The Idea Mill
Insights + Observations About the Power of Content
My co-host, Curtis Hayes, and I put the wraps on the first season of our Bullhorns and Bullseyes podcast recently, recapping the big takeaways and lessons learned from our guests during the first 40 episodes. Click through to watch the episode and learn more about Season One of Bullhorns and Bullseyes.
Adrian Lurssen tells the story of when he went to see Nelson Mandela deliver an address in his home country of South Africa. He still draws upon the experience today, but in the most unusual context.
As Adrian has recounted this tale to Jay Harrington and me on an episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast, he likens this notion of a praise singer to how we considers thought leadership content to work on behalf of the expert that shares it.
In Adrian’s estimation — one I happen to share — thought leadership content serves in the capacity of being one’s praise singer. It exists out in the world to tell everyone how smart you are, what you know, what you think, what you can do, how you solve problems. “It sings your praises,” Adrian notes, “even when you’re not there in the room to do it yourself.”
See how…
Why start a podcast?
For fame? Fortune? Celebrity? Unlikely…
If the question were reframed as "Why establish a content marketing platform that isn't about writing and reading, doesn't require video, isn't about SEO...but during which you can captivate the undivided attention of a listener for 30-45 minutes — and at the same time, yield enough content for multiple blog posts, a newsletter, several short videos and one long one, plus the naturally generated text that will improve your website's search engine visibility?"...
Why?
It's a simple question. So why do so many ignore it?
The Power of Why is no longer just a clever title for an impactful TEDTalk delivered by Simon Sinek...it's an obligation.
Curtis Hays and I dive deep into the importance of "intent" this week on the Bullhorns and Bullseyes #podcast — both from a messaging standpoint but, importantly, also from a search engine perspective.
So, if you've been ignoring my pleas to "LEAD WITH THE WHY" up until now, that is no longer just evasive procrastination...it's putting you behind your competitors in the all-important search engine competition.
Jay Harrington is president of the HARRINGTON agency and is one of the country’s leading consultants and strategists in the areas of legal marketing, PR and business development. His particular passion and profound area of expertise is building a network and growing an audience on LinkedIn to generate more and better new business opportunities.
In this podcast crossover event — Tom and Jay also separately co-host the Thought Leadership Project podcast — Curtis and they discuss tips for publishing thought leadership and content marketing on LinkedIn.Together, they explore the engagement metrics on the platform and the effectiveness of using LinkedIn as an advertising platform. They also highlight the importance of understanding your audience and narrowing your niche, as well as the need for sustained effort and consistency in creating thought leadership content on LinkedIn.
If you are producing a podcast to grow your business—and not be the next internet celebrity—you don’t need to appeal to everybody. You only need to serve a very distinct and defined core audience. Unless you’re the next Joe Rogan or Howard Stern, you’re not going to amass an audience of millions. But that’s not the point.
Here’s how business owners and professional service providers can take advantage of the fastest-growing form of media out there today…and have a little fun doing it.
Anyone who knows me knows my love and admiration for #podcasting. I find it fun, effective, immersive and rewarding for so many reasons.
Imagine my joy when Jay Harrington wrote me to tell me we were going to be hosting Jonah Perlin on our Thought Leadership Project podcast to talk about podcasting!
In the most recent episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast, Tom and Jay provide their take on AI and its impact on service professional careers and content marketing. They define and share tips on building a powerful personal brand. And they address the importance of being interested in and excited by the subject matter of the content you create in order to make content creation a sustainable effort.
In the latest episode of the Thought Leadership Project podcast, Tom Nixon and Jay Harrington describe the new paradigm of thought leadership content marketing for business-to-business professional services, known as the 95:5 Rule of marketing. It’s all about building trust with an audience when they don’t have an immediate need for your services, so that when they do they naturally think of you.
