Thought leadership interview with Dana VanDen Heuvel

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Dana VanDen Heuvel on thought leadership

In this thought leadership interview I speak to marketing consultant, author and speaker, Dana VanDen Heuvel.  Besides writing regularly on thought leadership topics, Dana is a widely recognized expert on blogging, podcasting, RSS, Internet communities and interactive marketing trends and best practices.  He speaks regularly on these topics at industry events around the world. You can read more about Dana’s views on Internet marketing and other marketing related topics at his blog  www.danavan.net 

Q1: Dana you have successfully positioning yourself as a thought leader in all things marketing.  Given your experience of positioning yourself in this space, what are your tips for aspiring thought leaders in other industries?

Thanks, Craig.  There are many thought leaders in marketing, and it seems, to those of us peering in, that they’ve all just arrived one day. In reality, this is something that I started working on in 2002 and have followed a very deliberate plan to sharpen my expertise and position myself as someone that (I hoped) is worth listening to in the market.  Here are a few things that have helped me along the way.

1.    Have a plan. I know, that sounds really basic and boring, but for the last several years I have set plans and goals in place for publishing, speaking and other presence opportunities that were based on a long list of things that I thought made up the right moves for an emerging thought leader.

2.    Speak. Speaking and presenting is the #1 tool for business development and thought leadership advancement among those considered thought leaders. There’s nothing like being on stage to elevate our position. I could not be where I am without speaking. It also helps that I love doing it!

3.    Keep an idea file.  I keep several files for article ideas, speaking ideas and blog post ideas that help me stay on top of publishing as consistently as possible.  Keep the ideas flowing and make sure that they’re useful to your audience and you’ll see yourself rise quickly.

4.    Participate.  Thought leaders are only thought leaders if they’ve amassed a following.  You need to be involved in a community of peers in order to be seen by anyone as someone who might be useful to them. 

Q 2:  What are some of the benefits you have experienced of being perceived as a thought leader? 

I used to be able to calculate the ratio of blog posts written to inbound leads for consulting or speaking that I received.  I loved those days!  While it’s a bit more challenging today, due in large part to the sheer volume of peers in the space, there are still many benefits to being considered a thought leader in any realm.

1.    Awareness and ease of business development.  Whether you call on someone out of the blue or they find you, your efforts in thought leadership make that first conversation a higher-level discussion based on how you can solve their problems vs. them trying to figure out just who you are.

2.    Thought leadership begets opportunity. If you’re considered a thought leader in any right, it’s easier to get articles placed, become a guest blogger or get in front of an audience for a speaking engagement. 

Q3:  You have written a lot in the past about thought leadership particularly in the B2B space, from your experience, what are some of the barriers that hold corporations back from becoming thought leaders and what would your advice be to them to overcome these?

You know, I find that it’s usually about a company’s culture and mindset about becoming a thought leader that either position it for success or keep it from getting off the ground. I see a few things holding companies back.

1.    Lack of belief in the thought leadership model. It’s a mindset and way of conducting business and you need to get that before you get to become a thought leader.

2.    It’s (usually) not an ‘overnight’ marketing tactic. If you want that, try direct mail.  Thought leadership takes a bit of time BUT is cumulative in effect. The more you do, the better it gets and if you’re in it for the long haul, thought leadership is going to be a  big win for you. 

Q4:  In building your thought leadership position, what has been your key differentiating factor and what has been most effective in getting this to market?  

Early on, I was the ‘B2B marketer from the trenches’ and that was a great position and differentiator.  As things have moved forward, I’ve diversified my differentiators, but I tend to do a few things consistently such as bringing in multiple disciplines in my writing which helps to showcase a depth of perspective not found with some others.  I’m an adjunct professor and love the academic side of things so I find that bringing in the academic perspective and melding it with the real-time and practical issues is something that can really help to set my ideas apart.

Q5:  You talk about the thought leadership marketing equation: Point of view leads to share of voice which leads to share of mind and ultimately share of market.  In your experience how do companies wanting to do this get there and how long does it typically take?

The equation looks simple, doesn’t it!  In reality, there are several steps in each bucket. For instance, share of voice includes a research phase, to determine their current share of voice, a planning phase to determine what they need to do in order to achieve the desired level, and an implementation phase to put the plan in play and get themselves into the marketplace. 

It all starts with a plan, in my opinion, and that plan can take anywhere from six months to six years.  Realistically, when you’re pursuing thought leadership, depending on your industry and niche, I normally tell people to give the endeavour a year of consistent effort to get some really solid, consistent and sustainable results.  That said, I’ve had clients where we went from somebody to perceived thought leader in about 60 days. In fact, that last case has one of the most sustainable thought leadership efforts of anyone I know.   

Q6:  You deliver a lot of interesting and informative content on your site.  What are the benefits of providing so much content and what’s your advice, in particular to companies, who seem to think that giving away too much content is a sin?

Content is the medium of exchange for thought leaders. Now, there are nuances to this that I won’t go into, but on the surface, the more content you have, the more currency you have in your marketplace.  If it’s you, with a content rich site sharing information that’s deemed useful by your audient (usefulness is key here), vs. a competitor with less content and fewer shared ideas and concepts, I’ve found the prospects like the person or organization that’s given them more currency and gives them a larger base perspective from which to make a decision.

For those averse to this, I don’t really have a lot of great advice.  I’ve beat my head against the wall with organizations who have asked me to come in to help them with that problem and it never ends well.  Thought leadership requires commitment and a corporate DNA that’s open to accepting the responsibility of thought leadership.  Sure, it can be learned and organizations can change, but it’s almost always an uphill battle.

One Response to “Thought leadership interview with Dana VanDen Heuvel”

1. Thought Leadership Inteview on Craig Bading’s Site says:

   July 20, 2010 at 10:15

   [...] out the rest of the interview and the rest of Craig’s site. Great stuff on [...]