Craig Badings, thought leadership blogger and author of Brand Stand, the book on Thought Leadership, did an email interview with me recently and he just posted the back & forth on his site.  Here’s a peek at the whole interview.  Granted, some if it’s about “ME, ME, ME” so I’m a bit reluctant to post the blatant self-promo, but there may be a few good nuggets in there…

Q1: Dana you have successfully positioning yourself as a thought leader in all things marketing.  Given your experience of positioning yourself in this space, what are your tips for aspiring thought leaders in other industries?

Thanks, Craig.  There are many thought leaders in marketing, and it seems, to those of us peering in, that they’ve all just arrived one day. In reality, this is something that I started working on in 2002 and have followed a very deliberate plan to sharpen my expertise and position myself as someone that (I hoped) is worth listening to in the market.  Here are a few things that have helped me along the way.

1.    Have a plan. I know, that sounds really basic and boring, but for the last several years I have set plans and goals in place for publishing, speaking and other presence opportunities that were based on a long list of things that I thought made up the right moves for an emerging thought leader.

2.    Speak. Speaking and presenting is the #1 tool for business development and thought leadership advancement among those considered thought leaders. There’s nothing like being on stage to elevate our position. I could not be where I am without speaking. It also helps that I love doing it!

3.    Keep an idea file.  I keep several files for article ideas, speaking ideas and blog post ideas that help me stay on top of publishing as consistently as possible.  Keep the ideas flowing and make sure that they’re useful to your audience and you’ll see yourself rise quickly.

4.    Participate.  Thought leaders are only thought leaders if they’ve amassed a following.  You need to be involved in a community of peers in order to be seen by anyone as someone who might be useful to them. 

Check out the rest of the interview and the rest of Craig’s site. Great stuff on there!

Posted via email from marketingsavant’s posterous