In last week’s blog post, I got on my soapbox (metaphorically), raised a pitchfork (still metaphorically speaking!) and let fly about the growing number of braggarts, spotlight seekers and bro’ marketers who are infecting social media.
“In an online world increasingly inhabited by grandstanders, wannabes and hucksters, it’s only natural for credible operators – solopreneurs, founders and professional experts – to shy away from putting themselves out there, creating content, putting forth an opinion, and building a presence in the marketplace.
“I mean, who wants to compete with noisy, self-serving braggarts? It’s tiring, and if we push harder just to be heard, does that mean we start looking and sounding like them?
[ Read last week’s article: Do you want to give up? I know I sometimes do ]
My message was to take the high ground: to draw a line in the sand, and start standing out for all the right reasons.
To be bold.
To take a stand.
To run our own race, and make our own mark.
In this article: I’d like to channel that frustration – frustration that I know a lot of you feel – into some foundational steps, things we can do to start cutting through the noise, distinguishing ourselves from the competition (including the ‘bad guys’), and leaving a positive and memorable impression.
Putting ‘strategic separation’ between you and the braggarts and hucksters
The idea is to put what I call ‘strategic separation’ between us (credible entrepreneurs and professionals) and them (the internet ‘baddies’).
Following are some ideas on how we can do exactly that – with passion, purpose and strategic intent.
#1 – Vision
Understand your vision: What’s the professional path you’ve set for yourself? What are your goals and aspirations?
Virtually every business owner I’ve ever worked with has the goal of growing their enterprise; usually this involves generating more leads and sales.
All good, but it’s usually a lot more substantial than that: They want to build a brand they’re proud of, create an impact over and above their products and services, and in many instances, leave some sort of legacy, a professional imprint of sorts.
Having a strong grasp of what it is you want to achieve, and then supporting that vision with purposeful PR and communications activities across owned, earned and social media will help keep you focused on a direction that works for you both professionally and personally.
WHY DO THIS? I’d suggest the grandstanders, spotlight seekers and bro’ marketers out there do have goals, and most of them would be very self-centred and one-dimensional: to make money, and/or become ‘famous’. Being able to articulate, package and communicate a vision that runs counter to that will create a ‘moat of uniqueness’ around your brand and separate you from the herd of hucksters, pretenders and wannabes.
#2 – Values
Understand your personal and professional values is foundational to building a personal brand that’s authentic and true to oneself, and will pay dividends for you down the track, both internally (i.e. planning and decision making) as well as externally (consistent messaging and communications).
Once you’re clear on who you are and what you’re all about, then the challenge is to ensure anything you do from a content perspective is aligned with those personal brand values, core beliefs and philosophies.
What does ‘values-content alignment’ look like? Here are some scenarios, or examples, to get you thinking:
- IF building trust and reputation is important to you, don’t fall for clickbait headlines or get sucker-punched into creating a ‘viral video’ that might get views but do little for your brand.
- IF you value the power of story, commit to telling your story – as well as other people’s – through your content.
- IF you believe in transparency in business and communications, create content that takes people ‘behind the velvet rope’ of your company (or projects, or professional life).
- IF reinforcing a thought leadership positioning in the marketplace is paramount for your brand and your business, avoid publishing turgid listicles or creating content that simply ‘pumps your tyres’; instead, become part of a bigger picture – develop a point of view, put your ideas and insights out there and be ready to join in the debate on social channels.
- IF being useful and helpful for people is high on your agenda, then go deeper on relevant topics than anyone else, and don’t forget to make sure this ethos carries through everything you do on social media (and in person, at events for example).
- IF building and cultivating an engaged audience is important to you, avoid spamming your subscribers with too many over-the-top sales pitch emails.
- IF contributing value to the world is something you hold dear, give yourself permission to tell bigger stories, to build deeper connection with those in your ‘digital neighbourhood’, versus always be chasing more clicks and views with your content.
WHY DO THIS? As a rule, the grandstanders, spotlight seekers and bro’ marketers care little for principles and values. That’s why they do what they do i.e. (a) make it all about them, and (b) show little respect for people’s time and intellect. At the very worst, they have no scruples. I therefore recommend taking the opposite tack: publicly stand by your principles, and genuinely communicate your values through your content, presentations and conversations wherever possible.
#3 – Viewpoint
I have long emphasised the importance of having a strong perspective and solid viewpoint when positioning oneself as subject matter expert or thought leader.
For the record, genuine experts and thought leaders are professionals who not only possess strong knowledge and expertise in a particular field, but also consistently demonstrate their credibility by taking a stance, voicing opinions, and publishing high-quality content across multiple channels.
They also have the ability to drive high-level debate and conversation around their area of expertise – and willingly choose to do so.
Thought (and knowledge) leadership goes beyond simply being useful or helpful. It involves exploring ideas in public, attempting to change the way people think about topics or issues through insights, experience and wisdom.
While subject matter experts focus on deep domain knowledge and best practices (and are not afraid to voice their opinion or share their viewpoint accordingly), thought leaders aim to play a bigger game by:
- Delving into new and different ideas
- Pushing boundaries of thought
- Challenging established ways of thinking
- Being more upfront and provocative with their ideas and insights
- Exploring challenging concepts in public through their content
By taking this approach, experts and knowledge leaders can elevate discussions, spark debates, and potentially reshape perspectives within their field of expertise.
WHY DO THIS? Because grandstanders, spotlight seekers and bro’ marketers focus on hogging attention (to feed their ego) and/or to simply feed their sales machine (it’s a quantity game for these guys, not a quality one). But if you take the time to read extensively, listen to other people’s points of view, do your research, connect dots, and develop unique ideas and perspectives, this will definitely set you apart for all the right reasons. It takes time and effort, if not a little courage to do so. You need to stretch your brain a bit. Most people – grandstanders and bro’ marketers included – are not willing to do that, preferring to do little, or rely on hacks and shortcuts (and the latest ‘shiny new thing’) to stand out and gain attention. There’s a reason people are increasingly outsourcing their thinking (and writing) to AI apps! #RoadToNowhere
And let’s not forget mindset!
Of course, in order to do much of the above, in all likelihood we need to adjust our mindset, or as I like to call it, a PR mindset.
I see there are five pillars underpinning a PR mindset. I wrote about them in more detail in a previous post, but here they are in summary:
- CONNECT – a willingness and drive to build human connection with key audiences and engage in activities that will bring us closer to the people who matter most to the success of our business
- SHARE – a willingness and drive to openly (and publicly) share our ideas, insights, knowledge and wisdom through speaking, social media posts, media interviews, and long-form content
- SPARK – a willingness and drive to enthusiastically participate in two-way communications with our audience, sparking conversation and igniting debate to get people thinking more deeply about topics and issues we want to be associated with
- EXPERIMENT – a willingness and drive to try new things, whether that’s a different publishing format, a new social networking app or AI tool, or a unique content-driven project, or platform
- SUSTAIN – a willingness and drive to continue to front up day after day, to make PR, content and digital communications activities an integral part of our work week on an ongoing basis.
READ MORE ABOUT PR MINDSET HERE.
ROUNDING UP …
So, how are we feeling?
Take the time to let this percolate (or as a friend likes to say, to marinate).
- If you haven’t already done so, start thinking about your goals and aspirations (VISION) – what’s your mission? What are you trying to achieve? Be brave, think bigger!
- Get to know yourself a bit better: What principles do you adhere to? What are your non-negotiable ‘rules of the road’? (VALUES)
- And finally, start developing some perspectives around key topics relating to your field(s) of expertise (VIEWPOINT); be bold with your opinions when writing articles, and posts for social media; speak with conviction, whether that’s through your video content, or in interviews with podcasters and journalists, or when speaking from the stage.
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