What makes you stand out above all the rest? Most people have the skills and education required to do the job, but not all prove to be leaders. Learn how to be a thought leader and it will give you that competitive edge that employers are searching for. Thought leadership is a strong platform for using social media for jobs. It gives you something to talk about and an audience to talk to, your industry!
What is a thought leader? A thought leader is someone who stays on top of trends in any given industry. They can easily be considered as experts in their field and are usually very influential among their peers and colleagues. Thought leaders listen and they teach. They give back to their industry and care about the future. Are you on the path to becoming a thought leader in your industry?
Here are a few surefire ways to help you develop thought leadership within your profession.
Be present. Attend all the right conferences and join the right groups. If you want to be a thought leader, you must learn to seek out who the current thought leaders in your industry are. If you a marketing professional, join your local chapter of American Marketing Association or Social Media Club.
Read. If you want to be the best, read the best! Read the best authors, the best blogs. Follow people who are the ultimate thought leaders in your profession on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to leave thoughtful comments and engage with others who you admire in your industry.
Write. One of the best ways to get noticed in your industry is to write. A blog is a great platform but it takes commitment and a lot of time to manage. Use it as a platform to share your knowledge, experience and expertise. Ask to be a guest contributor on industry publications. Share your content on a variety of platforms such as SCRIBD.com for all to see.
Speak. Get over you fear of speaking, now! The truth is, most people are afraid of public speaking. If you can master public speaking, you are already ahead of the curve. Choose a topic you are comfortable with, create a snappy PowerPoint Presentation and start sharing. You can even use sites such as slideshare.com to upload your slides giving you more visibility online and increasing your SEO when people search for your name.
Volunteer. Give back to your industry by doing some pro-bono work. Kill two birds with one stone while building your resume/portfolio while supporting a cause you believe in.
Build Klout. Build your expertise and credibility by consistently driving conversations online about your topics. Klout is a good measure for how many people are listening and allows others to validate your influence on various topics.
Once you master how to be a thought leader you will build credibility in your industry and make a ton of contacts who could potentially help land you your next big job.
Next in this series
Next week we discuss our final topic – Social Media for Jobs Series Part 5: Creating a Killer Resume. This is a five part series and you can get notifications when the next one comes out by choosing your RSS reader or subscribing below.
← Social Media for Jobs Part 3: Connect With People You Want to Work With
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[…] ← Social Media for Jobs Part 4: Develop Thought Leadership Within Your Profession About Melonie GallegosMelonie harnesses the power of social media to innovate brands. Over her 12+ year career she has led strategy at top digital agencies and played the role of in-house marketing manager. She enjoys bringing what is learned in one industry to another. This is easy because she has worked with retail, wholesale, CPG, B2B and B2C brands. Some of them household names we bet you've heard of. She founded Fandom Marketing in 2011 focusing exclusively on social marketing consulting, strategy, and management.Web | […]