So you want to be a thought leader. Here’s how to build your digital strategy

Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog

Everybody wants to be a thought leader these days.

It’s the buzzy phrase we hear from clients who have the expertise of a thought leader, but need a more strategic way of sharing that expertise online.

Today we’ll talk about how to start building your thought leadership strategy, the importance of nourishing it and who you can look to for inspiration. But first - let’s go over what it means to be a thought leader and why it’s worth your time.

Aneesh Raman has built much of his career around thought leadership and led the team focused on it at LinkedIn (more on Aneesh below). He frames the practice of thought leadership as “having authentic, relevant, insightful things to say about a few key issues and saying those things over a sustained period of time in order to provoke new thoughts and actions by others.” [Read more on that definition here.]

Thought leadership has a lot of benefits. It builds your own profile, often leading to a range of opportunities from speaking engagements to job interviews. It can also build your brand’s profile, enabling you to talk about the brand’s values and innovation in a new way. And if you’re a consultant, or a side hustler, thought leadership will help you connect with potential clients and prove your value before you even have an interview. 

Read the full piece on Substack here.