How to Become a Thought Leader as a Business Owner (and Why You Should)

Early in my career, the idea of “thought leadership” wasn’t on my radar. At that time, my focus was primarily on traditional PR strategies tailored to the restaurant and hospitality industry. This included media outreach, event planning, and reputation management to help my clients gain online visibility and attract new and repeat clientele.

And then I remembered how fascinated I’ve been with stories my whole life. My passion for narrative naturally evolved into a commitment to thought leadership, where I leverage the art of storytelling for myself and my clients to share insights, provoke discussions, and influence change.

I quickly saw how much more impactful this approach was, how showing up for podcast interviews and other media opportunities and offering my unique expertise and point of view on PR and business-related topics made new clients much more excited to work with me. 

And, as I started implementing thought leadership strategies into communication efforts for my clients, I saw how their messaging and connection with potential customers was transformed — so The Conscious Publicist became not just a PR advisory, but one focused on thought leadership. 

If you’re not familiar with the term, thought leadership is the practice of positioning yourself as an expert and a trusted authority in your industry or niche. It is about sharing valuable insights, ideas, and perspectives on relevant topics within your field to influence and inspire others.

This might entail appearing on podcasts or TV interviews, serving as an expert source for an article, speaking at events, or even creating content of your own via social media, a newsletter, or a blog. 

Thought leadership works because, these days, customers want to hear directly from the source. Before they hire you, they want to understand if they can trust you and get a taste of what you’d bring to the table if you worked together. 

According to a survey from Edelman and LinkedIn, 64 percent of B2B decision makers say that an organization’s thought leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competency than its marketing materials and product sheets. And 47 percent add that thought leadership led them to discover and ultimately purchase from a newer company. 

But no matter what type of business you run, thought leadership can support your traditional marketing efforts and build awareness, connection, and trust with your potential customers. Through thought leadership, our clients have received spikes in SEO and website traffic, digital visibility, credibility, and an increase in community engagement.

Plus, it can elevate your other PR efforts: Thought leaders are often recognized by journalists, event organizers, and more for their knowledge and innovation and are often sought after for their opinions and expertise. Many of our clients have secured impressive press coverage thanks to their thought leadership work.

Through this approach to thought leadership, I have been featured in Entrepreneur, USA Today, Inc., Nasdaq, and many other reputable media outlets. My clients have also been highlighted in numerous publications and outlets that are directly connected to their subject matter expertise. 

My journey into thought leadership is a testament to the transformative power of narrative, and I am thrilled to share this journey with others who are ready to lead through the stories they tell. Here’s how you can start using thought leadership for your small business marketing.

Choose topics that show off your expertise and support the needs of your customers

Like any type of marketing or branding, thought leadership is most effective when it feels thoughtful and cohesive. So, before I create content for my clients, we develop their thought leadership identity — the core messaging and topics that will highlight their expertise and support their target audience. 

I typically ask questions like:

• What topics do you want to be known for in your industry or niche?
• Who are the people you want to reach, and how can your insights provide value to them?
• Who are your competitors, and how are they thought leaders? 
• What unique perspective do you bring to your industry, and how can you differentiate yourself from other thought leaders in your field?

The topics you build thought leadership around can often be pulled directly from the challenges you’re supporting clients on day to day. For example, if you’re an executive coach, you’ll want to share advice and insights on the transformation your clients experience; a nonprofit may want to build a story around the founder’s inspiration for launching; a stylist can offer thoughts on summer trends.

The biggest challenge for these entrepreneurs and thought leaders is often understanding how their perspective differs from competitors in the field so their content will stand out. 

When defining your unique voice, it often helps to go back to why you started your company in the first place. What problems were you trying to solve? What life events or experiences sparked this idea? This can help tease out the personal experiences that relate to your professional brand.

For example, if you are launching a wellness brand, you may want to share your own journey with self-care, and what the market was missing that led you to create your product or service.

Once you have nailed down your core messaging and narratives, you’ll want to translate them into everything you do from a marketing and PR standpoint. For my clients, I like to summarize everything into a media kit that paints a compelling and cohesive picture of this thought leadership identity. 

If you’re just getting started, a document that includes a short bio that centers around your thought leadership identity, a list of topics you can speak to, and any awards or testimonials you’ve received can be a great jumping-off point.

Find easy opportunities to start sharing your thought leadership

I’ve got good news: Almost any type of content can help you grow your thought leadership, so it’s best to start where you feel most comfortable. 

Love writing? Publish LinkedIn posts or blogs around the areas of expertise you’re looking to highlight. Prefer creating YouTube videos, TikToks, or Instagram Reels? Sprinkle in bite-sized pieces of content that speak to your core topics. 

Experimenting with the channels you’re already active on will help you start building and audience and test different topics to confirm what resonates with them.

Plus, it can provide proof that you know your stuff and are able to engage your target audiences — which is crucial when you…

Start pitching yourself for press opportunities

When you’re ready to start growing your thought leadership to audiences beyond your own, there are so many types of traditional press opportunities with a modern appeal you can pursue, like: 

• Appearing on podcasts or social media lives, videos, or carousels on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more
• Being quoted as an expert in articles related to your work
• Speaking or participating in panels at conferences and events, whether in-person or virtual
• Speaking in mastermind and community groups
• Writing op-eds or guest posts on industry blogs
• Being interviewed in entrepreneurial publications

It can feel intimidating to get your foot in the door in the media world (there’s a reason folks like me build entire careers around it!), but there are so many tools available today to make the process more accessible.

I recommend picking one or two types of opportunities and gaining some traction there before adding others to the mix.

For instance, if you’re interested in podcast guesting — one of my favorite ways to build thought leadership — you can use Matchmaker or PodMatch to find aligned shows to reach out to. 

If you’re hoping to be featured in business publications, platforms like Connectively or Qwoted can connect you with journalists who are seeking expert sources. For adding your insights to multi-expert articles, try Featured. Or, if you’d rather proactively put yourself out there, OnePitch can help you tailor story pitches and identify relevant journalists to reach out to.

Finally, don’t be afraid to start small with local publications, industry blogs, or niche podcasts you love. Yes, getting placement in well-known publications is a dream, but it’s more important to start somewhere and let the momentum build over time.

Plus, these smaller, targeted audiences can be even more engaged and impactful to your business growth.

Stay consistent

One of the most common mistakes I see people make is spending a lot of time and energy focusing on thought leadership and then letting it go dormant — going from having tons of PR recognition that’s promoted on their social media to crickets. 

Consistency is so important when it comes to seeing the impact of thought leadership. I recommend setting aside weekly time to dedicate solely to PR and thought leadership initiatives. 

Luckily, there are small ways to keep the momentum going, even if you’re short on time. For example, leveraging your pre-existing network can lead to opportunities. Reach out to journalists you’ve worked with in the past to see if they have anything coming up you could be a fit for, or re-connect with podcasters to see if there’s an opportunity to talk about a new topic on their show. 

You could consider creating a series around a specific theme or topic to prevent yourself from getting stuck while also building anticipation in your audience. You could even repurpose thought leadership content or press hits into new social posts to make it feel like the coverage is still happening even when things are quieter behind the scenes.

Whatever you do, keep it top of mind. I always say that businesses need to prioritize thought leadership the same way they do sales and other forms of lead generation because they go hand in hand.