As mentioned in my last blog post, one of the motivating reasons I love producing webinars is being able to work with true thought leaders.  These folks educate, entertain and ultimately breathe life into a webinar.

Regardless of their topic, industry and expertise, thought leaders always seem to bring a high level of passion in delivering their content and I always learn something new.

It was an extra special treat as the year 2013 came to an end, that I was able to produce and moderate the above webinar that we delivered on Tuesday 12.17.13.

I would like to share some observations and lessons learned, as well direct you to read a blog post from my featured guest and Thought Leadership Architect, Mitchell Levy, whose recap of our webinar, covering his 4 critical factors of thought leadership, has been turned into a 6 part series.  The post also includes a section on responses to many of the live questions and answers we exchanged during the webinar and a link to watch the recording On Demand.

Here’s my 5 biggest “aha moments” from producing and moderating this webinar:

1. On being designated a thought leader – Most people who are designated as a thought leader stems from the recognition by others that you are considered an expert in your space, and they tend to seek your help.  As a result you become their key “go to” person.

2. They aren’t just celebrities – Thought leaders are not always celebrities or top selling authors.  They are often employees in emerging and global organizations who are ripe to be nurtured and become thought leaders in their own right.  Mitchell believes that at least 60% of all employees are potential thought leaders.

3. A key reason why thought leadership is vital to ones survival -While there are many reasons why thought leadership is vital to ones survival, the fact that we live in an online world where it’s pretty well accepted that over 70% of B2B buyers prefer to do their research online before wanting to speak to a live sales person, we have a limited amount of opportunities we can make on someone to take an interest in how we can help them.  Therefore, we need to make our “first impressions” count so they’ll want to speak with us, or put us on their short list for future consideration.

4.  Creating advocates – One of the best results from being considered a thought leader is in creating advocates and future advocates who will seek out your content or provide positive reviews on your products and services.

5.  Advocates vs. Prospects – While as marketers we want to convert prospects into customers, I now much prefer the term advocate over prospect, as it is more aspirational and aligns with where the buyer is in their journey to become your customer.

To learn more, click here to read Mitchell Levy’s recap.

For a link to view the webinar on demand 24 x 7, click here

What are your thoughts on the importance of nurturing employees to become thought leaders?

Thanks,

Mike