Thought leadership involves establishing expertise in a topic to attract an audience and influence others. Three startup founders exemplified thought leadership: Derek Sivers of CD Baby, who sold the company for $22 million and built a large following; Jason Fried of 37signals, known for sharing business philosophy; and Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz, who provided comprehensive, transparent information. To develop thought leadership, one can comment on current events, continue online conversations, gauge interest in topics, and guest post to borrow existing audiences. Metrics like conversation, amplification, applause and economic value better measure social impact than follower counts. The key is to start sharing expertise through blogs and social media.

1. Thought Leadership &
Marketing Your Startup
Distilled NYC Meetup
June 27th 2012
*all image and fact credits in the last slide

2. Hooz dis guy

3. @dan_shure
the musician – circa 2006

4. @dan_shure
“Shurelock” Holmes
The SEO
Since circa 2008

5. Let’s Talk About
“Thought Leadership”

6. New-ish term (1994)
NOT a new concept…

7. 1500’s
“Art is never finished, only
abandoned.”
-Da Vinci

8. 1950’s
“Disneyland will never be
completed. It will grow as
long as there is imagination
left in the world.”
- Walt Disney

9. 3 Startup Thought Leaders

10. CD Baby

11. Derek Sivers

12. 2008 Derek Sivers Sold CD Baby
(for $22 million)

13. Good-bye [CD Baby] search volume…

14. …hello [Derek Sivers] search volume.

15. Musician’s Resources
cdbaby.com
circa 1999

16. Order Confirmation Email
“Dear [Name]
Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD
Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free
gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs
and polished them to make sure they were in
the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan…. “
Etc…
Read the whole story here: http://searchengineland.com/how-cdbaby-built-20000-citations-with-one-e-
mail-84357

17. 62,000 Citations
Source: http://searchengineland.com/how-cdbaby-built-20000-citations-with-one-e-mail-84357

18. “Leave the poetry in
what you make. When
something becomes too
polished, it loses its
soul.”
-Jason Fried

19. Satire (with a point)
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1941-press-release-37signals-valuation-tops-100-billion-after-bold-vc-investment

20. Business Philosophy
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3124-give-it-five-minutes

21. Rand Fishkin - SEOmoz

22. Comprehensive & Transparent
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/mozs-18-million-venture-financing-our-story-metrics-and-future

23. But… we have a problem.

24. Size of the
INTERNE
T

25. Size of the
INTERNE
T
You

26. 70 Million WordPress Blogs

27. 39 Million Tumblr Blogs

28. 250 Million Tweets a Day

29. Three Solutions
1. What to talk about
2. How to get attention
3. Ways To Measure

30. “I Don’t Know What To Talk About”

31. 1. Find Things To React To.
http://www.quora.com/Startups/group_open

32. Then KILL IT with passion.
http://www.quora.com/Startups/What-does-it-feel-like-to-be-the-CEO-of-a-start-up

33. 2. Continue a social conversation on your blog
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/aaron-wall-and-i-debate-the-open-discussion-of-webspam

34. 3. Use social to gauge interest in a topic.
http://www.evolvingseo.com/2012/06/20/art-of-empathy/#axzz1yuaurQ41

35. 4. Turn blog comment into post
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-increase-the-odds-of-
your-content-going-viral-whiteboard-friday#jtc167420

36. 4. Turn blog a comment into post
http://mz.cm/seo-titles

37. “How do I get attention?”

38. 1. Write better headlines - CTR!!
http://mz.cm/seo-titles

39. 2. Do A Weekly Series
YNAB (You need a budget)
Whiteboard Wednesdays

40. 3. Optimize Personal Profiles https://twitter.com/#!/dremeda

41. 3. Optimize Personal Profiles https://twitter.com/#!/dremeda

42. 3. Optimize Twitter Profile https://twitter.com/#!/dremeda

43. 4. Keep A Consistent & Professional
Avatar Everywhere
http://en.gravatar.com/

44. 4a. But unique enough among members of
your team to keep distinguishable.
(unlike Joel and Leo)
*Disclaimer: I LOVE bufferapp and their content – just think this one tiny thing could be better 

45. 5. Borrow an existing audience
The Art of Blog Commenting
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/comment-marketing-as-an-
inbound-tactic-whiteboard-friday
http://www.quicksprout.com/2012/02/21/an-advanced-guide-to-
an-effective-seo-commenting-strategy/

46. 5. Borrow an existing audience
Guest Blogging
http://www.distilled.net/blog/seo/a-guest-posting-process/
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-evaluate-guest-post-opportunities
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/guest-blogging-strategies-whiteboard-friday

47. Measure

48. crowdbooster.com

49. crowdbooster.com
Top retweeters

50. How many new Google visits
does my name bring to company website?

51. Stop measuring bragging about
# of followers

52. DO Brag About Measure
What THIS guy says to measure.
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/best-social-media-metrics-conversation-amplification-applause-economic-value/

53. Avinash’s 4 Social Media Metrics
1. Conversation
2. Amplification
3. Applause
4. Economic Value
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/best-social-media-metrics-conversation-amplification-applause-economic-value/

54. truesocialmetrics.com
measures those four things

55. truesocialmetrics.com

56. truesocialmetrics.com

57. BONUS PRO TIP

58. BONUS PRO TIP
JUST FREAKIN’
START
March 31st 2012
March 30th 2007

59. @dan_shure

60. *Credits
• Walt Disney - http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1895-13883
• Jason Fried - http://www.jeremyperson.com/jason-fried/
• Derek Sivers - http://mayhem-chaos.net/photoblog/archives/000565.html
• http://www.studosfera.net/piar/2012/06/23/cd-baby-or-how-to-make-millions-with-a-silly-e-mail/
• Truck - http://carfails.com/huge-vehicle-falls-off-a-bridge/
• Twitter Bird Costume - http://www.thesnowjunkies.com/2011/01/12/new-ticket-deals-feature-the-tsj-
twitter-hotline/
• Sherlock - http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1890
• Internet Stats - http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/
• http://www.xs-party.co.uk/products/ras4006354-rasta-imposta-mens-tape-measure-funny-fancy-dress-
costume-one-size-new.html
• http://www.paperlessinfo.com/paperless-office-tips