It’s hard to imagine how enormous the Internet is, especially nowadays. As the pandemic shocked the world, millions of people turned to online businesses to help them maintain the common flow of life.
As you can imagine, thousands of businesses rushed online to the rescue. So, the Internet has grown.
There are over 5.6 million blog posts published every day! That’s over 200,000 publications per hour! Just try to get an idea of the creativity level you need to stand out from such a crowd. Of course, you don’t have to fight 199,999 businesses every day because the number is divided by niches.
But one niche has a sufficient number of companies for a rough competition.
And there’s a way to narrow it down and get first place (or at least get to TOP-10). Becoming a thought leader. Speaking so people will listen.
Becoming a Thought Leader as a Way to Win Public Attention
Who’s a thought leader and what niches need one?
In brief, this is a person people really listen to. They don’t just hear them or read their posts for fun. They listen and comprehend. They quote and refer to, dramatically boosting brand awareness.
And all niches need a thought leader or two (or 10).
This means that even if there are such people in your industry at the moment, it doesn’t mean you can’t make your voice another great source of reference.
And in terms of link building, people considered thought leaders get links and mentions a lot without any help. Link building is the creation of such conditions under which other resources will post links to you, your brand, your website, etc. It takes hard work to get you mentioned or quoted as a thought leader.
Before you become such an important person and/or brand, the best guest blogging services will help you trigger the process. But we’ll talk more about this later on.
So, how do you become a thought leader? We have several ideas in mind, and the most important uses your voice. Not writing but voice.
The Thinking Process of a Leader
First of all, it’s important to understand what you’ll have to provide. Someone who’s considered a leader doesn’t only relay information already known to people. They may use it as an argument, but you’ll also have to:
- Provide innovative ideas
- Offer step-by-step solutions
- Highlight the most important problems and pains of your target audience
The hard thing is that you can’t just buy the leadership or brand yourself like this. This is a position to be earned.
But when you do earn the title, all the other millions of posts in your industry will be white noise compared to the one thought you publish on the website.
So, let’s see how you can get to such heights AND implement link building strategy:
- Conduct original research and come to results that weren’t published before
- Start a podcast and use your voice (in every sense) to gain the trust of the wide audience
- Host webinars to, again, use your voice and expertise to build relationships with the target audience
- Take up public speaking; take part in conferences and other events in your industry
Let’s review all these methods in more detail.
Conducting Research
Most guest articles and/or general posts on blogs refer to some kind of stats or research. These elements make every piece of writing more reliable. Usually, the number of links authors can use is quite limited.
Become a part of this limited group of authors with your own research.
You’ll cover two needs with this approach:
- People will refer to your research, boosting brand awareness and paving the way to leadership.
- You’ll become a part of a community that shares original content, which is very small yet valuable.
You see, most people in all industries are great SEO experts, not researchers. That’s why their articles that don’t have any new information get to TOP-10 in Google.
Besides, conducting your own research isn’t all that difficult. First of all, you already have expertise in the niche. So, it will be easier for you to find the needed information. Then, you already must have a target audience to survey if it’s necessary for the research (it usually is).
Plus, while considering the topic, if you have simple questions that need quick answers, use digital tools like answerout.com. The Internet is full of information waiting to be put in order and adapted to the common user comprehension level.
Creating a Podcast
Along with conducting researchers and having a lot of original information to share with the target audiences, invest in starting a podcast. The power of your voice is much greater than you may think.
Besides, a lot of people perceive information better when it’s put in an audio format. And if it’s somewhat entertaining, you have a win-win!
There are several benefits to having a podcast if you want a lot of mentions, links AND a title of a thought leader:
- You bond with people through your voice
- You can invite guests who are important in your area of expertise
- Podcasts are quite easy to produce
- You’ll have a lot of links referring to your podcast and/or facts mentioned in it
And if you take up content marketing, you’ll hit the perfect combo. Imagine a picture:
- You have original information from your research
- You invite an important person to talk on a topic
- You create a high-quality (not boring) podcast
- You use content marketing to promote it a little bit for the people to catch up
Voila! They talk about you, use links to your podcasts, mention you in their social media profiles, quote you, etc.
And you know what? Not much investment is needed to actually start a podcast. All you need is your expertise and a recorder.
Hosting Webinars
Hosting a webinar will also help you in several ways. Such content will generate a lot of links to your persona, first of all, but only if you provide valuable information. Plus, usually, webinars are held to A) talk about an issue and B) offer a solution people have to pay for.
This is a method of promotion of products, services, closed communities, informational products, etc.
In one webinar, you can:
- Tell people about your brand and/or mission
- Show yourself and build trust with the audience
- Use your voice to influence people
- Promote your products and services
- Provide useful information users will alter share on other services
Becoming the voice of your brand, you can impact people’s psyche and build relationships, getting dramatic conversion rates from the smallest audience influx.
Taking Up Public Speaking
There are two ways in this case:
- You apply to take part in an event
- You’re invited to speak at the event
The first case implies you’re building a reputation, wanting to contribute to, say, a conference and present your research, brand, or both.
The second case means you’re already considered a thought leader, which is, of course, good news.
Both cases will give you quality links and mentions from people attending the event. Especially if the event is important for the industry. News websites will write about it, referring to you with a link to your site or blog. Other participants will write or record reviews of the event and mention you if you impact them in any way.
And finally, you can review the event and get links for the valuable info you shared.
Wrapping Up
Your voice is a powerful tool when it comes to link-building and networking. Conferences and other events will give you an opportunity to find partners, a podcast will get you a myriad of links, and so will the research you’ll conduct.
The key action here is to start. Pave your way to leadership with the first small podcast or webinar, and you won’t regret it!
Mary Hunter is a successful American freelance lifestyle blogger with advanced writing skills. She had experience in editing, marketing, and her works appeared in different publications and website articles. Her main goal in life is not to set up any goals and keep working every day.