Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

You Can Stop Trying to Be a Thought Leader On Your Business Blog

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In-the-spotlightAccording to the Content Marketing Institute, 64% of professional services firms surveyed named thought leadership as a goal of their content marketing.

There is definitely a place for thought leadership as a content marketing strategy. It helps to educate your readers and prospective clients about issues that are important in your field. It helps develop and crystallize your own thinking about these issues. Perhaps most importantly, it cements your credibility as a current expert.

Many people think that in order to succeed with blogging for business, they need to produce earth-shattering original content that will catapult them into the realm of visionary thinkers like Steve Jobs, Seth Godin or Oprah Winfrey. However, as I pointed out in a previous post, How to Write a Thought Leadership Post, you do not need to innovate in order to succeed with business blogging.

So I invite you to lower the pressure you may be feeling to innovate as a thought leader – in fact, why not get rid of it altogether and have some fun with this blogging thing?

Who are you trying to impress?

Ultimately, you’re producing a business blog in order to attract new clients who will hire you. These prospective clients don’t need you to invent new theories about what you do, or turn existing theories on their heads. They need you to explain, in clear English, how to solve their problems.

Your blog readers don’t need to revere you, they need to remember you, particularly when there is a need for your services (for themselves or someone they know).

The people who will be most impressed by your thought leadership are your colleagues in the industry. And in no way am I minimizing the advantages of being the kind of leader who others refer to when they want the latest, greatest news and explanations.

I just want you to give yourself some time to evolve into thought leadership, instead of trying to achieve it with every post.

Stepping stones on the path to thought leadership

Creating thought leadership content isn’t the only way to be a thought leader. As you’re creating your own original content that answers your prospective clients’ questions about their problems and how you solve them, you can also be curating the best content that others are creating.

Sharing these resources on social media and your blog will accomplish three things:

  1. It connects you with those thought leaders so your readers associate you with greatness. It can also start or deepen your relationship with the leaders.
  2. Adding your own commentary will demonstrate your insight into what’s happening and shows that you’re on top of things.
  3. You provide your readers with a more accessible route to today’s thought leaders. They may not necessarily want or need to work directly with the people who are creating the concepts – and in some cases it won’t even be possible. People are usually happiest to work with someone they’re already connected to – especially if you can show that you’re incorporating these innovative ideas and practices into your work.

You cannot force thought leadership

I recently finished the book So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport (thanks to John Jantsch for recommending the book in his equally compelling blog post on the same topic).

The book explains the importance of putting time into mastering your work through deliberate practice, stretching beyond your comfort zone and seeking feedback on your efforts. Newport calls this building “career capital.”

(The book makes the case that if we try to create a business based solely on our passion, before building up this career capital, we may be setting ourselves up for failure.)

Think for a moment about someone you consider to be a thought leader in your industry. It’s likely that one of the things you admire is their years of solid experience – career capital – actively involved in doing whatever they’re writing or talking about.

While you can try to write a thought leadership post, it’s the response to the post that will really determine if you’ve succeeded. For now, you can stop trying to be a thought leader and start working on becoming one. You’ll get there, if you keep blogging consistently, watch other thought leaders for inspiration and stay tuned into industry news.

Writing Original Content Versus Sharing Other People’s Content (Content Curation)

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Passing-along-contentWhen I read the title of Roger Parker’s post, “Writing Versus Content Curation for Personal Branding Success” on Dan Schwabel’s Personal Branding blog, my immediate reply was “Both, of course.” As I read the article, I discovered that Roger had come to a similar conclusion.

I do disagree with one point – that in order to succeed with original content you cannot delegate the task. As a ghostwriter, I have helped dozens of business owners create their own original content.

Roger points out the many benefits of creating original content for your blog, such as increased credibility, thought leadership and the ability to re-purpose your blog post content into other forms such as books, presentations or courses.

The secret to keeping your blog and website fresh with new content

And as I also reminded people recently at my Business Blogathon in Barrie, Ontario, you don’t have to write a full-length (i.e., 500 words) feature article every week in order to keep your blog fresh.

You can alternate your feature articles with shorter posts (i.e., 250-500 words), what I call “connective content.” Connective content might be your own personal reflections on the topic of your feature article, a case study of a client, or recommended resources. These “in between” posts could also be your own comments about related content that you’ve found on other blogs or via social media.

What is content curation?

The formal term for sharing other people’s content is content curation. Though you may not realize it, if you’re active on social media you’re likely already using content curation as part of your online marketing strategy. Have you ever re-tweeted or “liked” someone else’s link on social media? That’s content curation – that’s you saying, “Here is some content that I find valuable, and I’m sharing it with you because you might not have seen it otherwise.”

All of a sudden you’re taking on a whole new role for that person. You’re sifting through all the noise on the Internet and finding the best, most interesting and most important content in your particular topic area. When you pair that with creating your own original content, your value as an expert rises significantly!

Sharing other people’s content on your blog

If you’re already doing this type of content sharing on social media, you may wonder why you would bother doing it on your blog. Here are three reasons to consider:

  1. Your blog is your home – your name is on the door, you decide how things are displayed and you own 100% of your content.
  2. You can find it later – by organizing, categorizing and storing your curated content on your own blog, both you and your readers can easily find it later so it will continue to be of value.
  3. Sharing other people’s content boosts your blog’s credibility with both readers (most importantly) and search engines – by curating and commenting on other people’s content, you enhance your own position as an expert in that area.

Of course once you’ve published the content on your blog you should also widely promote your blog post on social media.

Please be sure to give proper attribution when you’re sharing someone else’s content. For more information, check out my blog post, “How to Share Great Content Without Plagiarizing.”

Also, as Greg Bardwell of B2B Content Engine writes in his e-book, Curation for B2B Content Marketing, you should always read through whatever you’re recommending. “Just because a blog has a great title and you know the author or source does not make it worth curating.” Be sure you’re not inadvertently compromising your readers’ trust by sending them to a site or post that doesn’t share your values.

Sharing other people’s content is truly a win-win-win proposition. Your readers win because they have access to information they didn’t have to find on their own. The other expert wins because their content is seen by a new audience. And you win because you’re increasing your visibility, credibility and consistency.

Ten Secrets to Blogging Consistently

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While I’m thrilled that more and more people in the Barrie business community are recognizing me as a business blogging authority, there is a downside. Sometimes, people cringe when they see me, because seeing me reminds them that their blog has turned into a ghost town.

Please be easy on yourself! We all miss a step now and again and my own blog is a good example of that. I want you to experience only the benefits of blogging, not the stress.

While I’m going to keep encouraging you to be consistent with your blogging, I’m also going to keep offering tools, resources, suggestions and services that will help you do that effectively.

Weekly-calendar-bookThe biggest secret of all is that none of the things I’m about to reveal are secrets. They’re tried and true productivity habits you may already be using in other areas of your life. Now let’s apply them to blogging!

  1. Build the blogging habit – Try pairing blogging with something you already do on a regular basis, such as your weekly invoicing time.
  2. Jog your memory – Until blogging becomes a habit, set up physical and electronic reminders for yourself.
  3. Catch your ideas – Be sure you always have easy access to a notebook, smartphone application or computer file where you can quickly jot down and store ideas for future blog posts. That will give you a jump start on your next post.
  4. Convince yourself – Always stay mindful of your end goal and how blogging is going to get you there. Even if you’re not sure how this blogging thing is going to work for you and your business, be 100% committed to the experiment for at least six months.
  5. Make a list and check it twice – Break down the blogging process into a system so you can approach each step separately. A written log of your progress can help with both encouragement and organization.
  6. Use your time and energy wisely – Consider which part of the day is most effective for you to work on your blog. If blogging is something you’ve been avoiding or procrastinating on, try to “eat that frog” at the beginning of your day.
  7. Buddy up – Find another business owner who is using blogging as a marketing strategy. Share your goals and support each other to achieve them. You can also share each other’s blog posts via social media.
  8. Choose a mentor or model – Find a blog that accomplishes what you’d like to do with your own blog. Whether it’s someone you know or just admire from afar, watch how they use this tool and learn from that.
  9. Reward system – Build in rewards for every step of the process – from creating a list of future blog topic ideas to sketching out blog post outlines to finishing and publishing a completed post. Your reward could be as simple as calling a friend, treating yourself to a hot drink or getting out for a nature walk.
  10. Get into action – Use a structured event like a blog writing action day or blogathon to spark some momentum for your writing project. You can even create your own blogging retreat.

How this Barrie Lawyer Grew His Practice, One Blog Post at a Time

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Brian-GalbraithWhen he first started blogging, Brian Galbraith of Galbraith Family Law thought that a blog was pretty much the same as a newsletter. Soon he realized that it was more like a library, a library he continues to build. And while he's creating new content, visitors are still finding and reading his older content, evident in his blog's statistics and reader comments.

Just like a library, Brian's website and blog have become a trusted reference for at least one local service agency, who repeatedly refer clients to his website so they can get helpful information that's easy to understand. The agency appreciates having this valuable local source of free information for their clients who are in vulnerable situations.

Giving away this information promotes goodwill with his readers. Whether or not they're in a position to hire him now, that goodwill helps his law firm stay "top of mind" until they're needed.

Familiarity brings trust

The firm's familiarity in the community has resulted from the cumulative effect of all of Brian's marketing efforts, both offline and online. For example, they've had good results from using Facebook ads and Google ads, and the SEO benefits of blogging have also helped the site show up reliably at the top of search engines pages.

Whether you're driving along Dunlop Street West in Barrie or Googling information about divorce and family law, you will see Galbraith Family Law – again and again. And that kind of repeat exposure helps prospective clients get an impression of safety, familiarity and trust. When they need help, people tend to choose the name they recognize.

Once they pick up the phone or come into the office, Galbraith's excellent customer service practices come into play. From free WiFi and refreshments in the waiting room, to a genuinely warm welcome and a kind, listening ear.

Local connections

Partly in thanks to his affiliation with LexBlog, Brian has readers and guest post submissions from all over the world. Having guest bloggers eases his own writing load (that's Tip #6 in my time-saving blogging tips for busy business owners), but what pleases him the most is featuring other local professionals so they can cross-refer and help build each other's practices.

About eight years ago Brian Galbraith was on his own. Today he has six busy associate lawyers and six support staff, and the firm has been voted "Best of Barrie" by readers of the Barrie Examiner for the past four years in a row.

Brian jokes that spending time on his website and blog are just a way to avoid work, but the truth is that he attributes much of the firm's growth to his consistent efforts to create and share valuable content online. Brian believes the key to his success has been spending time each week working "on" his practice instead of just working "in" it.

Business Blogging Tree Examples from Barrie

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Closer-look-young-blogging-treeWe've got a ways to go before we fulfill my vision of an orchard full of blogging trees (business blogs) here in Barrie, but let's take a look at how we're doing so far.

Branding yourself as an expert

For an example of how to use a "how to article" as a branch that stems from the business goal of establishing yourself as an industry expert, check out Carole Schaefer's article, Five Tips for Better Video.

Carole's tips give readers practical solutions for common video mishaps, and demonstrate that as the owner of Sugar Productions, she knows her stuff! Readers will be pleased to improve the quality of their do-it-yourself video attempts, and they'll definitely know who to turn to when they want professional quality videos. Plus, they're only one click away if they want to see samples of Carole's work or find out more about her.

Listening for blog ideas from your audience

For an example of a business owner who is catching ideas as they rain down from her audience, check out this post from PC Service on Site about hacker emails. It shows that co-owner Meredith Skinner (with husband Peter Skinner) is listening to what people are talking about. Then she provides practical solutions for dealing with the problem.

The team approach to blogging

Another way to lighten the load of weekly blogging is to take a team approach like Barriston LLP. These busy legal bloggers also provide examples of how to spread the word about your blog, with individual bloggers like Joanne McPhail setting the wind in motion with tweets to her network about the latest posts.

Giving your own expert slant on relevant content from around the web

Cesia Green from Wall-Armstrong & Green taps into the visual power of infographics by linking to one about the extreme rise of funeral costs. She could have even opted to embed the image right into her post (instructions are at the bottom of the page where the infographic is hosted). Cesia also demonstrates how even when you're linking to connective content that someone else created, you can still highlight your own expertise by including your own personal slant on the topic. She lets the reader know precisely why the material will be relevant, interesting or entertaining for her audience.

Making a personal connection through video blog posts

We'll end this blog post where we began – by talking about video. This time we'll use Kirk Evans and his company Fast Solution as our example. Kirk has begun posting "how to" videos on his site, including one where he speaks directly to the camera – giving prospective clients the chance to get to know him. Even though the videos are not officially part of his blog (Kirk, if you're reading this, please take this as a constructive suggestion), he could easily turn them into individual blog posts with descriptive titles, along with at least a few sentences about which problem is being solved in each video. That way he won't lose the people who prefer to read rather than watch (like me!). 

I would love to feature more Barrie business blogs here at Content Mastery Guide. If you'd like to improve your blog and be featured as a case study in your very own post, apply here for my free blog topic offer.