Publishing, or establishing yourself as a thought leader, is neither necessary nor sufficient to be a successful consultant. It can be one part of an overall marketing strategy, but it's not for everyone, nor should it be.

With so many articles, white papers, studies, and so on, floating around in online and offline publications, you have to wonder about the effectiveness of all this writing. At a time when it seems like everyone is publishing something, does writing about your ideas still have legs as a marketing and lead generation strategy for consultants?

Conventional wisdom certainly holds that consultants enjoy a marketing lift from becoming "thought leaders" by publishing their opinions. And publishing articles and the like forms the basis of many firms' marketing strategies. Some benefit greatly from the exposure, generating leads and enhancing their reputations in the markets they serve.

But it takes significant time and effort to transform a blank page into a published work, so is it really worth it? After all, some consultants do absolutely no publishing. They don't write articles or case studies, publish surveys, or write books. They don't have newsletters, blogs, or YouTube videos, but they have more work than they can handle.

So, what gives?

Publishing, or establishing yourself as a thought leader, is neither necessary nor sufficient to be a successful consultant. It can be one part of an overall marketing strategy, but it's not for everyone, nor should it be. Some people choose wholly different ways to access their target markets, whether it's through networking, direct marketing, advertising, or some other method. Publishing is a choice--not a mandate for professional services providers.

If you decide to publish

Let's say you do decide to write as a part of your marketing strategy. What's the best way to get a running start? Before we get to that, first and foremost, you have to enjoy writing. You also have to be good at it, and you must commit to a regular program of writing. Without all three of those musts, you are wasting your time.

The world is awash in so-so writers who wonder why they're not getting any marketing results from their efforts. If that's the case for you, it's probably because you are failing to grab readers' attention.

A change in mindset can make your writing more compelling: you have to think like a reader who is scanning for useful information--and sometimes entertainment. That calls for a very different writing style than the one you use for client proposals, recommendations, and analyses. The focus and detailed writing of those client communications does not transfer well to thought pieces for a broader audience. Too many consultants try to use the same writing style for both, and it doesn't work.

He said, she said

The biggest obstacle to getting a marketing lift from writing is avoiding the role of thought follower. Unlike a thought leader, the follower creates derivative, though maybe creative, work that parrots material already in wide circulation.

There's nothing wrong with building on the ideas of others. After all, some of the leading business thinkers have excellent approaches to issues. Their work is well-researched and widely applicable. But you must find a new angle on a subject that's relevant for your clients and market.

Not long ago, a colleague encouraged me to visit a consultant's web site that offered a report for those who subscribed to a complimentary newsletter. After I dutifully surrendered my information, the "Special Report" landed in my email box.

The topic of the report was interesting, but I recognized it immediately as the work of another consultant. As I read along, the report gave proper attribution to the correct author, also noting that the writer of the report had slightly tailored the content for the newsletter's readers.

This report, which was really just an unwitting commercial for the original author, did nothing to further a relationship between readers and the report writer. I unsubscribed from the newsletter, convinced that I could find better ideas elsewhere.

Being a thought follower has many other drawbacks. If people encounter ideas they have seen or read about before, they pass right by. We're too busy to read anything that's not immediately valuable or that we think we already know--no matter that it represents someone's hard work.

It's also tough to convince editors to publish me-too work. With all the choices out there, editors routinely ignore all but the best of the best. And most importantly, me-too writing reflects poorly on the writer. If a reader takes the time to check out your work and remembers you, it may not be a good thing. If the work is a copycat piece, expect the reader to discount its value and your future ideas.

Finding the seam

Poet and writer Audre Lorde once commented, "There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt." I actually hope that her sentiments aren't entirely true, but she has a point. We can and should be students of the great works of others. But, if you plan to use their ideas, find new ways to make people feel and understand them.

Instead of writing a general leadership article, for example, address the leadership challenges for emerging managers in a specific target market. Don't write about meeting facilitation. Focus on a topic like resolving the divergent points of view inherent in developing group recommendations.

The best articles find unexploited seams and express new perspectives on existing ideas.
Of course, if you have a thoroughly original idea, get it into the market. But if you're basing your work on the thoughts of others, be sure that you are expanding on and extending those ideas, not simply echoing them. Original ideas don't have to be earth-shattering; sometimes even minor insights can help others see something in a new light.

Will publishing work?

Publishing your ideas can strengthen your practice--if you do it right. But if you want the marketing bump that publishing offers, it's not enough to send out an article or two and then hang it up. You have to make writing a regular part of your marketing and keep your ideas out there.

And keep working on the craft of writing so readers will want to hear from you. With so many resources available, anyone with the time and motivation can polish those writing skills.

But most of all, keep your ideas fresh. The market is full of thought followers. Don't settle for that. If you're ever in doubt about what you've written, find someone you trust to read your work and answer two questions: Have you read something like this before? And do you find the information to be relevant, understandable, and useful?

The answers to those two questions should give you enough feedback to decide whether or not your writing is ready for prime time.



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Michael W. McLaughlin is a principal with MindShare Consulting LLC, a firm that creates innovative sales and marketing strategies for professional services companies. He’s the author of Winning the Professional Services Sale, and the co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants. His newsletters, Management Consulting News and The Guerrilla Consultant, reach a global audience. Before founding MindShare Consulting, he was a partner with Deloitte Consulting, where he served clients and mentored consultants for more than two decades.