Get Slightly Famous

Real World Success Story

Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne, a Kansas City law firm, works with professional building contractors. In 2005, they committed to positioning their firm as thought leaders to Midwest construction industries. The result was Midwest Construction Law, a comprehensive online resource that targets regional construction companies.

Midwest Construction Law has positioned Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne as a thought leader and resource to Midewest construction firms. The web site provides a one-stop shop for information relevant to contractors, including articles, educational teleseminars, a blog, and a free e-booklet called How to Use Your Law Firm to Get The Most from Your Construction Business.

“Our thought leadership efforts have given us credibility and notoriety in our target market,” David Seitter, an attorney and construction expert with Spencer Fane Britt & Browne in Kansas City, MO. “When I hand my card to a prospect with the tagline, ‘If you want more information about the construction industry, visit www.midwestconstructionlaw.com,’ it really piques their interest because they see that we are committed to the construction industry.”

Midwest Construction Law begins a conversation with prospects considering a legal firm. But instead of functioning like a typical law firm web site that focuses on selling the firm, Midwest Construction Law attracts prospects by providing useful information, and by providing value and instead of merely asking for business.

“More people are researching business issues online,” says Seitter. “They don’t want to be sold, but welcome online resources that help them make informed decisions. Our site has generated three great speaking engagements at construction conferences, and up to eighty participants regularly take part in our teleseminars.”

Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne’s commitment to educate construction firms not only generates goodwill, it turns prospects into clients. “Because we provide so much useful information, prospects spend time on our site educating themselves. It’s only natural that some companies contact us and say, ‘I see you do succession planning. Can I talk to you about it?”

Make Thought Leadership a Strategic Imperative

Thought leadership is the result of a very deliberate effort to position an organization as a voice within their target market that people pay attention to and respect. It results in a broad acknowledgment that your company, a real sense, leads the thinking in your industry.

“Thought leadership doesn’t happen by accident,” says Antony Bell, Managing Partner of The Bell Group and author of Great Leadership: What It Is and What It Takes In a Complex World. “It requires work and a commitment to look at your company from the perspective of the outside world. Generating a company-wide, ongoing effort to thought leadership is the best way to ensure that it happens.”

Thought leadership marketing is most effective when becomes part of the essential fabric of a company. For larger organizations, thought leadership marketing succeeds when a CEO or executive creates the conditions within the organization that foster thought leadership at all levels of a company.

“Thought leadership starts by taking a good look at your target market and identifying the point on the horizon where your want to take your organization,” says Bell. “Thought leaders determine opportunities to position themselves within their target market based on their key competitive advantages.”

Most importantly, thought leadership achieves full potential when it is seen as a top-down initiative that welcomes participation from eveyone inside a company. “When thought leadership achieves widespread ownership inside a company, there is greater likelihood that the company will generate the internal momentum critical to keep thought leadership moving into the marketplace,” says Bell.

Online Thought Leadership = Great PR

Few things can have greater impact on your personal brand and your organization's brand recognition than developing and sharing your expertise with the world. Whether you call it becoming a thought leader or a public expert, or, as marketing guru Steven Yoder's book espouses, Getting Slightly Famous, you should do it. Trust me. I'm living proof that it works.

This is the introduction from an article by Inc Magazine columnist Keith Ferrazzi. I discovered it only after a collegue brought it to my attention. It's obviously exciting when a major publication mentions my business in such a praisworthy, prominent way. It delivers tremendous credibility that adds to my overall reputation in my marketplace.

How did I get such a prominent mention/endorsement by an Inc columnist? Is this a fluke? A stroke of luck? No way!

This happens to me all the time. And it's no accident.

Today, for instance, I was asked to submit a short article for Home Business Magazine about the role of online thought leadership in becoming a more successful salesperson. Last weekend, I was asked to speak at the Institute of Management Consultants about Thought Leadership Marketing, which enabled me to address over 100 potential prospects.

How did this happen? Why do these opportunities come to me without my asking?

Because I make a committment to put my expertise out there consistently, in many forms, and it attracts high-credibility opportunities that put me in front of my buying public. These opportunities come to me -- I don't have to chase them down -- and they can come to you, too.

It starts by regularly and widely promoting your expertise, in the form of media interviews, articles, blog entries, teleseminars and other thought leadership marketing strategies. You, too, can practice online thought leadership, and watch the PR opportunites come in. Ferrazzi sums it up nicely:

This simple formula -- 1) Build expertise, 2) Get people to recognize it -- is one I have used throughout my career.

Read the entire article at Inc.com

Thought Leadership Marketing

Marketing used to be about “getting in front of” prospects. But in the era the empowered consumer, traditional marketing methods like advertising, direct mail, cold calling -- or just sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring -- just don't work anymore.

Today, customers are in charge. In an Internet-driven age, consumers expect to find companies on their own terms, often through a search engine, and actively seek solutions to their own problems. We live in an era of increasing buyer distrust, where everyone finds marketing “claims” suspect, or meaningless.

In this new marketing environment—where the old rules of marketing no longer apply--businesses are increasingly turning to thought leadership marketing— a marketing mindset based on earning trust, credibility and cultivating recognition as a trusted resource.

White Papers as a lead-generation marketing strategy

I've long advocated practicing thought leadership by giving away free information in the form of articles, talks, email newsletters, etc. Lately, I've become especially intriqued with the potential of white papers as a marketing strategy to attract hot prospects to your web site, and ultimately your products and services.

White papers got their start as a governmental reports created to outline and advocate a particular policy. Since then, they have become common vehicles among businesses to educate prospects by appealing to their need for information related to particular needs, and to help them solve problems.

Today, a "white paper" can take many forms; increasingly, white papers are downloadable pdf files that serve as online "bait pieces." When done correctly, a white paper can not only serve as the vehicle for a thought leadership marketing strategy, but can attract prospects via search engines and other online channels.

Here's a few snippets of Michael Stelzner's excellent article How White Papers Can Turbo-Boost Your Lead-Generation Campaign:

Because they are pulled into the company by prospects, white papers have the ability to linger and travel around the business, persuading along the way. It's not uncommon for a well-written white paper to travel across the desks of dozens of people in a single company. Well-written white papers are proven prospect magnets.

The key to generating leads with white papers is for the content to avoid a hard-sell. This means avoiding the mention of your company or product in the first half of the white paper. When prospects begin to sense they are being sold to, the white paper shifts from being a valuable resource to just another marketing message.

As with any effective marketing strategy, white papers are most effective when they are created and aimed at a well defined target market.

As Stelzner says,

"white papers are akin to super-powered magnets that can easily attract leads outside the company Web site. To draw a visual picture, imagine attempting to fish for tuna in only two feet of water. You might actually draw something near the shore, but big fish live in much deeper waters. Your white paper needs to be where the fish are."

David Silverstein Learns the Value of Thought Leadership

David Silverstein, CEO of Breakthrough Management Group (BMG), a business improvement consulting firm, works actively to cultivate his reputation in the performance enhancement industry. A global firm with eleven offices on five continents, BMG pursues a comprehensive industry thought leadership strategy to promote its reputation as a leader in Six Sigma consulting, training, and software support tools.

David has positioned himself as an unquestioned leader and expert in his field, which has been an essential element to BMG's continued growth. Silverstein employs a multi-prong thought leadership strategy driven by that has helped him grow BMG into a global organization with eleven offices on five continents in just six years.

Media Strategies: David makes himself available to the trade and business media and frequently comments as an expert on topics of interest to business leaders in a variety of publications. His efforts have resulted in coverage in Business Week, Executive Decision Magazine and Healthcare Strategic Management. Consistent media coverage has built name recognition for BMG in a variety of fields ranging including financial services, healthcare and manufacturing.

Speaking: Silverstein is a sought after keynote speaker and chairs numerous high profile industry events. He appears annually at the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals Leadership Conference, alongside speakers such as Jack Welch, Stephen Covey.

Cause Marketing: Silverstein supports a variety of non-profit enterprises such as the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, a volunteer group of business professionals, all of whom are under 40 years of age whose mission is to support, educate and encourage others to succeed in building companies and themselves.

Silverstein’s efforts have paid off, and have branded him as a leader in his industry while helping BMG grow from a start-up to a globally recognized firm. “Our thought leadership efforts have become the flagship for BMG’s reputation, which has helped our global expansion tremendously,” says Silverstein. “It has been especially helpful in Asia and Latin America, where name recognition goes a long way. My industry reputation has helped BMG’s sales team get their foot in the door in key overseas markets.”

The Case for Thought Leadership Marketing

Thought leadership is becoming one of the most powerful and effective strategies marketers can embrace to cut through the clutter and get noticed in today's increasingly competitive marketplace.

This is a time when small businesses are facing increased competition. It's harder to get noticed because the world has gotten "noisier." Traditional marketing methods like advertising, direct mail, cold calling -- or just sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring -- just don't work anymore. Consumers are now inclined find companies on their own, and on their own terms, often through a search engine.

Thought leadership marketing is becoming de rigueur in our age of increasing buyer distrust, an expectation (fostered by the Internet) that we should get a free sample of products and services before we put down our money, and an overall expectation that marketing claims are suspect, or meaningless, and that businesses should show, rather than tell, when making a case for their products and services.

Thought leaders contribute in meaningful ways to their broader marketplace. They demonstrate a commitment to their communities. They give their inside knowledge of their industries freely, and generously, and help members of their target market make informed decisions. They earn trust and develop a reputation of authority and leadership that is recognized among all influencers in their respective industries.

Many of my future posts will discuss thought leadership: defining it as a concept, highlighting what works in pursuing a thought leadership marketing strategy, and it's overall role in the Get Slightly Famous marketing model. I'll also be profiling companies of all sizes and industries who are living the thought leadership mindset. Stay tuned!