In this episode, we talk about how you can go from idea to thought leader and create the path of impact through positioning. In the infopreneur space, you need some really distinct, unique and impactful content to shift people’s behaviors by changing their thinking. It is important because to be considered a thought leader, you have to take unique actions that impacts society, community and individuals.

If we don’t get it right, we are lost in the weeds and no one will see us. We also won’t have any impact and ultimately, there won’t be a future for us. But if we get it right, we are able to stand out. You are going to be known for what you know and your content will be perceived as high value. People will stand and take notice of you.

So the key things you must follow to move from idea to thought leader are:

• Get clear about what you know and think.
• Get out there with your ideas.
• Get good at it as you need to sharpen your skills for the market.

The Thought Leader Platform

It deals with different levels that allows you to shift from idea to thought leader.

1. Qualified Leads: Defining and then finding yourself qualified leads.
2. Relevant Content: Create content that resonates for your audience and is able to have an impact.
3. Leverage Knowledge: Thought leaders should be able to sell what they know. It is about using your knowledge to impact the masses.
4. Noticeable Distinction: Letting the market know who you are by standing out distinctly from the crowd. When your topic comes up, you also must come up out there.

To entice and attract leads, you can follow this model. Even though qualified leads is at the base level, you can start out with creating relevant content and as a result of that, you get qualified leads. Then you can move up in this framework to leveraging knowledge and creating a noticeable distinction.

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Hey everyone, this is Mel Abraham, the author of the #1 bestselling book, The Entrepreneur’s Solution and the founder of Thoughtpreneur Academy where we teach you how to capture, package and monetize the ideas, your wisdom, your expertise, the ideas in your head in a way that gives you more impact, more income and more freedom.

And welcome to this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show and in this episode, we’re going to talk about how do you go from idea to thought leader? And how do you create the path of impact through your positioning? So, I get often asked this question of thought leadership and thoughtpreneurship especially, with Thoughtpreneur Academy and all of that.

This is going to be a little different episode. I’m going to try some things new in this one. So, bear with me. We’re going to see if technology co-operates in this one too. So, but here’s the deal. We’re going to talk about what I call The Thought Leader Platform. And if you want to download the action guide for this episode and you just want to go to MelAbraham.com/session065 or just text me MYLEGACY one-word no-spaces to 38470. I will make sure that I give you the download link for the action guide.

And so, let’s just jump in. Let’s just talk about why this is important, what we are talking about here. This concept of going from idea to thought leader and there is so many people out there, the infopreneur space and people hanging there out and saying, “I’m an expert, I’m an expert, I’m an expert.” And I got to tell you that and this may rub some people the wrong way. There’s a whole lot of junk out there and my perspective is, “How do you really position yourself as the thought leader?”

Now part of this is and I don’t have the time to go into it in a tremendous amount of depth in our episodes here. Part of this is, is you got to do some deep thinking. You got to have some really good content. You got to really have some information that is distinct, unique and impactful; that is going to shift people’s way of thinking.

Remember, the idea is to really shift people’s behaviors through a shift in their thinking. So, if all you’re doing is going out there with the same stuff over and over again, the other people I’ve talked about. I mean, let’s just (like a cliché) the concept of—let me talk about FEAR. Okay?

FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real.

I think it’s so cliché, it’s comical now a days but the fact of the matter is that if you’re going to go out there to speak, if you’re going to go out there to write, if you’re going to go out there to put yourself out there as a thought leader, as an expert then

• We need to go beyond what was already done.
• We need to provide additional perspective.
• We need to provide some depth and some layers and some breadth to what you know.

Put it out there that someone’s going to look at it and go, “This is a new slant. This is a new perspective. Interesting insight.” And that they’re willing to join on with you.

And so, I’m off my soapbox now but I’m going to invite you to think deeply and that’s not really the topic here per say in this episode. Actually, this episode might go over on two episodes because I’m going to talk about in the next episode, how do you, the steps to get there. But I’m going to talk about the framework here in this.

So, let’s just talk about why it’s so important. Why is it important to shift from ideas because ideas are dime a dozen. Ideas, people come up with ideas in the shower, while they’re driving and they never get anything done with them. The only value to an idea is provided by the action you take on that idea. When that idea comes to life and shows up in someone else’s life and makes a difference, now there’s value in those ideas.

Otherwise, they’re just useless thoughts that are bouncing around and not giving any value to the world and so, if you truly want to be considered a thought leader

• It’s about impacting society
• It’s about impacting community
• It’s about impacting the individuals with your thinking

• With your thoughts
• With the information, the insights, the content that you create.

And so, when we look at this, if we don’t get this right and you’re not positioned as a thought leader, you’re lost in the weeds.

• No one’s going to see you.
• No one’s going to find you.
• No one even knows you exist.

You’re just another one of the blabbing, talking heads out there and I know that I may be rubbing some people the wrong way in this but this is kind of a thing that I think we need to call the elephant in the room.

There’s so much information coming out at us on an ongoing basis. A 106 billion searches on Google each and every month and that’s over 40 thousand searches each and every second. There’s so much information coming at us that how do you stand out? Because if we don’t get it right, we’re lost in the weeds.

And if we don’t get it right, we have no impact.

1) because they probably don’t even find us and when they find us, it’s not useful information, it’s not meaningful information so we have no impact and ultimately the challenge is that if that’s the case, we got no future.

So, if you’re really trying to build a business, if you’re trying to build an expertise, if you’re trying to build a practice where you’re known for what you know and you’re known for making a difference with what you know and we can cite a lot of people out there that are in this space.

• A Gary Vaynerchuk
• A Seth Godin
• A Brendon Burchard
• A Jeff Walker
• Guy Kawasaki

All these people are out there, making a difference in shifting lives with what they know. But if you can’t stand out, or have a great impact, then there is no future for you.

But if we get this right, if we get this right, you’re going to stand out.

They’re going to know who you are but they’re not going to know who you are just for who you are, they’re going to know who you are

• Because of the difference you make
• Because of the insights you have
• Because of the information that makes an impact on their life as we move forward.

So, you look at this. There’s a reason that The Entrepreneur’s Solution sold 16 – 17 thousand books in the first two weeks and so, we need to really dig down deep and make sure that we put as much of us into building that content. That’s topic for some other programs, other sessions that we can get into but it’s going to cause you to stand out.

When you move from idea to thought leader in a proper way, it’s going to cause you to stand out. You’re going to be perceived as high value.

People are going to look at it and go, “This stuff is really good.”

And when you see that what’s going to happen is that they’re going to chase you down, they’re going to look for you, they’re going to constantly try to find you because it’s high value. They’re going to talk about what you do and ultimately, people stand and take notice.

And so, when you are out there as the thought leader, as the person that is known for what they know, and that what they know makes a difference or makes an impact; shifts people’s lives, people are going to stand and take notice.

So, if that’s the why, if that’s the important things that we as to why need to get this right, what do we need to know?

• What are the key things that you need to know to move from idea to thought leader?
• What’s that pathway if you will?

And I think the first thing is this: We need to get clear.

You need to get clear about:

• What it is you know?
• What it is you think?
• What it is that is insightful, that is your unique perspective?

In Thoughtpreneur Academy we call it, your unique genius, your unique intelligence and there is processes we go through to try and get clear on that. But without that clarity, if you’re not clear then the market isn’t going to be clear either. So, we need to get you clear with the what it is you know.

The second is you got to get out there.

I got to get clear first then I got to get out there. In other words, if I got clarity on what I know, and I have those insights and I have an idea of how to capture but I never put it out there, it’s not going to do anything. Remember, like ideas, they just die in the darkness.

It’s about the action and the impact you have with those ideas that becomes truly, truly important. So, I got to get clear, I got to get it out there and then, I got to get good at it.

Now, here’s is the challenge is that some people would say, “Oh no, wait a second. Get good at first.”

But I’m going to tell you no. I’m going to actually invite you to go, get clear, get out there and then get good. Because the market’s going to sharpen what you know. The market’s going to be the sharpener of your acts, of your blade. They’re going to turn around and tell you and ask you questions, they’re going to quiz you, they’re going to test you, they’re going to require you to refine your thinking at such a level that you will ultimately get good or you will get going. But I want you go get good. I want you to stick around. I want you to continue to grow.

• But we need to get clear,
• We need to get out there, and
• We need to get good.

We need to be dedicated to the process of grooming ourselves. The process of being better each and every time. The process of nurturing the skills that we call, I call The Mode Essentials in Thoughtpreneur Academy. It’s really about understanding the essentials.

The way you’re going to get out there as a speaker, a writer, a trainer, a mentor, a coach. Any of those things, there’s some essential skills you’re going to need to know but over time we just need to get good at it. Then we will get masterful at it. But the challenge is that what a lot of people do is they say, “Well, I will get good at it first and then I will put it out there.”

And that’s reversed because what they’re really doing is using the getting good at it as a procrastination tool. So, here’s what I want you to do.

• I want you to get clear about what you know,
• I want you to figure out what that message is, what that journey is, and
• I want you to get it out there.

And as you get it out there, refine and define and continue to refine and define it until you get really good at it and stay with it.

So, that’s the process of what it is that we’re talking about in this context of what I call The Thought Leader platform. So, what is the process that deep seated process and the framework.

Now, what I want to do is kind of give you this framework. I’m going to do it in a different way than I’ve done before. I know that some of you have been with me for a lot. We’re on, we’ve done a lot of episodes of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show and a lot of times we do it in a little different way.

But this time, I’m actually going to draw it out for you. It’s going to be like you’re sitting with me on the flipchart. So, if you’re listening to this on the podcast, get over to the YouTube channel and watch this so, you will get a chance to see how this plays out because what I want to do is I’m actually going to take you and draw the framework for you.

So, let me just switch over to my iPad. There we go. So, the Thought Leader Platform. The Thought Leader Platform deals with a couple of different things and there’s a couple of different levels. What this really is, is about how do I create a platform that allows me to shift? So, it’s going to allow you to shift from idea to thought leader. That’s what we’re trying to do.

So, what I call this process is The Platform and so, that’s really what it is. Now, the first part of the process is that in order to get yourself positioned as a thought leader, we got to find ourselves creating Qualified Leads. So, the first step in this is understanding what qualified leads are and you will need to spend some time defining what those leads and then figuring out the axis.

And I’m going to come back in the next episode, I’m going to take you through some of the 3 ways you can get qualified leads. In each of these, I’m going to build these out when I come back in the next episode. Right now, I just want you to understand the framework, get your head around the framework of creating that thought leader platform.

The second piece of the thought leader platform is that we need to create Relevant Content. So, I need to create relevant content meaning that it resonates with someone, it has an impact on someone and again, there’s certain ways to create relevant content. I go really deep into this in Thoughtpreneur Academy and the Thoughtpreneur Launchpad about how do you capture and package your content in a way that’s full spectrum? I will give you a couple of How To’s on this when I come back in the next episode.

And the third piece of this is that we then need to Leverage Our Knowledge. And what I mean by leveraging our knowledge is that as thought leaders, as experts, the only thing we have to sell is what we know. It’s what we know in our head and what we feel in our heart, that’s it and so, the knowledge in order to do that the challenge is that most people focus on, well okay like I did. When I first started out in this business. I’m a CPA by education so our business model (if you will) the worst business model you can come up with is swapping hours for dollars.

The timesheet was created in 1919. You would think we would’ve evolved by now but accountants don’t evolve very quickly and the reality is, is that when we go out there in order and I’ve got so much information.

So, a client comes into my office. I have an hour or two hours with that client and I spend that time with them and I use my knowledge. But I’ve used it once for one person and that’s it. The question is, how do I leverage that knowledge out to put it out there so I can affect many or masses with it?

So, we need to figure out how do we leverage our knowledge? Because if we’re going to be thought of as a thought leader we can’t be known by just one, we got to be known by many. We got to be able to be found. We got to be able to be, when the topic comes up, our name comes up in the process.

So, I’m going to leverage knowledge and then, the last piece is this: Noticeable Distinction. So, those are the 4 levels of the platform. So, noticeable distinction is about, does the market know who you are? Does the market really know who you are and are you standing out from everyone else that is providing a so called solution to the problem that may be you are solving.

And so, it’s about standing out with distinction. Now, why do I use the term noticeable? Why use the term noticeable is that if it’s not noticeable then it may be a distinction only in your mind and I will give you a for instance and I see this all the time because I work with people in this space and a lot of times I’ve worked with a number of accountants and attorneys and they go, “Well, we are better at service.”

Well, that’s not truly a distinction. In other words, when I say noticeable distinction, it’s something that if you mention the name, you know what it is. Like, for instance: If I threw out the name Volvo, you would turn around and say, almost everyone says, “It stands for safety.” Because that was their noticeable distinction. That was their noticeable distinction. Dominos: 30 minutes or it’s on them. That was their noticeable distinction.

So, what is your noticeable distinction? I’m not talking about something cliché. I’m talking about something real and your noticeable distinction is going to be something in the context of how you think and the insights you have. That stands out from everyone else.

Like I said, use the cliché analogy of FEAR. If you don’t have a different way of looking at fear and you just go out there with the same acronym that everyone else does or the same way to look at fear, guess what? There is no distinction. It’s not noticeable and people don’t care. It’s not going to position you as a thought leader.

The idea about the thought leader is that when your topic comes up they think of you. You’re known for what you know and what you know makes a difference. Those two criteria—you’re known for what you know and what you know makes a difference. That’s what makes people search you out. That’s what makes people willing to pay premium prices to make sure that they get in your sphere of influence, in your insights and to get that information.

So, this is the Though Leader Platform.

This is the path that you need to take to really start to begin this journey. There’s a lot of other things we need to do but if I can get the qualified leads and I can do that with relevant content, and I leverage that knowledge with noticeable distinction, now things start to shift.

Now here’s the interesting thing: What I typically will do, is I will actually start with: If this as 1, 2, 3 and 4. I actually, will start with number 2 first. Creating the relevant content because through that relevant content, it helps us with one of the ways that we get qualified leads and it gives us information to leverage our knowledge and helps create the noticeable distinction.

So, although qualified leads is at the base level, we need to use something, kind of that the bait on the hook. Now, I don’t mean that in a negative way but something that entices them, something that attracts them to them and we will get deeper in the summaries in the next episode but the key is to start thinking about ask yourself this—as you look at your practice, as you look at what you’re doing in your world:

• Do you have a flow of qualified leads? If you don’t we need to fix that.
• Do you have a flow of relevant content from you that’s relevant? If you don’t, we need to fix that.
• Are you leveraging the leads in the content with your knowledge? And if we don’t, we need to fix that.
• And do people know who you are for what you know and the difference it makes? And if not we need to fix that.

That’s the game that we need to play to elevate it.

So, I hope that you found this of value. I want you to start to look and reflect on what it is you’re doing in your practice.

• Are you somewhere between idea and thought leader?
• Or are you at the thought leader place?
• Do you want to be in that thought leader place?

And can we get these 4 elements working for you so you create the platform that’s necessary to get you there and in the next episode, I will go deeper on some of these things and try to give you some more specific steps to this but right now, I just wanted to get that framework in your head to start thinking in the way that thought leaders think and understanding that platform to make it come true.

So, here’s the thing: As you move forward on this, let me know how I can serve you. Let me know how I can support you. Download the action guide for this, it’s called The Thought Leader Platform. You can download it by going to MelAbraham.com/session065 or just text me MYLEGACY one-word to 38470 and I will send you the download link.

And then again, as always, do me a favor? I mean, I’m having a tremendous amount of fun and having a chance to dialogue with many of you. Share this with a friend. Let me know your comments, your questions. Stay with me. Make sure that you are subscribed to this and let’s be on this journey together. Let’s have some fun. Let’s make a difference as we move forward and let’s make it rock and roll.

And if you got a question for me, go to AskMelNow.com and just leave me your question, your comments; whatever it is. Whether it’s on thought leadership, thoughtpreneurship, wealth, entrepreneurship, success; whatever it is, leave me your comments, your questions and let’s get it on The Entrepreneur’s Solution show. Let me guide you and let me be your entrepreneurial mentor, your thoughtpreneur mentor as we move forward.

So, I hope again that this serves you and I feel like it’s a blessing to me to be here with you and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode and seeing the amazing, incredible things that you’re all doing and I love hearing about it. So, make sure you keep me posted on that.

And until we get a chance to see each other in the next episode,

May your vision be grand, you journey epic and your legacy significant!

See you soon. Cheers, bye!!

— End Transcript —

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Like this? Please share it and help a few more people bring their dreams out of the darkness and give life to them again. Cheers, Mel

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