So you wanna be a thought leader, do ya? Let’s get into it, shall we?

As I was getting into planning the episode, I started thinking about a through line that I’ve had in conversations with many potential clients and current clients recently.

I want to be a thought leader in my industry.

In this episode, I am bringing together thought leadership and how to create a personal brand. The thought of becoming a thought leader has been an increasingly popular idea and goal due to a few large names that are doing this right now who are doing it very successfully. You can think of people such as Jenna Kutcher or Amy Porterfield in the creative industries and then there are others like Gary Vee and Neil Patel, Andy Frisella, all of those different types of big almost household names at this point who are becoming thought leaders in their field, as well as sometimes influencers in their field or industry.

I think that’s where kind of this uptick in interest of becoming a thought leader comes from but I want to dive in today to kind of demystify what a thought leader really is, the pros and cons that come with becoming a thought leader, and finally how the power of personal branding all plays into that.

What is a Thought Leader?

Before we dive into pros and cons and get any deeper, I really want to define our terms so that we know exactly what we’re talking about when I say thought leader. A thought leader is essentially an expert in a specific area of knowledge who others in the industry can turn to for guidance. They are the authority in their industry or field. We are going to discuss some of the key characteristics of a thought leader.

1. They have deep expertise in their field. I’ve also heard it called a subject matter expert. The interesting part to me is that the word “expert” is different today than it was 20 years ago. I hold the term “expert” a little bit looser than I used to because essentially anyone can become an expert in any field with the free flow of information on the internet and on social media today. For example, I did not go to school to be a small business owner; I did not go to school to be a branding and marketing agency owner; I went to school to be a teacher. So I’ve become an expert in my field because of all of the research I’ve done independently, not due to the degree I have.
2. They bring something new to the table. That could be a framework, a system, a process. It’s something that you create so, therefore, you are the expert in it. You have a unique perspective, a unique insight, a unique approach to whatever it is that you are creating. So regardless of the field or industry that you’re in, as a thought leader, you must bring something new to the scene. For example, if you’re a business development consultant, you could create a unique approach to business development where you are the expert and only you can replicate that process or only you can teach others to replicate that process.
3. They can communicate their idea adequately and consistently. Even if you are an expert in your field and you bring unique insights to the field, that’s not quite enough. The thought part of the thought leadership goes far beyond just having the thought in your own head. Once that thought is formulated in your mind, you must then be able to articulate that thought in a way that your target audience can understand it. So you’re breaking up a big concept into digestible pieces for the people that want to consume it. This is easier said than done because it ends up being a ton of content creation. That content creation can be done through multiple channels: a podcast, a YouTube channel, a blog, social media, etc. But a thought leader is committing to putting their thoughts out to their audience consistently in a way that’s easy for them to consume. You have the thought, then you disseminate that thought.
4. They have the ability to influence industry conversations trends. This is kind of like the flashy part of being a thought leader – influencing the industry trends. But a lot of work goes into the front end of being a thought leader before you ever get to the influence part. For example, Gary V didn’t start out with 10.2 million followers, right? No one did. So the consistency in being a thought leader and showing up as such will eventually lead to a place where you can influence the industry that you’re in, but it does not start that way.

The Difference Between a Thought Leader & an Influencer

I’ve used the word influence in the past couple points. Let’s briefly differentiate between a thought leader and an influencer. I see the main difference being in authority versus reach. An influencer may have a larger reach, but less authority; whereas a thought leader may have less reach, but more authority. Are those titles interchangeable? Personally, I don’t think so. I do think that every thought leader can be an influencer, but not every influencer can be a thought leader because we’re drawing the line between reach and authority. Not every influencer is going to have authority within their niche to the point where they are consistently going to be dictating industry trends.

For a very high level differentiation between the two, I asked Gemini (AI) which five industries had the highest concentrations of thought leaders versus which five industries had the highest concentration of influencers, just to see if AI can see a difference in trends within the industries of the two different titles. Here’s what Gemini said:

Thought leaders are most concentrated in technology, business/marketing, healthcare/wellness, finance/investing, and education/personal development industries. Whereas influencers are most concentrated in the fashion/beauty, lifestyle/travel, food/beverage, gaming/entertainment, and fitness/wellness industries. While there are some overlapping industries, like the wellness industry, typically the industries that have thought leaders are distinct from the industries that have influencers. It seems like the thought leader industries are more fact-based versus influencer industries are more opinion-based. Overall, I would say it is more common to be either a thought leader or an influencer and not likely for you to be a thought leader and influencer.

Pros & Cons of Being a Thought Leader

Now that we have all of our definitions out there, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of becoming a thought leader. Because initially, it sounds like a really romantic title, and that it demands respect. You’re an expert in your field, and you can influence industry trends. But it doesn’t come without some drawbacks, of course. So we’re going to explore all of that now. As we explore these, I want you to pretend that you, the individual who’s listening to episode is the thought leader, because this will set us up for exploring how personal branding comes into play as a thought leader later on.

Pros of Being a Thought Leader

Increased Brand Awareness. Increased brand awareness can be either a business based brands (like me as a small business owner) or it could be a personal brand in that it is just one individual. As a thought leader, you are increasing awareness around your brand, either as a business or as an individual, as well as your credibility as that business or individual. Everyone’s heard of the “know, like and trust” factor. That’s exactly what I mean when I say increased brand awareness and credibility. They see you so often because you’re so consistently putting out new content that you become familiar to them. People are more likely to purchase from or hire people with whom they are familiar. So that’s the benefit of having increased brand awareness and credibility.

Attract new clients and business opportunities. I’m going to quickly tell you a story about the ESC Conference. For those who don’t know, I co-founded the ESC Conference with my friend and business partner, Kassie O’Driscoll. We hosted the first ever ESC Conference for creative entrepreneurs in their growth phase just this past April. Many of the speakers who were there, of course, to educate our attendees, but they were also there to demonstrate their expertise and establish themselves as an authority in their field, and, ultimately, gain new clients and possible referral partners. This is incredibly effective because the attendees were able to meet them in person, which contributes to that like, know, and trust factor I just mentioned.

Establish yourself as a trusted advisor. One thing I’ve learned as I’ve transitioned my business away from wedding photography, which is a B2C model and into a branding and marketing agency, which is a B2B model, is that the sales cycles are so much longer. I could have an inquiry call with a bride, and they would book me usually within 24 hours. I can have an inquiry call with a business owner and it could be months of follow-up before they actually book a service with me. So when you establish yourself as a trusted advisor through thought leadership, oftentimes, even if a business owner isn’t ready to book with you at the moment, you will be top of mind when they are ready due to your consistency in presenting yourself as a thought leader. The same goes for corporate friends reading this. Even if a position isn’t open at a company now, that doesn’t mean that those in hiring positions aren’t thinking about you for when they do have an opening where you fit.

Position yourself as an authority figure in your industry. I’m going to tell you a story about my recent introspection into my own business and brand. I took one of those online quizzes that told me what my brand archetype was. This was so interesting to me because I can usually tell others’ brand archetypes, or at least narrow it down to two archetypes, just while speaking with them and hearing about their business. But I cannot for the life of me do that for myself. My results from this brand archetype quiz was that my brand is the sage archetype. The sage prides him/herself on knowledge and disseminating that knowledge or wisdom. My background is in teaching, so that makes sense! But I’ve never really truly applied that within my business. Those who fall into that sage archetype are often those people that people look to as an authority in the field and, therefore, the thought leader in their industry because that person or that company is considered the expert.

Gain speaking engagements and media coverage. This could even become another stream of revenue. This can come in the form of speaking at events or conferences like the ESC Conference. It could come in the form of being interviewed on podcasts or being brought into private online communities where your expertise is needed and valued. There are many different ways to get out there and establish yourself, not only as a thought leader, but then monetize it through speaking engagements.

Shape your industry’s future. Like I mentioned, you are the one coming up with the fresh insights and the fresh ideas in your industry. Often times thought leaders have an issue with how things are being conducted within their industry, and they want to change it. If that sounds like you, you’re probably a good candidate to be a thought leader.

Cons of Being a Thought Leader

Now that we have chatted about all of the pros of becoming a thought leader, we also have to discuss the cons because everything we’ve chatted about so far sounds really shiny and exciting, but it doesn’t come without some drawbacks.

Requires a significant amount of time and energy. Often times, especially in the beginning, you’re not getting paid for your thoughts alone. You’re just establishing yourself as the authority, but unfortunately, that doesn’t always come with a paycheck. Usually you’re selling your offers or products, or in the case of being in the corporate world, you’re selling yourself and your skill sets in order to get paid and be able to make a financial living. But the thought leadership is an additional layer of work that you’re not getting paid for.

Remaining consistent with content creation to stay relevant. Once you actually create those thought leadership pillars, it can then be challenging to maintain consistency in disseminating those, and also to stay relevant. It’s very rare that you are going to find just one thought upon which you can build a whole repertoire of thought leadership messaging. It’s a constant evolution of information, especially in today’s world of social media and fast-paced content consumption. Creating consistently can be a drain because it can sometimes feel like you never can turn off or step away. The biggest thing when it comes to content creation and to branding is that consistency is key. So when you sign on to be a thought leader, it absolutely is not a passive income.

Open yourself up to criticism. It could open you up to differing viewpoints, which are great when expressed in a kind way, but unfortunately, cancel culture is still very much alive. Being a thought leader oftentimes means that you’re coming up with unique and new ideas, and those unique and new ideas are not always well received, especially if they go against an industry standard or they go against the way it’s “always been done.”

Some businesses/personalities are just not a good fit. Like I mentioned before, there are certain types of people, certain types of businesses, and certain types of industries that are more open to thought leadership. Definitely look inside yourself and see if that’s what you truly want before continuing to jump in with both feet within your industry.

Potentially unrealistic expectations from clients. This can occur especially if you’re using this thought leadership as the beginning of your funnel to get people into your programs, your services, your offerings. One thing I’ve seen is that as thought leaders gain more traction and accrue like a bigger audience, their service offerings often change. They shift away from the one-on-one work, and they transition to being able to coach the masses through either courses or digital products. That is really smart on their part because it’s much easier to scale sustainably that way. However, it can give a little bit of a misconception to their audience that they might get the one-on-one access to them. So it’s important to just manage those expectations when you’re put in that place of authority.

Using Personal Branding to Grow as a Thought Leader

We’ve gone over the pros, we’ve gone over the cons of thought leadership, but now I’m going to touch on how and why personal branding should be incorporated into thought leadership. Like I said before, not all personalities are made for becoming a thought leader, so I definitely encourage you to reflect and look inside if that’s a commitment that you want to make prior to taking the leap. But if you ultimately decide that thought leadership is the right path that you want to go down, here’s where I would start when it comes to establishing your own personal brand.

Develop core values. I tell this to all of of the business owners I work with. We always start out with brand strategy, and one of the first things that we go over when we’re going through that brand strategy is developing core values and a mission. I encourage everyone to do this, not just the business owners that I work with, but literally every adult out there. I can promise you – it will help you to determine whether a company is a good fit for employment if you’re still in the corporate space; it will help you determine whether an organization you’re volunteering for is worth your time. Those core values serve as your North star anytime in your life.

Determine your industry or niche within the industry. This is likely probably already established, but even within a industry like nonprofits, for example, you can find a niche within the greater industry to establish yourself in. So I would define that second.

Develop consistent and clear brand messaging. Ask yourself these questions:

• What are the recurring pieces of content that you’ll be talking about?
• What are the words and phrases you will repetitively use?
• What are the stories that you will repetitively tell to illustrate your points?
• How do you describe the new process that you’ve created so that your audience understands the process?

I encourage you not only to answer these questions that I’m asking you now, but I actually want you to document the answer somewhere. It could be on a notepad, like old school pen and paper. It could be on a note on your phone, but I want you to keep a running list that so that any time you encounter a new story that you may want to tell that will adequately illustrate your overall brand mission and message, you can add that story, word, or phrase to that list.

Showcase your expertise and your personality. This is where brand voice and tone come in.There are thought leaders out there who are loving and encouraging and optimistic…and then there are thought leaders out there who curse every other sentence and have a really rough intense messaging. They know what their audience is receptive to. Whoever your audience is, let the parts of your personality that resonate with them shine through to them, because that is how you will build trust and connect with your target audience. My definition of branding is how your audience feels about your business or your service offering or your product. So please be conscious and aware of how you are making them feel through your messaging, voice, and tone, because that will ultimately become your personal brand.

Find where your target audience is. Because that’s where I want you to hang out. Create your engaging thought leadership content right there in the platform where they already are and make it easy for them to consume.

Personal Brand Examples

Sometimes it’s easier to see some real life examples when it comes to learning a new concept, i.e. personal branding or thought leadership. So I wanted to share with you a couple of examples of some thought leaders who have successfully used personal branding.

The first is Jenna Kutcher. She’s actually who inspired me to start my own podcast. Her industry or niche is marketing and branding. She has an interesting background with personal branding, because she’s been able to change her personal brand so many times throughout. I think she’s been in business almost 15 years, which is the beauty of personal branding. She lets people into certain parts of her life and has learned along the way which parts of her life that not only resonate with her audience, but also which parts she does not feel comfortable sharing. For example, she used to share a lot about her kids. While she still does share about her kids, she no longer shares her children’s faces. So a piece of her personal branding is that she is a well-rounded business owner and mother, and if she can do it, they can do it too. If I were ever to meet Jenna in person, I would feel like I was speaking with an old friend because I’ve heard her voice. I know her personality. I’ve heard her story so many times – I just told you one of her stories, right? It’s like I know her without ever having met her, which is the ultimate goal when establishing a personal brand.

Another personal brand, which was actually the first personal brand I ever encountered back when I first started my own business, was Katelyn James. Katelyn is a photographer based out of central Virginia. She harnessed her personal brand to be able to leverage a higher than average wedding photography price with her brides and grooms. She also nurtured the like, know, and trust factor within the education side of her business, where she educated other photographers on how to grow their photography businesses. Because of her personal brand, she was able to charge a premium price and cap her weddings at 10 per year while still making six figures. She was also able to welcome hundreds (probably thousands now) of photographers into her online courses. Just like Jenna, she has seen a lot of evolution within her personal brand. I find that their target audiences tend to be around their same age bracket and going through the same seasons of life as them, so that they are able to show the parts of their life that resonate with their target audience.

A few others that you can take a look into if you’re looking for examples of personal branding are Amy Porterfield; she does online marketing. Gary V or Gary Vaynerchuk does social media marketing. Those are all great examples of becoming a thought leader while incorporating a personal brand.

Funny enough, the industries that all of those examples work in are the ones that Gemini mentioned were known for thought leadership, so Gemini must know what she’s talking about!

These are the main similarities I see within these personal brands:

• They have consistent brand messaging, just like we talked about earlier.
• They consistently engage their audiences on the platforms where they naturally show up the most.
• They have brought their audience together as a community, where they are the leader – thus tying together thought leadership and personal branding.

Wrapping It Up

Let’s summarize some key takeaways from today’s episode

1. First, all thought leaders can be influencers, but not all influencers can be thought leaders. 
2. Before committing to becoming a thought leader, be sure it is a good fit for your personality and industry.
3. Incorporate personal branding into your thought leadership to become truly remarkable by defining core values, your mission, and your brand messaging.

If you decide to take action on defining your personal brand or becoming a thought leader after reading this, I would absolutely love for you screenshot this blog post, tag me on Instagram (because that’s where I hang out the most) at @aliraehaney, so that I can follow along on your journey.

If you’d like to chat about creating a personal brand or brand strategy for your business, let’s do it! Simply fill out the contact form and I will be popping into your inbox with more information!