The Expert Edge

Thoughts on Thought Leadership

There was an interesting article by Dorie Clark recently on the Harvard Business Review blog, called How to Become a Thought Leader in Six Steps. It has particular importance for consultants, since our value lies in our depth of knowledge. We all strive to be known as leading-edge thinkers in our field of expertise, and consultants often struggle with how to "be known."

The article offers some excellent tips for building a following and standing out from the crowd, but the comments from readers were even more thought provoking.

"The first step in being a thought leader is to BE a thought leader. Being smart is not enough - there are lots of smart people who are not thought leaders." - Fred

"If you really want to be a thought leader you need to be thinking less about leverage and more about listening. Once you've listened for a few years, you may begin to see areas where you can lead." - Timothy Ogden

"...there's a role for everyone in an organization to galvanize and inspire others by their logic or their example." - Dorie Clark

... and many more insightful comments.

So, the first step is to develop an online presence and be part of the conversation. What do you think it takes to become a thought leader today, especially for consultants? Add your comments here on the PATCA blog, or on the HBR blog, or both.

New Strategies to Boost SEO

iMedia Connection recently posted an interesting article about improving search engine rankings through goal-focused keyword research, optimization of internal linking structures, and creation of new content. The piece should be of interest to PATCA members who wish to take a fresh look at improving the SEO results for their websites.

The article, entitled "3 SEO boosters you're missing" by John Carcutt, provides a series of tips for precisely identifying the keywords to target and track. Getting beyond the obvious and general keywords will attract high-quality traffic, and is a better approach than simply seeking to increase the volume of traffic.

Carcutt also talks about a new Google algorithm (Caffeine) that places additional importance on the creation of new content and frequent changes/updates to a site. For the complete story, read the article.