LISTEN TO THE LATEST PODCAST EPISODE:

Using Leveraged Knowledge & Noticeable Distinction For Positioning

SUMMARY

In this episode, we continue our journey from idea to thought leader as we dig deeper and talk about the final two levels of the Thought Leader Framework. The final two levels are Leverage Knowledge and Noticeable Distinction.

Leverage Knowledge

  1. Building Content in Layers: It is about creating content in such a way that you have layers of information around it and you can continue to teach over and over again at different levels depending on the audience and time. You can build frameworks and models to bring a level of awareness and distinction.
  2. Repurposed: Repurposing is about working on something from the beginning and creating it in such a way that it can have multiple uses. Your ideas and information then can be used for speeches, training programs, mentorship, coaching, authoring and facilitating. You just have to build it right from the start.
  3. Consistency: Consistency is the key. You have to create and present your content using different mediums in a consistent basis. If you do it randomly, your followers might not stick around. But if you create it periodically on a regular basis making sure that it is relevant, it will build a momentum and you will gain followers.

Noticeable Distinction

  1. Clear: Understand your customer and build a clear distinction in their minds. Get in their shoes, hearts and minds to know what they are feeling and thinking. Understand the solutions that you are looking for and make sure that they are clear on the fact that you have what they are lacking in.
  2. Valuable: Your solution to the problem must be valuable enough so that people are willing to pay for it. If they don’t see it as valuable, they will not buy it. So, make sure that your market sees it as valuable.
  3. Recognizable: What you do and create must be recognizable. The marketplace must know that it is coming from you and they must have a certain association with your content and products.

— Begin Transcript —

Hey there, Mel Abraham here 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 in your head, the thoughts, the expertise, the wisdom you have in a way that creates impact, more income and more freedom.

And welcome back to this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show and in this episode, we’re going to continue our journey from idea to thought leader. To talk about the thought leader platform as I’ve framed and I’ve introduced you a few episodes ago to the thought leader platform framework and now we dig deeper into 2 layers of the framework and we’re going to finish it up in this episode and so, I hope that you will find that this is helpful in trying to figure out:

  • What does it take to get you positioned as a thought leader?
  • What does it take for you to be that thought of expert when the topics comes up?

Whether it’s leadership or corporate culture or parenting or fitness or whatever it is that you become the name that comes. That’s what thought leadership is about.

As I said before, thought leadership is really about being known for what you know and having what you know make a difference. So, that’s really the key behind it. Again, I’ve got The Thought Leader Platform action guide. If you want to download it, go to MelAbraham.com/session067 and you can download that action guide.

And if you’re not by your computer, you’re out running around, you’re running errands, you’re grocery shopping, you’re at the gym; whatever it is, then go ahead and just text me. Text me MYLEGACY one-word no-spaces to 38470 and we will make sure that I send you the download link directly to your mobile device. And then you can get it when you get back to your house, your office or wherever your computer is.

And so, that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s jump in. Let’s go back. Again, I know this is a review for those of you that have been through it a little bit. But let’s just go back real quickly and I’m going to go through this really quick here is that the concept of idea of thought leader and why it’s important.

I said that the key is that we’re trying to stand out from the crowd and if we don’t get it right, if we don’t do the things that I’m telling you to do, what happens is we get lost in the weeds. That you can’t be found; no one knows that you exist and ultimately, you have no impact and if you have no impact, then the reality is that no one is seeing value in it and ultimately, there is no future.

  • So, we need to get out of the weeds,
  • We need to have an impact, and
  • We need to create a future.

And when we get this right, when we really build it out right and we understand that we’re putting our deep thinking and we’re creating valuable content and we’re creating it on a consistent basis then what happens is that ultimately you stand out. You stand out from the crowd and people know that you’re there.

And really, what happens is that they start to see what you’re doing as value and that value is the exchange of the impact and the transformation that they have in their life because of what you know. And so, they see it high valued and ultimately, they stand and take notice. They stand and take notice and they not only do that, they search you out

And as I said before, you need to know a couple of things really to bring this home. So, what are the key points that you need to know?

And ultimately, is that 1) you got to get clear. You got to get clear on what it is you know.

  • What are your unique insights?
  • What are the perspectives that you bring to the table?
  • What’s that uniqueness?

Not something that is clichéd.
Not something that is gimmicky.
Not something that has been done before.

Because there’s … we got plenty of imitators out there in the world. We don’t need that. What’s happening is you’ve got an audience out there that is hungry for your perspective on that topic area.

Like I said, it doesn’t matter whether it’s productivity, leadership, parenting, fitness, health, wealth. It doesn’t matter what it is. There is plenty of people out there but there is an audience out there just for you that is waiting because the way you have the message, they’re your unique insights that will resonate with them. So, get clear on it.

Get it out there. Too many times we have our ideas but we never do anything with them because

  • We’re either scared
  • We’re unsure
  • We’re not sure how to do it
  • We don’t feel like we’re good enough

Whatever the reasons are get it out there because

  • There is a person that needs to hear what you have to say.
  • There is a person that needs to have the tools that you’re going to bring to bear.
  • There is a person that needs to understand how to get out of where they’re at and to move to a different place.

And you have the answer. So, let’s get it out there and then, get good at it. Listen, you will see me repeatedly on stages talk about be okay with getting clunky. I get okay with being clunky. I do clunky well. I’ve done some crazy things some of you have probably heard that the story of my very first webinar.

My very first webinar, I had no idea. I was running the technology and ultimately, the webcam went on which is not a problem except that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. So, oops yeah. But I survived. I have survived 200 people on a webinar sitting there saying, “Hey, Mel’s got not shirt on.”

The point is that get it out there and be okay with being clunky. You will get better at it, get good at it and really move from there.

So, that leads us to the framework which we’ve kind of being going through in the last couple of episodes. Now, we’re going to complete it here and there is more to drill down, there is a lot more that I can give you on

  • Building a Thoughtpreneur practice,
  • Creating content,
  • Creating layers, and
  • Understanding how to create full spectrum ideas.

But this will at least get you started thinking in the right way to do that and so the information that we started with really was based on our framework, The Thought Leader Framework, the 4 things that we need to know. 1 is qualified leads, relevant content and leverage knowledge and noticeable distinction. Those are the four elements.

Now, I started to dig a little deeper and I’m going to take you back to my iPad so we will finish up building this framework out for you. So, let me take us back to the iPad so we can finish out the framework.

And so, here it is. Now, we talked about the qualified leads and we said that the qualified leads could be bought, borrowed or brought in there and that we needed relevant content. Now, I also told you that if you don’t have relevant content that’s the place to start.

In fact, this is the place that I would start—building relevant content. Getting used to building relevant content and getting it out there. The next stage though, the next 2 levels of this platform framework really deal with leveraged knowledge and noticeable distinction. So, one of the things that I want you to understand is that the leveraged knowledge is really about 3 things.

First, it’s about building your content in layers. And what do I mean by that?

I mean that I don’t want you to build content in a sense that you just got one litter surface layer. I want to have layers of information around it that you can continue to teach and speak over and over again at different levels depending on the audience and depending on the time.

Like this framework that I’ve got, I’m teaching you; if you look at it, I taught you layers. I started introducing you the concepts of the framework, then I’m teaching you deeper in layers and there is more levels to this and on each of these different elements. I could teach on this one framework for a week if I really wanted to. I’m not going to do that to you yet.

So, but teach in layers. In other words, there is a level of awareness that you can bring, there is a level of distinction that you can bring and the way to do this is really to build frameworks, build models and think deeper than just bullet points in doing that.

The second thing to leverage your knowledge is to think about how what you know can be repurposed.

In other words, what a lot of thought leaders and a lot of people do is they say, “Well, I’m a speaker” and they create a speech and they go out and they give the speech but then they get a call for; to may be just write an article for a conference for an association. And they go and then write the article.

Here is what I’m talking about repurposing. It’s not about taking something you’ve already done and use it again. It’s about creating something that from the beginning as you’re creating it is built in a way to have multiple uses. In others words, if I capture my ideas, my thinking, my information in a proper way, I can use the same information

  • For a speech,
  • For a training,
  • For mentorship,
  • For coaching,
  • For authoring,
  • For facilitating.

For any different modality because I’ve build it right. So, you need to understand, we need to understand: How do you build that information in a way that allows me to put it out there repeatedly without necessarily having to recreate it? So, it’s about creating it once and delivering it often. So, we got to capture that information in a unique way. We call it in Thoughtpreneur Academy and Thought leadership, we call it an IP snapshot to bring that to life.

And then, the third piece of this is really about consistency. Now, I know some people will say, “Oh, but you need to also have technology.” You’re right. Technology helps us get it out there but what I’m talking about is how do you leverage the information that’s here, the information that is here in your head and in your heart.

  • And so, I need to build it in layers.
  • I need to be able to build it with re-purposing in mind from the beginning.
  • And then, I need to get it out there on a consistent basis.

Consistency is the key. If all I did was my podcast and my YouTube channel once every 3 months, 4 months; I’m not going to get a following. People aren’t going to get to know me. But doing a weekly show and doing daily broadcasts and doing things on a regular, consistent basis is what starts to build momentum and build a following.

So, at this stage if you’ve got it, you’ve got it dialed in after the last couple of episodes of understanding, “Well, what’s the relevant content that I’m creating? (Getting that done) How am I building my qualified leads?” Now, we need to figure out, “Alright, what’s the consistency, the frequency in which I’m going to get it out there?” Get my information out there and the consistency in which it’s going to get out there.

Then we can look at the tools. The tools/technology is never the hurdle although we use it as a hurdle. We buy technology. It will serve us. It’s the utility that gets it out there and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter how. Look, I got a watch on. I don’t care how my watch works. I don’t care how the technology works. I just care that it does and so, we will hire the technology to permeate it and get it out there. But having all the technology in the world but not creating the content isn’t going to serve you. So, let’s get the knowledge leveraged first.

Which brings us to this last piece of the thought leader platform and that’s Noticeable Distinction. So, when I talk about this in this context, I’m looking at it a lot

  • From your market’s eyes
  • From your customer’s eyes.
  • From your client’s eyes

> Not necessarily from you.

You may look at it and start to say, pound your chest and say, “I’m distinct, I’m unique” and this and that. It doesn’t matter what you believe if the market doesn’t believe the same. And I know that I’m being rough about it but it’s true. If the market doesn’t see what you think is distinct then we need to either get them to see it or it isn’t that distinct. It’s not valued by them.

They may see it as distinct but they don’t place any value on it. So, we need to make sure that it does that. So, how do we create noticeable distinction?

1) That distinction needs to be clear in your customer’s minds and so, the best way to do this is start to understand your customer. Now some people use the term “Avatar”.

  • I just want you to get in their shoes.
  • I want you to get in their heart.
  • I want you to get in their mind.
  • I want you to know what they are feeling, what they are thinking.
  • I want you to understand who are the people they are talking to?

And get out there and the best way to do that is to go out and talk to them. The people you want to serve

  • See where their pain points are,
  • See what their aspirations are,
  • Understand what it is they’re looking for,
  • Understand what it is they’re lacking.
  • What are the things that they are searching for?
  • What’s lacking in their current solutions?

Figure that out. So, when you go out there, it’s clear to them that you have these solutions that has the things that they’ve been looking for before.

That they find it Valuable. Remember? It’s something that they; in order for them to buy it, they got to feel like it’s value to them. If they don’t see it as valuable, they’re not going to buy it. So, one of the things to think about is how that plays out.

Remember, it may be a solution to a problem. They may have the problem. But the problem is not that big so they’re not willing to pay for the solution. So, they need to see it as valuable. So, what is the distinction that you think you have and make sure the market sees it as valuable.

And then, it needs to be Recognizable. It needs to be recognizable and what do I mean by that? I mean that the marketplace needs to recognize it. That you need to be recognized for that distinction. I used the example before about Volvo being known for its safety. BMW talks about making driving machines. You look at the recognition of certain brands like The Ritz or Four Seasons in the hospitality space versus a Motel 6. They’re all known, they all have recognizable distinctions. Motel 6 is one thing. St. Regis, The Ritz, Four Seasons is a totally different thing.

But they all have recognizable, noticeable distinctions. So, that’s the thing that I think starts to come about. It needs to be clear on your marketplace’s eyes. They need to value it and they need to recognize you for it.

If you want to know more about getting distinction then one of the ways to do it is give my buddy’s book Scott McKain’s book, The Collapse of Distinction. It’s an incredible book.

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But this is the full model of The Thought Leader Platform. Now, I can dig deeper because remember, I say, we do it in layers. But this is enough to get you started to understand, “How do I get from idea to thought leader? How do I really build it in a way that gets me from idea to thought leader?”

  • To build that platform
  • To do that

So, again where are your-

  • Qualified leads
  • Relevant content
  • Leverage your knowledge, and
  • Create noticeable distinction.

And do it on a consistent/persistent basis.

Get yourself out there.

That will shift the perception of the marketplace, your position in the marketplace.

  • It will shift the way you get paid.
  • It will shift the way you’re perceived.
  • It will shift the way people search you out.

That’s the key to becoming a thought leader in the space.

So, I hope that you found this of value to you. I hope that you see that this is the way to really start to build yourself into this thought leader space, this thoughtpreneur practice. And there’s a lot of ways to go deeper. I know that I’ve got, I teach some of the, a lot of different programs in Thoughtpreneur Academy, Thoughtpreneur Launchpad and that type of stuff to help people out with doing this.

But this is enough for you to get started. Download the thought leader platform action guide. You can get that MelAbraham.com/session067 or just text me again. MYLEGACY one-word to 38470 and I will make sure that I get you that download link. If you got questions or if you want to go further, if you got questions, go to AskMelNow.com. Leave me your questions, your comments and I will make sure that I get it answered or get back to you in some way, shape or form.

And at the same time, make sure you are subscribed. Make sure you are subscribed so I’m there to be able to support you and support you in your journey, to help you out, to answer your questions and be your mentor along your thoughtpreneur or your entrepreneur journey as we go through this.

And do me a favor, would you do me a favor? I want to get as many people on this bandwagon as possible so, share this with a friend. Just go ahead and click the share button. Let’s get it out there with a friend and let’s put it out there.

And again, thank you for being here. Thanks for being with me. Thanks for being in this community. I feel blessed to be part of this and be on this journey with you. And until we get a chance to see each other again and see you in another 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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