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Become a thought leader through blogging for effective PR and marketing

September 22, 2010

Being quoted by the media is the holy grail of thought leadership, per Josh Sommers, CEO of Focus Media, part of Dow Jones Local Media Group. “It’s one thing to say ‘I’m an expert,’ but being quoted and identified as an expert in the media is much more powerful and vastly increases your credibility.”

How do you get quoted in the media? Become a thought leader writes Sommers in an article in the Times Herald-Record.

Demonstrating yourself to be an expert in your field — a ‘thought leader’ — is a powerful public relations tool to attract new business and create a presence in your industry.

If you’re a principal or manager of a company, chances are good that you’ve become an expert with unique insights or outspoken views about some aspect of your industry. You can put this knowledge to work and leverage it to enhance your company’s marketing.

Sommers is spot on regarding the value of relationships here.

One of the best ways to establish yourself as an expert and thought leader is to create relationships with reporters and become a source they quote in stories or broadcast news reports. This takes work — you’ll have to reach out to the reporters and prove your expertise to gain a position on their contact lists — but it can result in huge rewards.

Reporters are constantly looking for news tips and information about emerging trends, so keep an eye out for news and trends they would be interested in covering.

Presenting story ideas in ‘complete package’ to reporters is one way to get their attention. Blogging, though requiring some effort, is another way to demonstrate thought leadership – and attract attention from reporters and editors per Sommers.

[Blogs] can provide forums to express your views and knowledge while driving traffic to your company’s website.

Starting a blog can be a bigger commitment, though. Blogs ideally should be updated at least once or twice a week, if not daily, so make sure you’ll be willing and able to make that commitment. You might want to consider sharing the writing with employees. This will generate more content, reward key employees and increase their recognition as experts and thought leaders — which in turn will improve your bottom line.

Many lawyers are quick to dismiss thought leadership as a means of marketing and client development. “I don’t need to be an academic. I don’t want to be engaging other thought leaders in my area of practice. I just want people to call me when they need a lawyer.”

The problem is what do good clients look for in a lawyer? Someone who knows what the heck they are doing and who has the reputation as a trusted and reliable authority by the lawyer’s peers and by people having similar legal services needs. Establishing yourself as some who is recognized for innovative ideas and who demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas helps you establish that reputation.

My company, LexBlog, has never pitched a story to a reporter or spent a dime on public relations. Yet I am regularly contacted by reporters for stories they are working on and by conference coordinators to speak. I think it’s because I have have established my self, for lack of a better way to describe it, as a thought leader through my blogging.

I suggest a different approach for building relationships with reporters than Sommers. I reference stories in blog (like here), linking to the reporters LinkedIn profile, referencing a block quote or two, and then provide my take on the subject. I’ll often challenge the reporters thinking.

The reporter usually sees their name mentioned in their RSS feeds and drops me a thank you note — or in the case of a reporter with The New York Times, an email asking if I would have been kinder in my blog post had he quoted me. Both of us having thick skin we got together for coffee when I was in New York. I also connect at LinkedIn with reporters I engage through my blogging.

Plus I get hundreds of pitches from companies and PR professionals by email every week. I don’t need any more and I expect many reporters feel the same. Engaging reporters by sharing a story they wrote with your blog readers seems a more effective and tasteful way to begin a relationship.

Bottom line though I’m with Sommers. “Be a thought leader, and reap the rewards.”

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