Expanding Your Reach Through Thought Leadership| Malcolm Hawker | 447

In a world filled with so many voices, how do you distinguish yourself, and show your value? By sharing your ideas freely, and bringing the audience to you! In today's episode, I've invited Malcolm Hawker to join me for a discussion around the value of sharing thought leadership insights outside of the traditional advisory paywall. Malcolm is the Head of Data Strategy for Profisee Software, where they help enterprises solve complex data quality issues that hold them back from so many initiatives. At a previous company, Malcolm's insights were placed behind a paywall; in order to gain access to his ideas you had to "buy in." Malcolm shares why he moved to a smaller tech firm, ditched the paywall, and immediately saw results. While the larger firm had brand equity and recognition, the freedom of medium and message he's achieved at his new position has allowed him to reach a far broader audience while maintaining alignment with the needs of his company. That's the best of both worlds! Malcolm discusses how he learned to listen to potential clients, and ask probing questions that get right to the root of their issues. This process often takes them into "negative space" – breaking open new topics and challenges that are critical to their future. This is where thought leadership has its most impact for your audience - and they'll reward you with loyalty, knowing that your ideas are sound. In addition to paywalls, scaling, and crafting a narrative, we discuss authenticity and entertainment. Malcolm shares how video can be a powerful tool to reach an audience, but warns that a balance between insight and entertainment must be found in order to bring value to your work. While your audience is unlikely to watch a bland talking head, they're looking for new ideas, insights, and awareness of their challenges that really makes them lean in and say, "This thought leader gets it!" This episode is great for explaining why there's value in sharing your ideas - take a listen, and see if you agree. Three Key Takeaways: * Leaving the paywall behind can have long term benefits that offset the revenue made from being behind the paywall. * As a thought leader for a vendor you need to have separation. If you want to be recognized as a trusted expert in your field you can't simultaneously be peddling your company's product. * Everyone has value to add. Share your ideas and insights and the value will come back to you in time.