Summary
In this episode, we get a chance to dive into how to create a massive platform as an expert thought leader and have a personal brand name. We bring in our guest Elizabeth Marshall who helps big names in the industry like Seth Goden, Michael Port and Len McKellen in their book launches, publicity and PR events and workshops. Elizabeth shares with us her 5 key strategies for thought leader brands so that you can leave a legacy. She also shares her Thought Leader Platform Diagnostic, a helpful diagram that illustrates the 10 elements of thought leader platform.
Elizabeth Marshall’s 5 Key Strategies for Thought Leader Brands
- What works for someone or your guru might not work for you. Everybody is different.
- Just because you are a master of one element, doesn’t mean you are a master of another.
- No element is an island. They are all interconnected and integrated.
- You can’t do it all at once. Don’t chase all the tempting shiny objects.
- It’s never won and done. View it as a career and love the process.
10 Elements of Elizabeth Marshall’s Thought Leader Platform Diagnostic
- Message: The core message that will actually change the conversation in the industry.
- Audience: The group of people that is specifically meant to hear your message.
- Website: To have a compelling online presence.
- Content Strategy: Content has to be good and relevant. So you build it and share it.
- Social Media: A required medium that you have to use depending on your business model.
- Publishing Strategy: Writing that right book at the right time with the right strategy.
- Speaking: Delivering the right message to the right audience in the right way.
- Traditional Media: To help you reach a wider audience.
- Strategic Relationships: Art of cultivating purposeful, one-to-one relationships.
- Business Model: Your service offerings, business structure and knowing your audience.
Learn more about Elizabeth Marshall’s strategic process on her website: www.elizabethmarshall.me
Transcription
Jam: Well, well, well, welcome to the Peaceful Media educational forum. I am Jam at Peaceful Media and I’m so glad that you’re here watching this episode where we get a chance to really dive into how to create a massive platform as a thought leader expert personal name brand and I’m excited to have one of the world’s best at helping thoughts leaders understand how to create that platform from a high-level all the way down to a campaign level, Elizabeth Marshall.
And if I could just brag on you a little bit, Elizabeth is behind some of the campaigns with Seth Goden, Michael Port, Len McKellen who I wasn’t familiar with but as we were talking about in our free interview, he’s one of the guys that crushes it in the B2B which is an area that Peaceful Media is not in whole lot but Elizabeth definitely is. Helping people get that PR and the publicity and launch books very, very well, creative events and workshops and to hold businesses within your expertise. So, it’s a real treat to be with you here today Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: Awesome, thanks for having me. So glad to be here.
Jam: Yeah, we’re going to talk about five strategies, things you just got to know before going into this or as you’re getting into this to create that massive platform so that you can leave a legacy and so we’ll be going through those five and we will have this opportunity to talk about where our experiences of working with these “Gurus” of thought leadership. The Brendon Burchards, the Seth Godin, I mean, good lord, those two alone could probably own half the world on Facebook.
Elizabeth: That’s right, that’s right. An interesting place to start Jason is you know this world of thought leadership it’s, one can argue it’s never been like that simple and easy but especially in today’s market it’s more challenging than ever to find the right path for you because you’ve got, what does a thought leader mean? It means that you’re publishing books, you’re out there speaking, you’re wearing all these different hats and while it’s really exciting and you can do so many great things with your audience.
You can, as you were saying, you can run courses and programs, and you can launch bestselling book. You’ve got publishing, speaking and media that’s all a part of this mix and things are changing in real time and it can be very confusing. So, those of you listening and watching me say, “Oh, I’m going to just try what I saw Brendon doing. I’m going to try what Seth is doing” and that’s a great practice to watch some of your; those that you admire and those gurus it’s really about understanding like where you sit on the Matte.
Your current stage as a thought leader and when you know your stage and your audience and your business model, and when in fact, “Oh whoops, I’ve been going to New York when in fact, California is the right destination for me or the Pacific Northwest” then you can know, “Okay, this is what my journey is going to look like”.
And so, before we dive into the five strategies, Jason, I think it’d be great to reference what does a thought leader platform look like? What are those 10 elements and how do they play a role at any given stage or any particular time on that journey.
Jam: Yeah, that’s really smart because how many people are coming to you with a preconception of what they need to do without looking, stepping back from the forest or stepping back from the tree in order see that forest of what does make most sense and most importantly, I find is which sequence is appropriate for me because you need to do all of them.
Elizabeth: Exactly, exactly and that’s very true. So, I created this diagram to illustrate the 10 elements of your though leader platform and it’s kind of like a foil because we need all the 10 elements and we will use them any given time but it is about the elements but it’s not. Because say for example a thought leader might say, “Oh my gosh, if I just invested in this major media PR campaign that’s going to change my business model and that’s going to change a number of clients that I have.”
Well maybe and maybe not, right? Or maybe “Now is the time to launch my book or now is the time to do X, Y or Z” and that may or may not be true because it all depends on your stage, your audience and your business model. So, an any given time, there’s going to be certain aspects of your platform that you’re going to be focusing on and then, others are not going to be as important.
Jam: Yeah, do you want to take us to the 10 in your thought leader…Elizabeth has a wicked cool page on her site all about her thought leader platform diagnostic.
Elizabeth: Yes, so I will share that right now.
Jam: We’re going to share that with you because it does really good to; just from a design standpoint, the information, communication standpoint is really neat way of articulating what this whole industry can look like for you.
Elizabeth: That’s right so and is it showing up on your end?
Jam: Not yet.
Elizabeth: Okay, got it. Let me pause for a…
Jam: I see that. Yup, there we go.
Elizabeth: So, here is the, my handy-dandy diagram to give you a sense of what a thought leader platform looks like and I’m just going to talk about each one briefly because as I mentioned it, it is about the elements but it’s not. So, the first one if we start at 12 o’clock is your message and the way I define message is the core message that will actually change the conversation in your industry and so, there may be a lot of things where you have expertise but to really stand out as a thought leader you want to align with that big idea and that core message that it has transformative power and will allow you to become that recognized leader.
So, next around the circle we’ve got Audience. And yes, we know that we need an audience but this is, I like to say, that anyone is not an audience and while you’re working, your message could impact so many people. The truth is Jason, right, that there is a group of people that are specifically meant to hear your messages and that they know it is for them and that you are called to serve a particular group of people and the more that you can tailor your message and tailor your strategies to really speak to the needs of that audience, the more successful you will be.
So and I would say, you know it’s interesting so many times when I’m talking to thought leaders about frustration that they’re having, the lack of success with certain strategies or they’re feeling frustrated about certain results, it’s usually because that there needs to be further refinement with these two elements—the message and the audience. So, we will come back to those.
Jam: I can’t agree with you more on that, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: Say again?
Jam: I can’t agree with you more on that, on those two.
Elizabeth: And you know, it’s interesting Jason. You know what Brendon and Seth and Michael Port and so many others know well is that and this actually takes us to one of our strategies that it’s never won and done and so, you don’t get to this point where your message is finished or you’re finished with the stories that you would use in your keynote or for you guys certainly know, you’re never finished with your website and the pace of change with your online platform and digital presence is those iterations have to happen faster and faster and why?
Because our market is changing and we need to be in sync with our audience and also the message is a living breathing entity as well and so that you will always want your language and your examples and your stories and your concepts to be relevant and synced so that they really speak to the heart of your audience.
Jam: And if I could just add one. That’s one of the exciting things about this industry is that you’re able to be dynamic and swish and go with the flow of where your audience needs you to be, where the market is going, which tools are working or just the big corporations, they’ve got to go through 8 layers, sometimes 80 layers of red tape in order to make a decision. “Okay, you know what? Let’s set up a Facebook page.” You know, when you’re like, “Okay, click, click, click, I’m done. Yeah, let’s do it.”
Elizabeth: Right or if they, if they wanted to try to use Periscope. Periscope would’ve been like obsolete by the time they got approval to use it.
Jam: Right. “I’m all ready for my Periscope.”
Elizabeth: Exactly. Oops the party has moved to Facebook Live. You’ve missed it. Yeah, so the dynamic piece is such an important element because while it’s important to have a strategy and it’s important to know like which marketing strategies and tactics and which approaches are going to work best for you.
Say your goal is to build a relationship with a particular conference or a certain industry, organization. Well, you never know what might be happening internally for them. Maybe, they’re going thought a leadership change. Maybe, they’ve lost spending. Maybe, they’re going in a different direction and if you, as a thought leader say, “Oh my gosh, these things have to happen”, well they don’t always happen and it’s having that flexible strategy to just say, “Okay, maybe something cool, maybe, eventually, I could get booked as a speaker at <insert fantastic conference name here>” but to not be fixated on that and to treat it as an avatar like, this or something better, “Why is it that this group is most relevant for me?”
Since we’re talking about strategic relationships, that’s on the left hand side and I define this as the art of cultivating purposeful one-on-one relationships that will lead to everything from speaking imitations to selling your book and clients and filling your workshop and well, social media is definitely a piece of that and can play a role.
This is being really intentional to say, “Okay, what other cool people are in my industry?”
Everything from fellow authors, speakers, colleagues; if you’re in a B2B space, “Who are those CEOs/executives?” If you’re in that B2C space, “Who are the leaders of those organizations that serve a similar audience that you can get to know and build a relationship with?”
As well as of course, referral partners and others that serve adjacent audiences that would be interested in the work that you’re doing because really all the years that I’ve designed and run book launches, it really comes down to the relationships. You can use great marketing strategies but they’re really; we’re talking about them in an abstraction if we’re not talking about them being grounded through the relationships that you actually have unless we’re talking about cold calls.
Jam: Can I ask you for one tactic here. This is something one of my strategists here, Max, behind me and I talk about is what’s that next level? So, if we understand that strategic relationship is important for the growth of a thought leader brand or any business for that matter, what is one tactic that someone can use when they’ve met someone that they resonate with at say, a conference and they go on with all these business cards, what’s that next move that one can take to relate and trench a connection and real relationship?
Elizabeth: Yeah, such an important question to consider. Yeah, so say you’ve met that person at a conference and you send them a follow-up email and this has to obviously couch within the realm of authenticity and sincerity.
Jam: Oh, big words.
Elizabeth: But to say, “Hey so and so is a really truly an honor to meet you. I admire X and X about your work and the things that you’re doing. Really enjoyed our conversation about X and thought you might appreciate this resource or here’s a link to the book we were talking about or a here’s a link to such and such but I thought you might find to be useful.”
So, just to give you an example, so, somebody like John Jantsch. So, John is the author of Duct Tape Marketing and a number of other books. He’s been in the space, small business space for a long time, great guy. So, John loves Jazz and so, say you meet John at a conference. Maybe, you don’t get to talk about Jazz at the conference but you know this about John because you’ve done your homework.
If you really want to make an amazing impression, send John like, do a little bit of research on some cool Jazz albums that have come out and send John a gift card to grab an album on iTunes or I don’t know if it’s cool to send CDs anymore because they’re kind of like old school. But you get the idea, right?
Jam: Yeah, yeah. I do.
Elizabeth: So, something like that being thoughtful, paying attention or somebody like a Bob Burg who wrote The Go-Giver which is a book that has sold close to a million copies and is really successful about leading first, being generous. It’s a great book in terms of how to build relationships actually but certainly in a sales capacity.
So somebody like Bob, he loves dogs and if you know things about people’s personal lives that are really meaningful to them in an authentic way you can speak to those, send a gift to if it’s appropriate or just a resource or something along those lines to say, “Hey, I really acknowledge and hear you” versus just “Hey nice to meet you. Do you want to buy from me now or will you help me out now?”
Jam: Totally. Brilliant advice. Thank you for going on that little tactical tangent for me.
Elizabeth: Tactical tangents totally work. So, I will go around the diagram quickly and then, I will turn my video back on because I’m missing the…
Jam: I miss you.
Elizabeth: Yes, yes. I know I miss you. Okay so we’ve got website and I know Jason will dive into that. You have so much to say about what makes for a compelling online presence but as many of you guys know that are listening it’s not just having a beautiful website but one that is purposeful and that actually positions you as a change maker and will take the visitor into a relationship with you. So there are next steps and sure, conversion is all at the heart of that but it’s about deepening those relationships whether they end up buying your 10 thousand dollar program or not. Engaging with you on some way. Maybe, they buy your 197 dollar program or whatever level but creating a website that engages and deepens that trust and authenticity.
Jam: Yeah, I mean, I speak to this. I’ve had people who have never spent a dollar with us but they gave me a 20 thousand dollar idea because they were willing to share why they didn’t buy something or why it wasn’t a good fit. You really got to like look at everyone as an idea supplier in your business whether that’s on your, whether it’s an email subscriber, someone you meet at a conference or tapping into your own intuition.
Elizabeth: Yeah and I love that phrase idea supplier. One of the things that I still do in my business that some of my colleagues have said, “Really, why do you do this?” So, I offer a 15 minute strategy assessment session which is basically an intro call where whether somebody hears me on a podcast or a webinar, they’re on my list and click through and decide to sign up, we have a conversation about where they are, what’s working, what their goals are and what those next steps would look like.
And I find those conversations Jason to be so valuable because it helps me keep a pulse on everything from the mindsets, the fears, the thinking, the current thinking that’s happening in the minds of thought leaders at all levels as well as new challenges, opportunities, industry date. They’re just such valuable calls and some of those clients buy and become clients of course but I value the calls by themselves because they’re great connections. I love meeting people and building relationships but they are a source of the, they are an idea supplier as you succinctly said.
Jam: Amen. Amen.
Elizabeth: Cool, okay. So, I’m serious. I’m going to, I will go fast.
Jam: I keep interrupting you and I’m going to let you talk.
Elizabeth: Yeah, it’s all good. So, content strategy. We know that content is important but you know the shift that has happened in the last couple of years and certainly even more rapidly in the last six months is you can’t just put out content. It’s got to be good, it’s got to be relevant and there’s both the content creation as well as “content shareation” as my colleague Shama Hyder who is the author of momentum likes to say that to be thoughtful about the channels that you’re using and the type of content that you’re sharing so that you’re building trust and rapport and not only that with your potential clients and your audience but also that you’re getting the attention of that conference director or that program director for an association or an organization that could bring you in to speak or want to have you as the guest podcaster certainly your colleagues as well. So, to be really both agile and artful about your content.
Social media, okay we know that social media is an important medium and I would say, that it’s a required medium but how you use it is going to be very customized depending on your business model, your audience and your message. So say, some of my clients who are in the B2B space, LinkedIn is really, really important medium for them whereas an Instagram not so much or Snapchat although one could argue Snapchat is really important for them as well but then for other B2C platforms LinkedIn not as important.
So really understanding your audience, where you’re hanging out and acknowledging that, “Okay, we can’t be omnipresent across 25 channels. What are the most purposeful ones for me and in terms of connecting with my audience and colleagues in my space?”
Publishing … one of the biggest questions that I get.
Jam: Which is one of your specialties. That’s rad. I send you a lot of business there.
Elizabeth: Yeah, so publishing. Gosh, you know publishing is important but it’s also about, it’s not just, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got to have a book tomorrow.” It’s writing that right book at the right time with the right strategy and that can mean, instead of writing that big idea book that you feel like, “Oh my gosh, this is where my heart is”. Maybe you write a more narrow book to really help you grow your platform so that you have the platform to where that next big idea is a success and I will give you a really specific example.
So, Michael Port, he was the author of Book Yourself Solid and six other book which is cool, it’s one of evergreen small business marketing book and I have had the pleasure of helping him launch his first and his last book, not the last book he will ever write but his most current one. So, I helped him launch Book Yourself Solid back in 2006 and then we launched Steal the Show which is all about influencing your audience whether it’s formally from the stage or even in a conversation like this back in the fall of 2015 and so Michael’s fourth book was called the Think Big Revolution and he had the idea about thinking bigger about who you are and what you offer the world from the very beginning but he so wisely new that as he was building his platform of small business owners, you can’t, it’s hard to think big when you don’t have the structures to be book solid and to grow your business.
So, he started with that book which has a lot of heart and soul but it has that framework and that structure to help his clients get book solid and it’s sold hundreds of thousands of copies of all that good stuff but the point being is that allowed him to build the platform so then when it was time to write the Think Big Manifesto or the Think Big Revolution, I should say, it was the manifesto before that. It was a New York Times bestseller and it’s because his platform, he had time to grow the platform and put all the other strategies in place.
So, knowing what book to publish right now and something you’ve got that idea and you’re not ready. Maybe you need to publish that single, maybe you need to start with that manifest or e-book or test your ideas in a blog series before going down the path of publishing. That’s something Jason I see on a regular basis that people invest. They’re already down the path of they’ve paid for a cover, maybe they’ve a ghost writer or maybe they’ve tried to work on a proposal or maybe they’ve even self-publishing and the idea is not quite right yet. And so, making sure you have that right idea and the other elements of your platform in place before you jump ahead. So much we could say; we could go off for the rest.
Jam: Each of these are branches that we could get down for the next 5 hours. It really does come back to what you were saying earlier—message and audience. Having that really dialed and then your business model and sequencing obviously is a part of that conversation too.
Elizabeth: That’s right. Yeah, so I’m coming around the circle to 6:30 – 7:00 o’clock speaking. Speaking is both formal keynote speaking but it’s also for those of I know so many of you listening, probably have webinar series and lead gen webinars. So, speaking can be both virtual and in-person in this group setting and it’s delivering that right message to the right audience in the right way and this again comes back to mediums and knowing your skills.
So some of you guys have the skill and presence to be main stage keynote speakers which is awesome and that as a result will impact like your strategy, how you approach speaking. I have had one of my colleagues who leads panel discussion for sales force which is conference, huge in the corporate space. She loves leading panels and workshops. She does not want to be a main stage keynote speaker so and I know in the online B2C space there is selling from the stage and if you need, there are times to look and say, “Okay, do I need more skills in this area?” but it’s also knowing yourself.
Your gift skills and talents and what you can do really, really well and designing your speaking strategy accordingly and also knowing that if you’re just getting started, getting expected or expecting to get paid 20 grand for keynotes, probably not realistic and that’s okay, you know using speaking as a biz dev tool instead of as a separate revenue stream depending on the stage that you’re in.
Jam: I’m just constantly nodding my head over here, Elizabeth. People just like just take that big step back and look, we were talking about it earlier, just not assuming that what you’re seeing on the big stages out there, the big gurus you’re following and online marketing and thought leadership, whatever it is, not assuming that, that’s what they started with it.
It’s like, yes that becomes your anchor point for the vision and we have to rewind the clock about 10, 15, sometimes 40 years of their career to where they started and so if it feels painful to go out and do content marketing, investing your heart and soul like Elizabeth is right here just like, sharing like the same stuffs she would’ve shared to a client for free; if that just makes you squirm them you’re really not following in the tracks of your big Guru hero because that’s exactly what here she did for years.
Elizabeth: And I think that’s such a great point Jason and I think that’s the difference between being an entrepreneur with expertise and being a thought leader because when you’re a thought leader, you have that dedication and commitment to transforming your audience and changing the conversation in your industry and it’s more than just, “Hey, I’ve got to share some expertise to help my business grow” and to really be dedicated.
I’m notorious for discouraging people from publishing because if you’re; if it’s not an idea you’re just, you can’t not share and it’s not like a part of your legacy and something that you were so passionate about. It’s hard. Go do something else. It’s easier. Or create courses, don’t publish a book. Do other things but it really does come back to the commitment to the message and it is that mastery path as well.
I like to say it’s a—so many aspects of thought leadership or a sprint marathon, you will be sprinting for a while. “Gosh am I done yet?” No, you’re just on mile 5. I mean, it is about learning to pace yourself and giving yourselves those breaks but to realize that by saying yes to the message that you’ve been given, an audience that you feel called to serve and to share, I mean, you’re making a career decision.
This is not just, “Hey, this is cool. This is the flavor of the month I’m going to do this today because I think it will help me get more clients.”
Jam: Yeah.
Elizabeth: As I stepped off my soap box.
Jam: It is like the motivational see-saw column. This is like, they’re all sure they’re going to do this once they come out of that Tony Robbins event for instance. They are all sure they’re going to do this. They’re going to become the next Tony and then a month later they figure out, “Oh god, that’s a lot of work.”
Elizabeth: Yeah and that’s why like when it comes to look, as you’re learning, getting to know your message that’s why it’s great to really test in degrees of scale. So, say you think you have that great idea for a new book. Okay, go book a talk like not a like a big high stakes talk but go book a talk for a group that you know well or a talk for a small organization or write that e-book or test it in a webinar format before investing too much time, energy and money down a path that’s not quite right because as you’re developing your messaging at a thought leader platform it’s iterative and non-linear and some things you think are going to be the biggest hit actually may kind of fall flat and then, other things that you think were, “Wow, I just kind of take that for granted” but your audience just lashes on and thinks it’s the most amazing thing.
You want to have that two way dialogue between … well, it’s actually a three way dialogue between you, your message and your audience and be listening and looking for signs and signals in terms of how to shape and direct the development of your work and testing in scaled ways so that you don’t; as we’re using that navigational analogy, don’t realize, “Oh crap, I’m in Virginia when I should be in Arizona”.
Jam: I’m just realizing once again how interwoven all these 10 on your TLPD and I think we should modify this design a little bit and throw a little arrows going the other way as well because again, your content marketing is your tentacles, it is your feedback machine. How many thought leaders, Elizabeth, do we know who’ve used content marketing? Their blog for instance, their webinars, their YouTube show to create the perfect book for their audience because their audience was listening to these iterations out there all the time providing feedback helping you shape it.
Elizabeth: That’s right, exactly and I love that. Jason, you just by making an observation about the diagram, this is a wonderful like real-time example of when, I call this going public. When you go public and you share your message in conversation whether it’s with your audience or like or doing with a colleague you’re having a live public conversation when you’re willing to be open and listen and acknowledge that feedback.
It’s like, “Yeah, very cool. I could totally incorporate that idea” and it doesn’t mean that the version that you started with is like wrong or bad or maybe it also doesn’t that it’s finished either and that as you interact and share, you will learn new things about your message all the time and that includes somebody like a Seth or a Michael. They know that it’s a constant mastery path and that it will continue to evolve and grow.
Jam: Sweet.
Elizabeth: Awesome, okay. So…
Jam: So I’m like billowing out from the ravine, “Help, help” in this next icon.
Elizabeth: Yes, yes traditional media. Oh my goodness. This is the money pit, right. So, this is; traditional media, gosh, has changed so much and it still plays an important role especially, for those of you who are further along as a thought leader and you have a developed platform around publishing and speaking and media is important for you.
For some of you guys listening, traditional media may play a small percentage for you and that’s okay. So we were joking before we started the live session, like if your expertise is manufacturing or leadership or sales, don’t expect The Today’s Show to book you and that’s okay. That’s actually not your audience and it’s easy to get like the fish hook in your mouth, you know like filling that pool or the siren song (let me see how many metaphors I can use).
You get hooked by that big media and I actually talked to my clients about finding those bread and butter organizations. There could be some like seemingly obscure publication or magazine or TV outlet or print publication that doesn’t have that sex appeal but my goodness it’s targeted, it’s focused on your audience and they have money and they want you to come in and it’s purposeful. That’s what’s write for you versus trying to land the New York Times because I can tell from experience and I know I am sure you’ve heard your clients say this is that just because you’re mentioned in the Times or <Insert really cool major media outlet> it’s, the visibility can be nice but it doesn’t, it almost never leads to that windfall of success and fame and new clients that people expect and so really understanding what you’re wanting from media and why you are investing is one of the, is so important and I would say nine times out of ten, I find that thought leaders are spending a disproportionate amount on media or spending it too early when they are not ready either because their message and audience aren’t refined enough or quite frankly they could do; like they could get the same results by not investing money down that path and instead choose to develop as we came around the circle more strategic relationships that you are able to develop without media.
Jam: Elizabeth, I have a question in regards to strategic relationships. Did you want to share what that is first and then I could ask you this tactical …
Elizabeth: Yeah sure, so we touched on this a bit earlier but basically strategic relationships are different than, “Oh, I’ve got five thousand Facebook friends” or “I’ve got X thousand Twitter followers”. You may have some strategic relationships that are a subset of those friends but I’d like to say with strategic relationships, this is about quality versus quantity. These are like one on one relationships where you could email someone and they would return your email.
So, it’s everything from colleagues, fellow author, speakers, thought leaders in your same space or adjacent spaces. It’s about industry leaders, company, CEOs, influencers, other players that know your audience that you believe in what they’re doing and vice-versa that you want to say, “Hey, let’s see how we can play together” and that play may look like what we’re doing right now, it may look like, “Hey, I can give you an endorsement and vice versa” or it may turn into something more substantial like a JD opportunity that you know getting and then referrals and things like that but getting to know, building those relationships and creating a rapport before you make a request is really important.
Jam: Yes so I, so a lot of people come into this game with a little bit more of a corporate mindset. Dare I say, it’s a little bit more scarcity driven mindset.
Elizabeth: No.
Jam: Republican National Convention to see a good demonstration of that but anyways not to get political, so they come to this scarcity thing of, “Well, why would I want to hook my competitors up. That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard of and that would never fly.”
So, let’s dissect why are you on this? Why am I hosting a “Industry”… I mean you’re in the same position as Peaceful Media. We do the brand strategy; we do what is the big picture. Why in the world would I feature you on our blog, Elizabeth?
Elizabeth: Yeah, so I love this. So, first of all as you and I know, the world is an abundant place and it’s so cool when you say okay there’s enough for everyone and trust that there, there are clients that are meant to work with me and because of the whether it’s shared background, experience, or just the personality fit or the timing or their particular message and area of expertise like knowing that; it’s where ego kind of like that fear side of the ego comes into play like, “Oh my gosh, look if I can’t market to everyone then I’m not going to get the clients that I’m meant to serve” but the reality is we can only serve a certain number of clients even when you have massive programs, online programs. There are limits. The technology has limits.
And so, really coming from this place of abundance and knowing this that if you have been given a powerful message to share and it’s, you know that it’s creating results; you do great work, that’s another piece too. You can trust in the value you deliver to your clients then you can say, “Okay, I will…I’m going to go do my work. I’m going to do my marketing and all those good things but I’m going to attract the people that I’m meant to serve” and so, I could get a referral tomorrow that I talk to and I say, “You know what? Actually, he is a much better fit for Jason. I’m going to make her that referral.”
Or there are times that maybe you have a full practice and you know that person needs help right now and “Hey, I’m going to refer that person” or “Oh my gosh, maybe we want to do something collaboratively beyond just a webinar”. There are so many reasons that you want to build those relationships and it comes from that place of both abundance and that spirit of collaboration that when we partner with other people we can do greater works that we can do on our own.
Jam: Yes, amen. And if you take nothing away from this, this webinar, take that away and just try to get a shift, read some, get into a space of abundance because it is wildly different approach to this and there are people I know who are successful, people you work with, Elizabeth. People I work with have that abundance mindset and it has paid massive dividends.
Elizabeth: That’s right and operating from that energetic place, yeah, you will just attract things so much more quickly. It’s that pull and that attraction versus push and trying to force outcomes. Preach it. Yes.
Jam: Yeah!
Elizabeth: Okay so, we’re rounding out with business model and then for reals I’m going to turn off … so, yeah, so business model this is a big one right. So, here’s one of the and we’re going to share those five strategies because I don’t want to leave people hanging. We’ve had awesome tactical trip, tactical tangents. Yes perfect.
So with business model, you really want to know like what are our service offerings? Who is your audience? How do you structure your business because that will impact which marketing strategies are going to be effective for you and actually this ties into one of the five strategies. So, one of the things I like to say is what worked for Seth may not work for you. So repeat after me. What worked for Seth may not work for you. You don’t have to feel shame about that.
Jam: …With trending guru…
Elizabeth: Yeah, there’s multiple reason that that could be true but let’s just look at Seth’s, how gifted and prolific he is as a writer. He writes a daily blog and someone could say, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got to write a daily blog”. Well why?
Your business model is totally different. Seth is one of the lucky few that gets by hard work, I might add. That is able to be like he does have revenue from being an author. Most authors don’t make money off of the book side of their business and so not only that. Your greatest gift may not be writing so you really want to look at “Why am I choosing to execute my content in this way? Why am I offering this program? Why am I designing my speaking strategies this way? Does it align with my gifts, skills and talents? And who in my particular business model?”
Because if your business model is not to run online courses and programs then maybe they’re certain types of marketing and may you do more in-person work then there is certain types of marketing that won’t work versus the other way around whether when you’re trying to sell online webinars, courses and programs, there’s going to be certain things that you really need to have in place whereas they might be optional if you had a different type of business.
So, alright, so those are all 10 and we are turning back on the camera. Yes we are. Or we thought we are. So okay. Yeah so as I was saying, it’s about these 10 but it’s not because it’s really about, “Okay, what is my stage right now? Am I at a place where I know a lot about my message but it’s not as crisp to the extent that somebody…”
Say if somebody was talking about marketing or leadership or a certain aspect of sales. If you’re name doesn’t come up then maybe you need more work. It’s not just about having that massive platform. Yes, you want to have the audience but it’s also about having a message so good that people can’t not share it.
Jam: All right. Do you want to go into the 5 now?
Elizabeth: Yeah okay, so we talked about one. So, the what worked for Seth won’t work for you and it’s…yeah so, just the last thing I will say on that is everybody is different. We all have a different combination of gifts, skills and talents and we have limited time and most of us have limited budgets. So, if you know somebody that is just a natural on camera will like orient your content strategy around video and visuals or if you’ve got a great, you interview well and you love interviewing other people and you’ve got that great radio voice, well maybe, podcasting is a primary medium. For you or for those of you who are those talented and prolific writers, maybe, writing is your primary strategy and then you can get other people too.
Yes, you can repurpose content across all those mediums but you want to know what are those core strengths for you so you’re not trying to do the things that are not going to work very well. So, all right that’s number one.
Jam: With your passion. If you are like you can’t get up and write in the morning then it’s probably a strength.
Elizabeth: Isn’t it true Jason like, I know you and I have seen this so many times but you can have the most amazing strategy on paper but if you’re hearts not in it, it’s like you might as well, you just throw it into the fire. It’s no good.
Jason: Like Seth is great with writing. That’s his thing. It’s his passion. He loves doing it. Brendon’s is being on camera. He is really good at it. He is passionate about it. He lands into this studio and has a little one sentence headline for each of his videos and brings out 10 without stopping. So like, and then, the people who see that go, like we were talking about earlier, “Wow, here she is doing that, what equipment are they using? I have to have that equipment.” So they go out and buy a 10 thousand dollar…
Elizabeth: That’s right and there is the money, yes, yes.
Jason: And then, they pop these videos up on YouTube with their 10 thousand dollar green screen production studio and they wonder, “Why do I only have 2 views?”
Well because you’re awful on video and that’s not your thing yet or like you need to keep working on that muscle, the video muscle, I like to call it because you’re not there to a point where people are like, “Damn, I need to listen to this person”.
Elizabeth: That’s like and that two things that were so important in what you just said like this skill piece. I mean, somebody like a Brendon or a Michael, they have those ten thousand hours of mastery. I mean, we have, some of us are more gifted than others on camera and yet they work at it. So, what a lot of people don’t know about Michael is that he was actor. He was on Sex and the City. Lots of different shows, went to NYU graduate school of acting like he knows the stage and yet, for his keynotes, he practices hours and hours and hours. He doesn’t just mail it in and go stand up there and think I will wing it.
So anyway and the other piece is two is to when you were talking about Eckhart and some of the great wisdom teachers. Pay attention to where things are in flow, things feel easy, things feel intuitive; that’s a really important signal that you’re moving in the right direction. This applies to relationships as well. So like if you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I got to be picked to speak for so and so conference or I just want this person to notice me” and you just keep like hitting up against the brick wall and there’s nothing moving. It could be the right person at the wrong time or it could just be the wrong fit and to not feel like it’s a failure. Just like pivot, move to the next because there may be somebody like emailing you right now like, “Hey, I want to send you a client or let’s partner. Pay attention to where the energy is”.
Jam: Right, good call. What’s number two?
Elizabeth: Okay, so no element is an island. So we looked at all those elements around the circle. So, Jason you referred to the times like how they are all interconnected and integrated in what this is all about is remembering that. So, when it comes time to make a decision about your book and the topic and how are you going to publish it to take your business model into consideration, take your audience certainly into consideration. You don’t want to write a book about knitting when your topic is marketing and sales.
I’m being obnoxious but you do want to make those decisions in context so that you don’t…we share this passion of like it kills me to see people waste so much time, energy and money and get stuck and stalled and when you approach things in that integrated way, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have times where you’re working things out. Like I said, this is not a linear A plus equals C path but there are ways to avoid the needless wasting of the thousands of dollars and we’re talking thousand right? We’ve seen it, yes.
Jam: Thousands in a lot of cases, yeah.
Elizabeth: Oh gosh, painful. Like physically, physically painful. Okay so, and this brings us to, we kind of touched on this one but this brings us to number three. Just because you’re a master of one doesn’t mean you’re a master of all. So last year I had a really interesting conversation with these two guys that owned a consulting firm together. Really talented, had a full practice, lots of referrals, things were right in their world.
But they were kind of looking at their colleague like, “Oh why is he getting mentioned in XYZ medium. Why did he get the book deal.” And what was interesting is that they were conflating their business experience with their thought leadership experience and the reality was they really didn’t have much of a thought leader platform at all. I mean, they had all those great content but they were sharing it through private workshop. They didn’t have much of that public presence and so, there may be certain aspects of your platform where you’re really strong. Maybe, some of you do have a public speaking background or you are that great writer but maybe your business isn’t that far along yet.
You want to tamper things and say, “Okay, I’m kind of got really super crazy skills in this area but I’m really lagging in this area. How can I even things out?”
Or as we were talking about with medium, “Maybe, I’m never going to be that like video killed the radio star so let’s not invest a disproportionate amount of money in the video side”.
Jam: Right, right, right. Yeah, we have several clients who, they’re in that B2B world. It’s a who’s who in Fortune 50 of clients and workshops they’ve done for all these big huge companies and then nobody’s heard of it and they’re just, they’re starting from scratch and it got to go through all the work of building up that no like trust or attention and trust, two most important currencies in today’s online market.
Elizabeth: What’s interesting is like, yeah for thought leaders who are in the first stage which I call incubation, the shiny objects are like, “Oh, if I just invest in this”, it’s the allure of “Maybe I can bypass the process”. Maybe, I can avoid having to go through it.
Jam: Play on words there. Little BY, Bypass. Bypass the whole, yeah just, “Ah! Here’s my black Amex card. Just make me a big star.”
Elizabeth: That’s right. That’s right. And yeah, you can’t like pass/go, you’ve got to go around them the monopoly board although I’m dating myself. Some of your viewers should be like, “What, that’s an old game.” Anyways, but for thought leaders at stage three which is momentum shiny objects also can be a temptation but in a different way.
When you’re in momentum you’re getting lots of leads and incoming request and people love what you’re doing but they see for you different things than you may say for yourself and so say, “Hey, I’ve got to be focused on why I’m what I’m doing and what I feel called to do with it so I don’t find myself running off to do XYZ project because I will make a ton of money or because it has that fame, allure or whatever”.
When you do build that platform and you’re in demand and people really love and like what you’re doing, you can get pulled off course just in a different way which brings us to point number 4, strategy number 4. You can’t do it all at once. Like we like to think that we are supermen and women on any given day. Just have a young child and you realize that that’s not true. I have an 8 and 9 months old.
Jam: Did I hear your baby crying?
Elizabeth: Oh slightly yes. Yes. So…
Jam: I can hold it down while you go take care.
Elizabeth: Oh yes, he is with the maid. He’s not unattended.
Jam: Alright, alright, we are an equal opportunity employer here.
Elizabeth: Oh no, yeah he is all good. Yeah so, and this comes back to that prioritization and sequencing to say, “Okay, what are my goals right now? Okay, I’m about to launch my book or maybe I know that a book is coming in a year. Well, what are the things that I need to do to get ready for that.” Maybe, now is the time to really sharpen the message. Let’s redo the online presence and the website and bios and the collateral like now versus three months after the book launches or say you’ve grown in popularity and success as a speaker and now your speaker videos that once were helpful are now a liability.
Well maybe, it’s time to re-do those and it really does take looking at things to say and really questioning yourself to say, “Why do I think this is important right now? No, why really is this important? And is it important than these two or three things over here?”
So, like you could be sitting there and saying, “Oh my gosh, I want to launch my next online course. I want to start my podcast and I want to start a membership program and I’m writing the e-book.”
We could stop and say, “You know what? Okay, I need a fresh lead generator which is an amazing piece of content but yes I need to use it strategically as that lead generator” and maybe that needs to come first because if I’m going out there doing podcast and speaking and I don’t have anything to send people to that would be a continuation of the conversation then those things may not be as effective. So, really looking at all the pieces and that cohesive way.
Jam: I got a question for you. So, this happens all the time where at least in our business. I’m sure it does for you too. Where I will give you a scenario: Joe is world renowned for communicating with dolphins. This is not a real world scenario but go with it. World renowned like people fly in to the big island from all over the world to figure out how did he create such a fascinating communion with the dolphins?
And that’s what he’s built his whole expertise around and then he comes to Peaceful Media or Elizabeth Marshall and says, “Okay but you know what? Like yeah, I’m not so passionate about teaching people about the swimming with the dolphins anymore. What I’m really excited about is teaching people how to be successful.”
They’ve created a masterpiece of expertise over here and have got this overwhelming sense of “I’ve created success in my life. I came from nothing. I didn’t even know that a dolphin existed 10 years ago and I was able to over this decade create this amazing relationship and all these people know me and I just want to teach people about that process of doing whatever you want and becoming a legend at what you do” and as the very broad, non-niche, non-marketing savvy expert would say, “I help people get results whatever you want those results to be.”
So, how do you deal with, as a consultant in this world, how do you deal with “My passion is here but my whole platform and expertise is really back here.”
Elizabeth: Yeah yes. So many layers to this. So sometimes I find that if a thought leader is looking at their area, the dolphin area and they view it as a static like expertise that they have rather than a relationship with their message then it’s kind of their proverbial 7-year itch. It happens with marriages, it happens with thought leadership. Maybe, you’re bored with your thought leadership and you can say, “Okay why is that? Well maybe, I’ve been sharing the same speech verbatim for 7 years and it’s kind of dull.”
Well if it’s dull for you, maybe, it’s dull for your audience. What new stories and examples, new language, how can we? I would start there first to say, “Okay is it just that emptiness, wanting that entrepreneurial, oh I’m going to start something” because that is part of the journey of the mastery path and building a career as a thought leader there will be days that you were bored with your work or you say, “This is not really valuable” or “Why am I doing this” and you come back to that why and you say, “Okay, is there value here? Why did this matter to me in the first place?”
And look for ways to infuse new energy in life but if you really say like, “Oh this is, my heart was never in it in the first place and …”
Jam: Yeah, that’s different.
Elizabeth: Yeah, you know then you got a whole another problem.
Jam: Right, faker.
Elizabeth: That’s right. That’s right. And I mean that’s why it really comes back to the message like this is not something that you say, “Okay, this is cool. I’m going to build a business on something that sounds really interesting for a day or it sounds interesting as a tweet” and then the next day you’re on to something that’s where you want to test and say, “Okay, do I have a foundation to build the house on?”
Jam: Yep. And going back to what you said earlier, this is a career and if you’re really going to get success and results, the ones that you see the big gurus having and talking about, how can you look at it any different way because they sure looked at it as a career all in, 100%.
Elizabeth: That’s right and it is that. It’s interesting you said, moving from stage 1 to stage 2 of thought leadership, it’s all about that commitment of because in the first stage, you’re starting to do things like, “Oh my gosh, is this really it?” One day you might say, “Okay, I want to do this.” Next day like, “Oh, I don’t’ want to do it” and then finally, at a certain point, you’re like, “Okay, I’m all in. I’ve said yes. I’m committed. I know it’s not going to be easy but I’m ready, I’m ready to show up and run the marathon” and you then transition into stage 2 which is all about building and creating those habits of consistency and ubiquity as well as those internal habits of revisiting your why and developing those inner capacities to deal with rejection and all the stuff that comes along the way.
Jam: That could be a whole another; actually, we should do another one, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: I’m game. Let’s.
Jam: Dealing with rejection and negative feedback out in the public sphere.
Elizabeth: So, so, a couple of years ago, I delivered a closing keynote for a Green Leaf Author Summit. So, Green Leaf Book Group is a publishing company in Austin and they have a publishing summit. So my closing keynote because I like Karaoke. I had a little … this is Friday at 4 o’clock. I had to like, “We got to bring some energy and entertainment” so it was called Don’t Stop Believing and it was all about how to survive the setbacks and rejection along the path to succeeding as a thought leader and so…pardon.
Jam: Did you get all vulnerable or do you actually have a good voice?
Elizabeth: I have a decent voice, you know. Yeah so, my undergrad degree is music so I can sing on pitch. I’ve had some vocal lessons. Yeah so but I will say that…
Jam: If I’m going down that road it would be because I’m demonstrating getting over your fears and inadequacies.
Elizabeth: Yes.
Jam: But for you, okay, so you’re entertaining.
Elizabeth: Yeah and one of the points that I make, it’s not that Michael or Seth don’t get criticisms. Having worked so closely with Michael in various capacities over the past 10 years, I’ve seen firsthand some of the emails that he’s received. Like he received and email from this random, like during the book launch, I don’t even know why this guy was upset. It was such a strange thing but anyways, the victory all that people feel like they can direct towards people who are successful, it’s not that the Michaels and Seths don’t get that. They just know how to bounce back quickly.
Jam: Yeah, yep. Have a good laugh about it. Maybe share it with your friends, “Yeah look what I got today. I’m so proud of this.”
Elizabeth: That’s right. That’s right. Yeah and to be grounded yeah. And then the fifth and final and we touched a bit on this but it’s never won and done and this comes back to the mindset of viewing this as a career and really ultimately coming to love the process to realize that it’s, yes and this is a lesson spiritually that is nothing new under the sun. We know this but yet it is coming to know it in this way as a thought leader to, your message will never be finished.
You will be changing your web copy, your home page, as you are testing things may change more frequently than you want them to but that’s part of the journey because as you are listening and hearing feedback, you need to be making adjustments. And as you go out and share that keynote, you may kill a keynote you thought you were going to be using for five years.
Case and point, I ran one of the aspects of my business was called Author Tele Seminars and I ran series for three and a half years and I started that in 2007. Seth was my first client at the time when there were some tele seminars but it was basically, the author tele seminar model was that I was the host and facilitator and I would have Seth and two other really cool authors on there having a round table discussion about the themes in Seth’s new book which would help the book sales but at the same time we created a really cool piece of new content that we turned into a podcast during that first wave of podcasts.
And that model was really, really successful but that before the ubiquity of all of that, you know, authors then, as the mediums expanded and authors were much more willing to do various video interviews and they understood that they needed to be anywhere and everywhere, I saw that the shelf-life for that model was not going to last forever and I could have hung on to it and gone down at flames. I could have said, “You know what? I’ve had a great three and half year run with this” and I also Jason like listened to what was happening. Like people would come to me and ask for me to design their virtual book tour when they didn’t have a like an integrated overall marketing and like “No, no, no we can’t do this. We have to start, we got to have a foundation”.
So, the point being is like we can, in this space, like things are constantly evolving, changing and growing and we can make predictions and have our best guess about how long they’re going to last but ultimately our audience will tell us in the market. We got to be ready to pivot when that happens.
Jam: Yeah so, maybe a little tactical tangent here. Do you have, what are your ways? You have the discovery session which is that juicy, qualitative can’t beat it because you get to ask questions, you get to dissect things, really unpack those pains, aspirations, objections etc. What else are you using to correct feedback from your market?
Elizabeth: Yeah, so in my ongoing newsletter, I have a Q&A at the bottom. I’ve always not just, “Hey send us your questions” but I have some custom copy with every email that I send out so it’s tailored to the message for that particular piece of content so that they will respond around that particular aspect. And I will share things like that on social as well and you know I haven’t done a pull in a while but I’ve done various surveys over the years that have been really quickie surveys that have been really helpful as well.
And then, here is the other thing too Jason. Like, you can test, ask for feedback and questions through your email lists and your formal audience but you can also go to your colleagues, go to your current clients, go to past clients, it doesn’t always have to in mass but to have conversations with people that you’ve valued their feedback and appreciate what they have to say, you can even launch like a beta group.
Say you’re going to test an idea for a much bigger course where you can launch a beta version of that and part of the agreement is they have to give you feedback.
Jam: Yes, we just did that with Launch 31.
Elizabeth: Awesome.
Jam: Wildly, it was both a survey at the beginning and the whole thing is constructive be a listening feedback course.
Elizabeth: Cool.
Jam: Okay so those are some TT’s (tactical tangents).
Elizabeth: I love that. Yes. I’m going to use that with attribution of course.
Jam: Yeah, of course right. Okay so, recap it and then I’d like to ask a final question about the title of our talk and going a little bit deeper into that. And then, I will recap a couple of those tactical tangents that we talked about too.
So, the five strategies for creating a lasting legacy as a thought leader?
Elizabeth: Oh great, I thought you were going to recap it. Test your memory.
Yeah so, what worked for Seth may not work for you.
Just because you’re a master of one element, doesn’t mean you’re a master of another.
No element is an island.
You can’t do it all at once.
And last but certainly not the least it’s never won and done.
Jam: Yeah awesome. So I had some different language for 2 and 3. So, I’m glad you repeated those.
Thank you.
And then, the tactical tangents for people: One has to do with deepening your relationships with people that you get a business card or you meet someone at a conference is to go home and (a) ask them, speak with authenticity in your email and do something of value for this person. We aren’t reinventing any wheels here. This is common knowledge.
And with that spirit of, this isn’t competition, this isn’t a scarcity thing, this is an abundant universe and we have plenty of business to go around, what are some ways that I can feature this person and help their business or whatever they want to explode, whatever areas of their business they want help in or support in.
Elizabeth: That’s right. That’s right.
Jam: And then, another big tactical tangent is to always be listening and there’s five different ways we talked about that you can start getting that feedback which is really just market intelligence, audience intelligence to help and sell it down the road.
And now, is get out there and do the discovery sessions. I always recommend it. It doesn’t matter how committed you are to an online business, your success starts with an offline business and the mentality of listening someone’s voice tell you what their struggles are, what they really want out of life and then, as you offer them a next step or solution, what are their objections? Those literally go into your FAQs on your sales pages, your webinars or when you’re speaking from stage.
Elizabeth: That’s right. That’s right.
Jam: Two is same thing. I mean Q&A, I thought that was a really good tactic right there. A little custom Q&A invitation at the bottom of all your marketing emails or your broadcasts or newsletters (whatever you want to call them).
Elizabeth: And yeah and tie it to the topic of that particular…
Jam: More than just a stagnant signature; it’s specific. In fact, one of the great email marketing tactics you can use is to ask them to reply to that email. It helps the email service providers like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or that used to be Yahoo now Verizon. It’s helps the email service providers understand that this is more than just a one-to-many blast. This is a dialogue. This is actually something that this person responded to, reacted to, replied to so let’s make sure that this doesn’t get sent to spam anymore which a lot of people struggle with.
“I have a huge list but gosh, no one’s opening.” It’s probably you’ve never took a dialogue approach or a conversational approach with your audience.
Elizabeth: That’s right. That’s right.
Jam: Another one is beta launches. If you’re going to do a course, …
Elizabeth: Yes, you could teach a whole session on this. I know yes.
Jam: Do not start with the mentality that, “Yeah man, I just got some JB partners and I got a million dollar budget on Facebook. Yes, I’m going to get rich.”
No, with your first course. “I’ve never done this. I don’t even have a website. But I’m ready to launch a course.”
No, no dude. Do a beta launch. If it’s 15 people, you’re going to save yourself a ton of money down the line and then, of course at the beginning of all your launches, at the beginning of any business, in fact, just on ever green automated bases, give people a place to tell you what they want, an ever green survey.
Elizabeth: That’s right.
Jam: We’re just using Survey Monkey. It’s brilliant. Five questions, I get all of my marketing copy and messaging right from their responses.
Elizabeth: I’m going to let to riff on that because it looks like my power cord is not plugged in. One moment.
Jam: Oh allow me to, Elizabeth. This shirt I’m wearing is a delicious elevate your brand Peaceful Media T-shirt. When I get done talking about the back of this t-shirt, this commercial will be done. What does it say there? I am creating more peace in the world. This is a delicious interstitial. Yeah, we’ve got a little bit more. Nicky, I’m going to need you to come on the camera and share some of your thought leadership tips. Oh yeah, you have a call.
Okay well, until Elizabeth comes back I do want to point out her website ElizabethMarshall.me. Elizabeth Marshall, two L’s at the very end dot me and hop on over to the consulting tab. You will see a thought leader platform diagnostic page. That’s the one that she was sharing and going through at the beginning of this webinar and then book your assessment session if you’re a thought leader, book your assessment session. See what that’s like and how you can use that in your own business.
And I know that Elizabeth is very soon going to be launching more and more of her thought leadership so you can subscribe to her, figure out what she is doing because she certainly knows this business inside and out.
Elizabeth: Thank you. Thank you and most importantly, don’t forget your power cord.
Jam: Yes, that is a tactical tangent number four.
Elizabeth: Oh that is a mistake, yes… But seriously, we, at these five strategies as we talked about as you were mentioning Jason, I’m actually curating these and putting these into a much more detailed form and e-book and that will be coming out within the next month or so. So, if you want to grab that just opt-in at ElizabethMarshall.me and you will get a copy when it’s ready.
Jam: Sweet. I’m happy, happy, happy to send traffic your way and I will also put a link underneath this video when we post it.
Elizabeth: Awesome. Awesome.
Jam: So may conclusion question Elizabeth is what are some stories that reflect the power of the result and power of creating a thought leader brand but what is that legacy that this can unfold to become? What are some? You’ve been part of these massive brands, online brands, offline brands; what are some of the things you’ve seen come in on the flipside of Michael Port’s hater vitriolic. On the flip side of that what are some of the results you’ve seen if people don’t understand what is possible for breaking through all the hurdles, going through the ten, figuring out what’s right, investing all this time, money and energy. What is that positive result that is on the other side of this that is encapsulated with the word legacy?
Elizabeth: Yeah certainly, there’s the obvious things like growing your business by two, three, four hundred percent, launching like amazing courses, filling programs, growing your revenue. All those things come as part of it but it’s when you get those emails that as a result of your work I’ve been able to go out so like say, Michael’s new public speaking program. You know when people email him and say, “As a result of going through their public speaking training, now I have the confidence to share my message in a way and yes, now I’m a 10 thousand dollar keynote speaker or whatever but I’ve reached the people that I feel like I know that I’m meant to serve and then, those countless emails of the ways that you’ve touched your life, knowing that you’ve made a difference with your message is that legacy”.
Jam: Amen. I mean, that’s…I’m not surprised. That’s the same thing I always bring too and some people don’t believe me but when as someone who’s really building up the thought leadership platform for ourselves, you and I Elizabeth are doing this for our brands to do that beta launch and have someone respond back with someone who purchased our course Launch 31 and someone responds back and says, “You know what? I have two daughters. I want to spend more time with them and my hope that my dream for this, why I am doing this course is because I want a deep relationship with my two daughters.”
Done, you know. Amen. Okay, good, glad I put it 90 days of pure hussle in order to do this, to serve those people who have such a desire to change not only the world around them but their own lives.
Elizabeth: Yeah and it really comes back to knowing your values and knowing that why that you’re doing what you’re doing.
Jam: Yeah.
Elizabeth: For yourself, for your audience, for your family.
Jam: Yeah.
Elizabeth: For your industry too because it’s your immediate audience about what, how you are going to shift the way things are being done.
Jam: Yeah, I love it.
Elizabeth: Cool.
Jam: All right, miss Thought Leadership Guru, Elizabeth Marshall, it’s been such a pleasure to spend an afternoon with you. Thank you for sharing all your wisdom.
Elizabeth: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. The pleasure is all mine. I’m grateful.
Jam: All right, so remember, you can check out Elizabeth at ElizabethMarshall.me and this one, this episode will be on our PeacefulMedia.com blog. So, until we see you next time, remember to love more, play more, do more good. I’m Jam at Peaceful Media. We will talk soon. Peace.
