Las week, we learned why building thought leadership was essential for your fundraising efforts. This week, we will focus on the ‘how’.

While every founder in Asia Pacific understands that they need to be a thought leader (check out the effort our contributors put in), more often than not, it is ad hoc.

Finding time to speak at (virtual) conferences, networking with journalists to be interviewed and build your your own fan base via LinkedIn and other writing platforms is a lot to juggle with the tasks of running a startup.

And it is this very juggling that makes most of them sound like a content marketing studio. They fail to realise that thought leadership is not just about your product and its features — it is a reflection of your thoughts put forth confidently.

This week, I would like to enlist some tips for you to keep in mind to build your own thought leadership strategy especially when you do not have personnel to take care of it.

What to do

• Thought leadership distinguishes you and your brand from others. Events, podcasts and blogs can help you build leads, future investors, and even increase consumer base. But bear in mind that it is a slow process and yields no instant returns. It is a consistent and long-term process.
• Its starts with you. As the founder you are the face of the company and should work on enhancing your PR and marketing skills. Freely share your views about the industry and what’s happening at your startup via your company blog, LinkedIn, Twitter or more. Once the startup grows, the founder can take a backseat, but don’t stop doing it.
• As your startup grows, it’s important to know who participates in where. Divide and plan all your thought leadership efforts. Slowly, a startup can involve its technologist, sales and market leaders, or even HR executives to share their company practices, product know-how, etc.
• Steer clear of product marketing. It should not be the thrust of your thought leadership. You never want to appear as just a salesman hawking his products. No one, after all, likes to be sold to. What people do appreciate, on the other hand, is having their problems solved.
• The major thrust of your thought leadership should always be market education, especially in Asia, where most consumer and enterprise tech industries are still relatively new (at least compared to Silicon Valley).

Where to start

• Start a company blog if you can. But let it not just talk about your products, but also about what’s happening at your company, how you make decisions, etc. This will help engage all your stakeholders.
• Join Telegram groups or communities and network your way with peers. The e27 Facebook community is a great place to start. You can not only share your views and tips but also learn from others and stay up to date with industry sentiment.
• Contributor posts at media such as e27, Inc42, Forbes, etc. Contributed posts are a good break from story pitch and press release and an easy way to earn bylines for key members of your company. LinkedIn is a great tool too and the best way for brands to put company updates out there.

Anyone can become a thought leader and benefit from the added visibility. All you need are passion, expertise, and honesty, says Muara Makarim, who has helped startups such as Shopee and Circles.Life at their PR and thought leadership game.

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Image credit: Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

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