What if I told you, there are about seven legit strategies to make money as a thought leader, would you use these strategies to earn from thought leadership?
Of course. Thats a personal choice.
But, almost everyone knows a thought leader is someone whose expertise is recognized in a particular field.
And as you’d probably know, beyond the recognition; some thought leaders are actually earning from their opinion and expertise.
But the question is, are you one of these thought leaders earning from their recognition and influence? Are you making money as a thought leader?
If your answer to the above question is a resounding or grudging NO, then this post is for you.
And you’re going to learn about all the strategies you need to make money as a thought leader by the time you’re done reading this.
Now, before we proceed, I want you to know that as an expert, influencer, or thought leader, it’s time to monetize your influence and earn from your craft.
And in the following paragraphs, I am going to show you how to go about this…
Offer a Consulting Service
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Offering a paid consulting services is one of the easiest ways to make money as a thought leader.
Considering that you’re already well known as an expert in your niche and your opinion is well respected, there are chances people will want your opinion or expertise in some areas that relates to your niche.
You can key into this by setting up a professional consulting service that gets you paid each time you consult for a client.
PS: Remember, as a thought leader, to set up an online consulting service, you must have already displayed some expertise in the area you want to set out with.
You will also have to build rapport, trust and a good number of following.
If you’re not yet an expert already, it’s not too difficult to set up yourself to become one by conscious effort.
Now, when you garner some expertise and every one has come to know you in that niche, you can then go ahead and set up a website, link the platform to your social media accounts. Publish quality posts there on your blog and share it to your profile.
Keep at it and keep learning until you’re very comfortable with what you’re doing.
Write quality post on other blogs in your niche, and bring back their readers to your blog.
You can also start with a free consulting service, if you’re not a well known expert.
Put up your best in training those folks. At the end, ask them for testimonial or maybe feedback. Then create a far better premium service for them.
Engage in Public Speaking
As a thought leader with widespread experience in your niche, generally, public speaking is something that will come to you rather easily.
And you can use this as one of your strategies to make money as a thought leader.
Naturally, if public speaking is your forte then you’re in for a good one. And you can start with taking up opportunities right there on your social media platform before even getting offline.
If this is what you’d like to do, follow the steps i listed under strategy 1 above.
To garner some more experience offline, you can start by gathering people around you in your local community, school, church.
Speak to them free. Give out high quality life changing ideas to them. Take pictures. Grab testimonials. Share it on your blog and social media platform.
When you’ve gathered enough experience in your belt, you can then get started hosting paid seminars, webinars and trainings.
Host Seminars & Trainings
With social media apps like Zoom, Skype, Google hangout and the likes, online seminars (also called webinars) can be done without much stress and you can use this as one of your strategies to make money as a thought leader.
Using the the steps i mentioned above, it works pretty easy, especially if you’re a thought leader with some specialized skills.
Let’s say beyond being a thought leader, you have some specialized knowledge in a specific niche. For instance, beyond being a social media critic, you’re a writer, blogger, digital marketer etc.
These are skills that people are paying to learn elsewhere. And you as a thought leader can use your expertise here, to train people at a fee.
Write & Sell Books
As a thought leader, you can also make money by writing and selling book either online or offline.
The good thing about this strategy is that as a thought leader, you already have the content, experience and expertise you need to write a book.
And the second thing is that writing a book beyond earning you some income can also cement your credibility as an expert both within and outside your audience.
So, even if you wouldn’t want to write a book in order to make money as a thought leader, you can write it to promote your brand and boost your expertise.
If you don’t have ideas to get started with a book, your most valuable content could be transformed, edited and written into eBooks and sold right there on your blog there or on publishing platforms like Amazon.
Even the seminar topics, participants’ answered questions and all other seminar valuables could be collected into a book or video. I think I’ve said enough already.
Engage in Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing strategy where you promote a product or service from another brand and they pay you a certain fee, for all sales generated via your platform.
Regardless of your niche, chances are, there are a handful of successful brands looking for profitable partnership in that niche.
With your existing popularity and platform, you can use affiliate marketing as a strategy to make money as a thought leader by partnering with these brands, in return for a commission.
Done well, Affiliate Marketing can be a real avenue where you can generate real income online as a thought leader.
Write Sponsored Posts
Do you have a website or blog with a decent traffic? Or do you have a social media platform with a very large following?
If your answer is a YES to any of the two questions above, then writing and promoting a sponsored post for other brands could be your foremost strategy to make money online as a thought leader.
To get started, you can make this a short post where you use to promote a product, brand or services from another brand.
Depending on your arrangements, you could be the one to create the post for the clients or they can create it on their own while you promote it.
The thing about sponsored post is that you have to promote a brand whose products ideals or services is in line with your own values.
Sell your Digital Products
Selling your own digital product is another way to make money as a thought leader.
Your digital product doesn’t have to be something difficult. It can be a coaching program, a training, professional service or any other skills produced in digital format.
The idea is that since you already have an existing audience who are also aware of your expertise, experience and credibility, you can as well sell and promote your product to them.
Conclusion
Beyond selling a product or making money directly via your platforms, as a thought leader, you can also use your platforms to promote your own products and services if you’re a Freelancer, Designer, Web Developer etc.
Always remember that while these strategies are effective on their own, you don’t need to focus on the promotion aspects alone, you have to continuously create exceptional value for your audience.
This is what made them like and respect you in the first place. By all means, you need to maintain this.
So, there you have the top seven strategies to make money as a thought leader. Do you need any further help to make the most out of your influence as a thought leader? Reach out to us here.
Which of these strategies would you like to start with? Let’s hear you.
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