand to sell out on $120 white t-shirts.
The more likely it looks like you know what you’re doing on a personal level, the more likely you’ll be able to sell through your brand. Posting high quality content helps position yourself as a thought leader, and well known founders and executives strengthen brand visibility. Its similar to how when you hear the name Zuckerberg, you know to think ‘Facebook.’
According to entrepreneur, employees have 10 times more followers than their company’s social media accounts, and receive about 8x more engagement. Even when it comes to the company’s own content, brand messages are re-shared 24x more frequently when posted by an employee vs the company itself.
Consider going through the people, dude.
3. “It looks bad if I look like I’m just starting out.”
Actually, it looks great. Make a declarative statement of your intentions and hit publish — you’ll be surprised at how many people will want to help you out by liking your pieces. Shout them out to quickly build community and recognize people from different pockets of your network.
Moreover, going public with your ‘blank slate’ encourages you to fill it up faster. By embracing vulnerability in the public eye, you’ll be motivated to do more consistent work to ‘walk your talk.’ Trust that your efforts will be recognized — everyone starts out somewhere.
Even if you’re not getting the type of traction you’re hoping for, don’t stop. Legacies aren’t made overnight.
4. “I don’t know how to create high quality content… I’m bad at filming and editing video or I don’t know how to write.”
Hire someone! While it can definitely be damaging to to post low-quality content, even the infrequent, took-a-long-time-to-develop post serves to strengthen your (personal) brand’s reputation.
We live in a world of increasingly democratized resources where there are plenty of websites like Upwork or Toptal to hire freelancers across various disciplines. Ghostwritten pieces will likely cost more, but they can prove to be a great way of posting more consistently/authoring better articles (if you find yourself to be a weak writer).
5. “I don’t think posting to social media is worth my time.”
While it can definitely seem like a popularity contest, social media is an absolutely essential tool for brand visibility. A person who posts content online is seemingly more approachable for reaching out, which opens doors for sales and partnerships. You can even embed an open invitation/call to action to make it easier for people to do so.
Its all about ROI
In the end, entrepreneurs and industry leaders should focus their attention on whatever provides the greatest return on investment… As we near the turn of a decade, there has never been a better time to invest in social media — not just with your brand, but for yourself.
Magic Media helps founders and executives take their online presence to the next level with custom thought leadership content. If you’re ready to build a stronger personal brand, click here to learn more.
