Most people think thought leadership means being a paid speaker or writing a book. And it absolutely can. But getting started with thought leadership can also look like a blog, newsletter, podcast or YouTube channel where you share your unique perspective on basically anything you know about and are passionate about.

What is Thought Leadership and Why Does It Matter?

Thought leadership is about positioning yourself as a go-to authority within your niche or focus area. It’s not about being an expert on everything, it’s about being an expert about just one thing for a particular group of people.

And it’s more than just sharing knowlege. It’s also a way for you to expand your impact by sharing insights and ideas that resonate, challenge, and inspire your audience. Done right, thought leadership builds trust, attracts high-value clients, and opens doors for collaboration and media opportunities.

The Key Benefits of Thought Leadership for Your Business

Building Trust and Authority

When you share valuable, original insights, people begin to see you as a trusted resource. This builds credibility, so when potential clients are deciding between you and a competitor, you stand out as the natural choice. This is the effect that helps take away the sales ick and gets you hired instead. 

Attracting Higher-Quality Clients

Thought leadership positions you in front of people who are actively seeking solutions in your area of expertise. This means you’re more likely to attract clients who understand your value and are willing and ready to invest in your solutions.

Expanding Opportunities for Collaboration and Visibility

Being recognized as a thought leader often leads to other opportunities that expand your reach. Having a clear perspective in a specific area makes you an interesting prospect to be podcast guest, speaker or source for an interview.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: You Know More Than You Think You Do

It’s common to doubt your expertise or wonder if you’re “qualified” to be a thought leader. You might think, “Who am I to share my ideas?” or feel that you need more experience before putting your voice out there. You also might feel like you have nothing original to say on the topic. But here’s the truth: If you’ve gained knowledge and insights through your experiences – at work or in life/ paid or unpaid, you’re more than qualified to start.

Recognizing the Value in Your Unique Perspective

Remember, thought leadership is not about knowing everything. It’s about sharing what you know and what you’ve learned with people who are looking for solutions. Maybe you organize information in a unique way that helps people learn faster. Maybe you’re able to give context that other people can’t. Or maybe you’re relatable because you’ve done what your client is trying to do and you are the “see it to be it” example. Everyone’s journey and insights are different, and those differences are what make your perspective valuable.

Taking Action Despite Doubts

Imposter syndrome won’t disappear overnight. Instead of waiting for confidence to magically appear, start sharing content that reflects your expertise and trust that the process will build your confidence over time. Each time you publish a post, record a podcast, or hit send on your newsletter, you reinforce your authority and take a step forward in your thought leadership journey.

Try This Exercise to Launch Your Thought Leadership Strategy 

A prerequisite to using thought leadership as a strategic marketing tool is that you’ve already identified the problem you solve and who your ideal client is. If not, get clear on that first. Then give yourself a nice block of creative time, grab your journal or find a white board, and do some brainstorming around the following questions:

1. How do I want to share my insights and expertise?
The choices are blog, newsletter, podcast or video (YouTube). Start with one and be consistent there before trying to syndicate your content across platforms.

2. Decide what cadence you can commit to.
I think monthly is probably the minimum. I personally publish my blog and newsletter weekly. There are gurus out there in the content marketing space that say you should be putting something out there everyday. I say they may be right, but there’s no way I could stick to that. And if I put that out there and then didn’t do it, I’d end up feeling bad about myself and then probably publishing even less. So don’t do that. Pick something that feels reasonable and good to you.

3. Think about what insights you want to share around your topic.
When I started my blog, I decided that if I could brainstorm 100 topics, I would go ahead and do it. I’ve been creating content consistently since March of 2023 and I still haven’t gotten through the list. That’s because I get inspired by new ideas all the time, but I always have that list to fall back on in case of extreme writers block. It was a great security blanket when I started so maybe that can work for you too. Here are a few other ways to start organizing your ideas:

• Create monthly themes and break each of those into 4 chunks for weekly content
• Create 5-7 key ideas – your greatest hits playlist – and then brainstorm what, why, how content around each of them. One great way to get inspiration for this is to google your topic and then scroll down to the “people also search for” section.
• Use the framework of beginner, intermediate, advanced and build your content around that. Ask yourself what would someone who was a total beginner in this area want or need to know? What if they already knew the basics – how could I help them get to the next level? Finally, what is the expert level of content? This is probably deep, detailed information that assumes prior knowledge.

Just Start

Using thought leadership as the primary marketing strategy for your coaching or consulting business is highly effective and will help you increase your impact in addition to attracting the right kinds of clients. But it will not work if you don’t hit the publish button.

Let me reiterate that this is not about being perfect or knowing everything. It’s about consistently sharing your insights and experiences with the people you want to help.

I promise that you have a unique perspective and that it will set you apart. Be genuine, authentic and tell your story. No one else has traveled your same path.

Building thought leadership is a long-game. But so is building trust, intimacy, and a sustainable business. So the sooner you get started, the sooner you can start attracting the opportunities and the clients that will help your business grow.