How PowerPoint is wrecking your thought leadership

May 8, 2017 Blog 0 Comments

You’ve seen them: papers that start out with a tantalizing headline and opening text that really grabs you in anticipation of learning something great. And then you get to the first chart [sound of screeching tires].

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Beware of thought leadership that’s deep-fried in data

April 26, 2017 Blog 0 Comments

Too much of a good thing is… bad. And way too much of it is really bad.

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Ghostwriters for thought leadership? Nothing scary about that!

March 23, 2017 Blog 0 Comments

Done right, using a ghostwriter for thought leadership actually mitigates risk for the companies that create it.

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Q: If you’re blogging, are you a thought leader? (A: maybe not)

March 15, 2017 Blog 0 Comments

These days, it seems like more and more professional services firms are turning to blogs as their preferred expression of thought leadership. That’s a mistake.

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Content marketers: still having Groundhog Day moments?

February 2, 2017 Blog 0 Comments

It’s Groundhog Day! Remember the movie of the same name, where Bill Murray, as an arrogant weatherman, is forced to live the same day over and over again? Seems to me that’s often how many marketers experience the development of thought leadership content.

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What should customers do with your thought leadership, anyway?

January 9, 2017 Blog 0 Comments

If you answered “pick up the phone and give us a contract,” then you may as well give the sales team the rest of the month off. That call ain’t gonna happen…

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Why “me too” thought leadership may not be “meh”

November 30, 2016 Blog 0 Comments

This must sound weird coming from someone whose definition of thought leadership content hinges on “communicating insightful and persuasive ideas” but…sometimes piggybacking on someone else’s ideas is OK too.

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Want great thought leadership content for the long haul? Don’t just flag down the next solo freelancer.

November 2, 2016 Blog 0 Comments

Too often, content marketers think of freelance writers as taxicabs, circling the block, constantly looking for a fare.

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Thought leadership content: why hire a writer when you need a story doctor?

October 12, 2016 Blog 0 Comments

Any competent writer will be able to produce a passable first draft, working from a bullet-point outline or notes or slide deck. But a story doctor will do much more…

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“Can I have the meat, please?” (not if you want well-done thought leadership content)

August 11, 2016 Blog 0 Comments

Imagine going to an upscale steakhouse known for the finest cuts of prime beef and…

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