Reaching Scale in Thought Leadership | Bill Sherman | 432

When most hear the word scale they'll think of a kitchen or bathroom scale - a tool for measuring.

When it comes to thought leadership, what does "reaching scale" mean? How can you measure it, and how can you achieve it?

In this special episode, I'm are going to invite a few unusual guests: frameworks and models. 

These models define scale, measure methods of distributing content, and find ways to assess impact.

When attempting to measure and reach scale, thought leaders often look to social media metrics such as followers, engagement, and likes. But, what's the value of a "like" toward measuring thought leadership? Instead of getting wrapped up in superficial metrics, thought leadership practitioners need to understand that scale happens when people encounter an idea and choose to act on it – because thought leadership,at its very core, needs to be an idea in action.

Thought leadership isn't about building the largest audience it is about building the right audience. Bill discusses the differences between Total Addressable Market (TAM), and Share of Market (SOM), the market percentage that you are currently reaching. Understanding these two numbers gives a clearer picture of the influence of your thought leadership.

Further, he shares insights about Broadcasting, Narrowcasting, and Point-Casting. Broadcasting is scattering your ideas on the wind and hoping they reach the right market,. Narrowcasting means focussing on the people who need your ideas the most, while point-casting means packaging your idea in particular terms for a VIP within your TAM.

If you've been struggling to reach scale, you might need to better understand how to reach your best audience. 

Don't default to broadcasting. Take the insights in this episode, and start increasing your SOM!

Three Key Takeaways:

• Thought leadership needs to be an idea in action. Without action, movement, and interaction with an audience, thought leadership can't spread and thrive.
• Organizational thought leadership isn't about building the largest possible audience. It's about building the right audience.
• If you can get your idea to the VIPs in your TAM, and convince them to take action, you've gained a link to the best audiences your thought leadership could attain.