How do you use your original ideas to build your professional brand?

There are cobwebs hanging in the conversations related to your expertise. You niche appears when you knock those cobwebs out. Questions to get you started: • How “should” we think of [subject] and who told us so? • Where does that lens reinforce black and white thinking? • How does that thinking hurt us? Also: Where’s the gray area? From there, help your audience see in color. Give them MORE than just what already exists. That element of more likely already exists in ideas and solutions you use in your work every day, but that you haven’t taken the time to package and explore in depth.

Good feedback results from two things: 1. Great sources 2. Great requests for feedback Always ask for feedback from peers, mentors, or clients who already understand what you’re all about. Gaining an objective outside perspective might sound sexy, but can often lead you down unproductive rabbit holes. Be specific when you’re requesting feedback. A request such as “Can I get your thoughts on this?” is vague, whereas “Is it clear that my audience should leave a question in the forum after reading this?” is as clear as can be. Including 2-3 specific questions when you’re requesting feedback saves time for those supporting you, while avoiding overwhelming on your side of the equation.

Your audience is going to have: Activators, Action-takers, Accountants, A**holes. Communicating your ideas effectively requires that you appease them all: • Activators need you to stir their emotions • Action-takers need digestible, logical steps • Accountants crave empirical data • A**holes are there to play devil’s advocate Depending on your subject matter, you’ll see more of these audience types than others. With a strong messaging strategy, you’ll address them all.

It will feel like you have the shoes of giants to fill AND that they have already found the perfect way to say it all. Don't limit yourself to the shape and size of their feet. Established thought leaders give us something, good things, but they haven't given us everything. They’re waiting for you to show them how they can achieve possibilities they haven’t even considered before. Imitation isn’t actually flattery – it’s a sign of uncertainty that kills your credibility.

To keep your ideas fresh, fill your mind with so many angles that it resembles a kaleidoscope. Consume content that falls far outside your area of expertise. Absorb intelligence from categories that are the opposite of what you do everyday. Maintain a knowledge diet that’s as varied as what you could consume at a mall food court. If you do, you won’t have to work for your eureka moments. Your brain will do the work of forming and shaping new connections for you. All you’ll need to do is create time and space to listen to it.

You’re more than a subject matter robot 🤖 You’re not just a topic cluster and or the problems you solve every day. Your audience craves more than education, more than a steady stream of how-to’s. Originality and fun can also take the form of your new puppy, the rye comment the medic made after your skiing mishap, or your thoughts on your amazing new waffle iron. Smiles and human connection are just as valuable as your best tips and tricks, and reward your audience just as much as they motivate you to keep going as you build your brand.

Easy to understand = magnetic. Easy to follow = your audience being that much closer to you. That's the goal when you're sharing any idea. You'll be tempted to dive into the breadth and depth of the problems will solve in a single piece of content. Don't do it. Instead, provide them enough information, enough of a solution, that they can take the next couple of steps forward. Unpacking any new idea in depth, all at once, creates complexity, overwhelm, and confusion. Don't allow your brilliance to become a burden. Meet your audience where they are as you unleash your original thinking.