- Discover what is a thought leader and how to become one
- Find out how you can reach more people and share your knowledge in your expertise
- Learn more on why content wrapped in community is more important and valuable than having just content alone
Resources/Links:
- Wanting to Become a Thought Leader and Maximize Your Potential in Your Field of Expertise? Learn more on How You Can Accomplish Everything You Want as a Thought Leader: thoughtleadershipleverage.com
Summary
Have you been wanting to inspire others through your field of expertise?
Do you want to know how you can become an accomplished thought leader?
Are you struggling with connecting with other people and getting your message out there?
Peter Winick is the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. For the past two decades, he has helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products.
In this episode, Peter shares what makes a leader a thought leader and how you can be one too. He also talks about his insights on the change of the pandemic when it comes to marketing and connecting your content and value to other people.
Check out these episode highlights:
- 01:21 – Peter’s ideal client: “I do have several, sort of, client avatars as I think everybody should have. So, it’s an author, it’s a speaker, it’s a thought leader, it’s an academic, it’s a consultant or a small consultancy, and potentially some CEOs.”
- 02:43 – Problem Peter helps solve: “The problem that we solve for most of our clients is how do you scale and leverage either for impact or to increase the velocity of the monetization and the reach.”
- 03:23 – Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Peter: “So it could be- I mean, it’s kind of a continuum. So, on one end of the spectrum, it could be, “Hey, I’ve been at this for a while, and I’m doing well, but…” Right? It’s not growing, it’s not moving.”
- 04:29 – Common mistakes that people make before they find Peter’s solution: “Well, I think there’s a lot. I think it’s not being self-aware, or honest enough about what they’re great at and what they’re not.”
- 05:29 – Peter’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Peter’s Quiz: thoughtleadershipleverage.com
- 06:00 – Q: Where are the opportunities? A: I always look at applying the same amount of creativity and thoughtfulness to the business side of thought with their business as they do to the thought leadership side.
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:
“People are not so much only looking for content in this market. They're looking for content wrapped in the community.” -Peter Winick Share on XTranscript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland, beaming out to you from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Peter Winick. Peter, good day. Sir, a very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out?
Peter Winick 00:23
I am in New York.
Tom Poland 00:24
New York City, slightly bigger than Castaways Beach where we have 200 residents.
Peter Winick 00:29
A little bit.
Tom Poland 00:30
A little bit more interesting too, probably. So, for those who don’t know Peter, he’s the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. And we’ve worked together, and I was really, really impressed with Peter’s strategic perspective on leadership, products, marketplaces, and more. For the last 20+ years, he’s helped organizations and individuals build and grow revenue streams- plural- through designing and growing their own thought leadership platforms, as well as, acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business-to-business sales of thought leadership products, which you probably have, if you listening to this podcast because it’s Marketing the Invisible. So, Peter, thanks for joining us on the show. The title is, “How to Become a Thought Leader.” And Peter is going to show us how to do that in less than seven minutes. Woo-hoo! Aha. So, let’s get going, Peter. Question number one, our time starts now. Question number one, who is your ideal client?
Peter Winick 01:21
I do have several, sort of, client avatars as I think everybody should have. So, it’s an author, it’s a speaker, it’s a thought leader, it’s an academic, it’s a consultant or a small consultancy, and potentially some CEOs. As well as we’ve now moved into the organizational space.
Tom Poland 01:39
Yes, that’s very interesting. Tell us quickly about organizational thought leadership as distinct from individual thought leadership.
Peter Winick 01:46
Yeah, so the quick differences on the individual side, the thought leadership is the product. I’m an author. I write a book. I get paid to speak, to do things, to teach, etc. On the organizational side, they’re not looking for the direct monetization of the intellectual properties of thought leadership. They’re using the thought leadership to build the brand, to show the world they have a perspective or a framework or a model. So, they want to, in essence, give the thought leadership away, so that when their clients are in the market for their services, they go, “Ah! Yeah, that guy Tom is pretty smart”, or “That company center, they’re pretty good at what they do. I have been reading a lot of their stuff, following it, etc.”
Tom Poland 02:20
Right. Folks, this is quite interesting because what you’ve just heard is a demonstration, or thought leadership from a thought leader. So, you’ve created a new space in the market for thought leadership, which didn’t exist before. It’s certainly not in the way you’ve articulated. And I’m equally confident the way you’re going about it will be different as well. So, question number two, five and a half minutes left, what’s the problem you solve?
Peter Winick 02:43
Yeah, the problem that we solve for most of our clients is how do you scale and leverage either for impact or to increase the velocity of the monetization and the reach. Meaning, how do you move from a practice where you need to be in the room, in the zoom to doing things with your clients, you get paid to not being in that situation where the thought leadership, the intellectual property, is really an asset that is out in the market in multiple modalities, yielding returns for you?
Tom Poland 03:11
Brilliant. Brilliant, utopia! So, question number three, what are the typical symptoms that one of your clients would have experienced before you work with them? That kind of gives people, our listeners, a heads up-
Peter Winick 03:23
Yeah. So, it could be- I mean, it’s kind of a continuum. So, on one end of the spectrum, it could be, “Hey, I’ve been at this for a while, and I’m doing well, but…” Right? It’s not growing, it’s not moving. You know, for example, on the speaking side, I believe there are only two types of speakers in the world. One group wants to speak more, and another group that wants to speak less. There’s never been a Goldilocks piece. So, you know, it’s they haven’t reached the scale that they’d like to reach. So, the symptoms, you know, could be that they’ve tried, or it’s just an inkling, or they’ve tried things and it hasn’t worked out well for them.
Tom Poland 03:56
I’m guessing one of the biggest symptoms is that they’ve done a bunch of stuff, but you know, they’re hearing crickets. There’s not a lot coming back from the marketplace that seems to be organic or responsive to what they put out there. It’s-
Peter Winick 04:07
Well, they tend to come to us with cacophony of tactics looking for a strategy.
Tom Poland 04:12
I see. Right, cacophony of tactics looking for a strategy. Excellent. Alright! So, a little bit all over the place, maybe, so. I mean, they’re smart people. They want to grow; they want to scale. Question four, and we got three and a half minutes left, what are some of the common mistakes that people make when they’re trying to get into thought leadership?
Peter Winick 04:29
Well, I think there’s a lot. I think it’s not being self-aware, or honest enough about what they’re great at and what they’re not. So, if you were to look at the attributes of some world-class thought leaders and jot those down- great thinkers, great writers, great communicators, great connectors, and then make a list of what are great- you know, what is someone that is equally talented in the sales, marketing, business development side of that, and compare those two lists. There are very few traits that are on both sides of that list- may be some communication skills and things of that nature. So that’s number one. Number two is, do they even like that. Right? Do they even like the sales, the marketing, the distribution?
Tom Poland 05:07
Right. Because the things we like, we do more often and get better at. Okay. So really focusing on the things that you’re exceptionally good at is going to be key. Question number six, two and a half minutes left. Plenty of time! One valuable free resource that we could direct people to. A website they can go to, to get more information on how to become a true global thought leader.
Peter Winick 05:29
Yeah, so they can go to our website at thoughtleadershipleverage.com, and then we’ve got a landing page that will put in the notes here if they want to take a bit of a quiz that gives them a sense of where they are and what their strengths are and some of what their weaknesses are.
Tom Poland 05:41
Excellent. So, folks, it’s thoughtleadershipleverage.com. On that page, you will find the quiz. There will be a link below the video here. You’ll see there’s also a podcast you can sign up for, as well, which I’d highly recommend. It’s very, very high quality! So, question number seven, Peter. We’ve got two minutes left. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t?
Peter Winick 06:00
Yeah, that’s a great question. I think it could be where, you know, where are the opportunities, might be one of the questions. So, you know, I always look at applying the same amount of creativity and thoughtfulness to the business side of thought with their business as they do to the thought leadership side. So, for example, you know, it’s the proverbial, you know, one door opens- you know, one door closes, another door opens over the last, you know, whatever it’s been now, 18 months with the pandemic. For example, the keynote speaking business to traditional keynote speaking business where I pay you X value when you stand in front of a room of 300 people. It ends in a standing ovation, and you’re paid a lot of money. That doesn’t look the same. Right? That doesn’t look the same at all. And I think a lot of people have struggled with, what do you do with that. And then the flip side in terms of the creativity there, a lot of people taking advantage of that saying, “Wait a minute. Actually, this is a different medium. Communicating via zoom globally opens up the world to me. I can reach more people more often. I can do more things. I can do more breakout. But I can’t present in the same manner.” This- a little bit, you know, when you’re on stage, these are experts at their craft. And they know they have to be bigger than life. And they know, you know, if they do those things in a box, it’s three inches by three inches on the screen, you know, people are going to be like, “Whoa, back up and be decaffeinated.” So, people are not so much only looking for content in this market. They’re looking for content wrapped in the community. And I think that’s a big deal. Right? So, I want to be with people that are not identical to me, but like-minded. So, if I’m following the speaker, I want to connect with other folks that are passionate about resilience or leadership or innovation, whatever that piece is, and how do you sort of weave that into your business model. So, it’s an interesting question.
Tom Poland 07:43
Perfect and 10 seconds to spare. Peter Winick, incredibly insightful, very articulate. Lots of gems in there, folks! Go to thoughtleadershipleverage.com. There is a quiz on there. There’s a podcast in there. Go get it. Peter Winick, thanks so much for your time!
Peter Winick 07:57
My pleasure. Thank you.
Tom Poland 07:59
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.