Apps Are a Great Business Opportunity for Anyone

 

A fantastic business opportunity would have a low initial investment, huge profit potential, and minimum overhead. Apps are a great business opportunity because they meet all these requirements. All you need is an idea.

Apps do not need a large investment to start. You can get an app written for $2,000 to $5,000. Your cost to set-up a corporation or LLC would be another $1,000. Therefore, for a total investment of approximately $4,000 to $7,000, you have your new app business up and running.

If you want to have a game app, you can re-skin a game app for $200 to $800. There are many companies on the Internet that will do this for you. Two companies that sell the source code and re-skin it includes Chupamobile and Reskin Games.

Of course, you also need to market it. By using social media and networking, you could do it without spending any money on advertising. As your business grows and becomes profitable, you could start an advertising campaign. One company that specializes in social media marketing is the Frackle Media Group.

Apps have huge profit potential. Look at Angry Birds. This is an app that appeared in 2008 and made over $7 million on the downloads alone. It is now putting the characters of the game on TV, merchandise, and in movies.

Another very profitable app is Bejeweled 2, which debuted in 2004. It is a matching puzzle video game and has over $12 million in sales. Other million dollar apps include Doodle Jump ($4 million), Pocket God ($3 million), Flight Control ($3 million), Skee Ball (2.5 million), Flick Fishing($2 million), and iFitness ($4 million). Just to name a few.

A new app that was just introduced a few weeks ago and is set to be another million dollar company is the Gotta Potty app. The Gotta Potty app locates the nearest restrooms and uses the phone GPS to take you to the one you select. It rates the restrooms as very clean, clean , or needs service. It may even send you a discount offer to use when you get to the location. When introduced, it had over 100,000 locations throughout the United States.

It is a free app in both the Play Store and app store, so it will be interesting to see how many people download it. The app is easy to use and works well. It sells advertising to businesses for income. While it does have banner ads, they are inconspicuous so it is not annoying. Will it be the next million dollars app? Only time will tell.

Apps also have the advantage of low overhead. All you need is a computer, an internet connection, and an app host like Google or Apple. Of course, you will need to monitor and promote it, as well as keep records as with any business, but most businesses based on apps only require a few employees to keep it running.

Now, all you need is an idea. You can create a new app like Gotta Potty, utilize an existing app and use it for another purpose, or you can take an existing game like Angry Birds and make it angry neighbors. Just make a few simple changes and you have a new, viable game idea.

Considering the profit potential and low start-up costs involved, an app business is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who wants to go into business for themselves. You can do it part-time and still keep your current job. Then, when the profit starts building, you can quit your old job or keep it until you become the next app millionaire. Thus, apps are a great business opportunity for anyone who has a few thousand dollars to invest and wants to start their own business.

Source : http://bit.ly/1Qe9brA

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5 Digital-Marketing Tactics to Ditch in 2016

Keeping abreast with what works in digital marketing can be a constant catch-up game. Fickle consumers jump from channel to channel. Google updates its search algorithm. Keeping up with Facebook’s monthly changes requires constant education. Because of all of this change, it can be hard to keep on top of which digital tactics still work -- and which are no longer relevant.

Read on to understand which digital-marketing tactics you should consider ditching in 2016.

1. Having a desktop-only accessible website

The mobile website living separately from the desktop website no longer flies with Google. The dominant search engine has made it very clear that a traditional website that doesn’t adjust to the user’s screen size won’t be as visible as one that does.

Google knows its users access their search engine while on the go and wants to serve its users in the best way possible. To make itself look better, it must reward the websites most accommodating to how customers search the web today -- in the car, the Starbucks line and even in the corporate meeting.

Websites must be fluid not only for the user, but for the business owner’s convenience as well. Having a mobile website built on a separate platform runs the risk that information from site to site will be inconsistent. Contradictions erode consumer trust. Handling social media and directory updates creates enough extra work. Having to upload new information to additional sites become cost and time ineffective. The bottom line is that the traditional desktop designed website will lose rankings and visibility.

Despite Google’s clear messages that websites must be mobile-friendly, many small and medium-sized businesses have not converted their websites to mobile-friendly design. To check if your website is mobile friendly, enter your url into Google’s “Mobile Friendly Test Tool.”Google will quickly tell you if and why your website does not render in an effective way on tablet or smartphone. Small fonts and links put too closely together are a few factors that make a website impossible to navigate and access on a small screen. Get your website mobile today to keep customers coming in.

2. Not updating your website.

Beyond mobile accessibility, Google also closely watches how often users click and convert on your website. While it was once speculated that Facebook channels would overtake websites, research tells us that consumers return again and again to a company’s website for in-depth information on the corporation, product and contact details.

Google takes this habit seriously and wants company websites to serve visitors’ needs. Again, like the mobility demand outlined above, Google is laser-focused on delivering quality answers from quality websites.

The place-holding or basic website that acts primarily as a two-dimensional, digital brochure doesn’t win higher rankings from the search engines. The site must be attractive, easy to navigate, timely and constantly updated with quality content.

A/B testing can help your site win better user engagement and sales or other conversions. More, Google interprets users quickly bouncing away from your website back to the search results as a signal the site offers content that’s irrelevant to the search query. To succeed in digital marketing, make sure your website fulfills a need and constantly addresses that need with timely, relevant content.

3. The spammy link

Google changed the determination of quality in 1999 when it decided that, rather than have an editorial team review websites and make subjective judgments, it would derive value of a website by the number of other websites linking to it. In other words, the digital thumbs up in the form of backlinks provided a more accurate reflection of a site’s usefulness.

Unfortunately, business owners and unethical search agencies sullied Google’s trust of backlinks as indicators of the authority of a website. These entities gamed Google’s system by creating backlinks from artificially created sites with poor-quality content and irrelevant information. Google’s strong staff of PhDs and computer engineers rectified this black- hat SEO with the Penguin update, which penalizes websites without authentic backlinks coming from relevant and reputable websites.

Today, Google rewards the quality, robust content that earns backlinks naturally. SEO companies have become big content generators. Keep in mind, too, that in addition to signals from other sites, Google’s staff of editors spot-check a website’s content to make sure it’s relevant to certain search queries. Companies without meaningful and helpful content, products and backlinks drop in the rankings quickly. After all, Google doesn’t want to deliver a poor product.

4. The superficial social channel

Social media marketing progressed so quickly, many companies were thrilled to get cover images and some content -- any content -- up over the past few years. They felt convinced having a presence on social media would prove their credibility.

Companies that overlook the opportunities social media provides to connect one on one with customers do so to their detriment. Studies show that social media has become one of the big three of customer support, alongside telephone and email.

But where those emailing a company expect a response within a day or so, a study conducted by Edison Research reveals that 42 percent of those contacting a company through social media expect a response within 60 minutes, and 24 percent expect a response within 30 minutes. Further, consumers expect the social-customer service team to work all night and through the weekend.

Long gone are the days when companies avoided social media for fear of negative comments. We’ve all learned negative comments happen whether we’re there to address them or not. Now, most marketers view criticism as an opportunity to educate customers and showcase a committed, responsive customer-service department.

5. Single display and Facebook ads

Typically just 2 percent or fewer website visitors convert on the first visit. Sales professionals have always known that it takes seven to nine contacts before the sale is closed. If the website is the digital salesperson, shouldn’t it have the opportunity to follow up on initial contacts?

Google and Facebook have made this possible through re-targeting -- which Google calls re-marketing. When a visitor lands on a website, a cookie or short piece of JavaScript is placed in their browser. After they leave your site, this cookie pings the re-targeting platform to put certain ads on the next pages the visitor goes to.

That’s why, when you spend some time on a hover-board site or when you next go to WebMD or Facebook or your favorite blog, you see an ad for the hover board. It follows you around the web. WebMD, Facebook and some blogs also have a relationship with the re-targeting platform that acts as a clearinghouse or middle man to deliver ads to appropriate publishing platforms. The WebMD page you see won’t be the same WebMD page a friend sees even if you use the same URL. Ads served to your friend will be different and based on her previous Internet activity.

When done right, re-targeting helps move the prospect down the sales funnel. It re-engages them after they leave your page. The era of a single display ad that shows up on one blog in the same place every time is coming to an end. Today’s technology enables advertisers to target one customer at a time and lure them down the attention, interest and desire path to action -- the sale.

Each digital-marketing tactic a business chooses must depend on the size of the business, its unique selling proposition, its audience demographics and its ideal buyer’s journey. No digital-marketing technique is a one-size-fits-all solution, but we’re confident that if you avoid these tactics and mistakes, your digital marketing efforts will be improved in 2016.

Source : http://entm.ag/1K1PzRc

4 Trends That Will Shape Marketing in 2016

It’s that time of year again, and I’m not just talking about the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping and ringing in the New Year. I’m talking about the thrill and stress of reflecting on one year and planning for another.

For marketers, it’s crucial to spend time reviewing data from 2015 and attending strategic planning meetings to build momentum for 2016. But it’s also important to consider marketing trends and forecasts that may impact your team’s plans. Are experts predicting any major shifts in the industry over the next 12 months?

Here are four changes marketers will encounter in 2016: 

1. Digital and mobile will no longer be standalone efforts.

Heading into 2016, marketers must jump on board with the notion that digital marketing and mobile marketing do not exist. It’s all just marketing. Seventy-three percent of U.S. households own a computer with an Internet connection, and 68% of Americans own a smartphone. This means your company presence should be equal parts digital and traditional and automatically optimized for mobile.

Prospects must be exposed to your brand via as many touch points as possible. And although a digital strategy should be part of your overall marketing plan, you should still focus on the specific channels your target audience frequents. For example, if your customers are mainly males over the age of 55, emails and traditional advertising might resonate better, whereas millennials are more likely to notice a sponsored social ad.

The key is to understand that a marketing strategy must include digital and mobile components. There should be no more negotiations about additional budget dollars for digital and mobile marketing—they are now one with the marketing budget. The sooner businesses and marketing departments can unify all areas of marketing, the quicker revenue will increase.

2: Data analysis tools will become more sophisticated.

Over the past couple years, a lot of marketers have been using business intelligence (BI) tools to gather important data insights that help them make better strategic decisions, scale and improve marketing efforts, and increase their bottom line. But mining, analyzing and understanding mounds of campaign data can be tough. Many marketers use multiple data analysis tools, which means they are faced with a lot of cluttered data to sift through and organize.

In 2016, BI tools will come to maturity, and more will be developed that both aggregate and analyze the data available. This will lift a weight off many businesses and marketers who need just the essential information about their customers to make real-time decisions about their marketing strategies. These more sophisticated tools will give marketers all the details they need to quickly customize their marketing for different target audiences.

3. Marketing strategies will reflect a multi-touch, multi-stage customer journey.

Let’s face it: A prospect’s journey is no longer linear or funnel-like, but rather multi-stage. Consumers need many interactions with your brand, via a variety of mediums, to convert to paying customers. This means 2016 will be the “Year of a New Marketing Game Plan.”

Marketers will need to dig into data to evaluate the success or failure of various efforts and eliminate those that have been unsuccessful. To do this, you’ll need to figure out the best way to populate your sales funnel with more and better quality leads.

For instance, you might try centralizing your lead capture and putting metrics in place (like lead-to-sale conversion rate) that allow you to pinpoint your best strategies and scale them for more profitable lead capture.

4. Advanced CRM tools and features will emerge.

According to a 2015 Lead Nurturing Benchmark Study from DemandGen Report, 42 percent of marketers have been implementing lead nurturing tactics for more than two years. In 2016, these marketers will be looking for tools that help them better qualify leads and ramp up their nurture efforts. In particular, marketers will be looking for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and integration that provide detailed information about where the best leads are coming from.  

In the coming year, more tools will develop functionality to address the data loss that many businesses experience. New features and integration will allow marketers to track lead sources and see that information in a sales CRM. This will help marketers better scale their highest performing campaigns, and it will bridge the gap between marketing and sales teams.

Source : http://entm.ag/1OzLOb4

5 Ways to Start Investing in Social Media Marketing the Right Way

Do you have a business? Is your business on social media? If not, then you’d lower the probability of ending up to where you want to be. So, how are you going to start investing in social media marketing?

Social media is a key factor to succeed in your business. Even big companies now have social media accounts to market their products and increase awareness. Unfortunately, for starters, they don’t know how to manage their accounts.

If you’re not sure how to get started on investing in social media marketing, you may check out some suggestions below.

1. Start with a free account

Since you don’t know yet how to market your products on social media, you should take advantage of SM’s free trials. Those free accounts will help you learn the ropes. You can also experiment with various apps and software.

But you must track your ROI before you even begin to make a budget on SMM as a business expense.

You can start using Content Marketer to promote and reach out to influencers. Buffer is a great tool in scheduling your social media updates. Canva is a useful tool to create blog and social media images.

After you’ve learned how to use social media for your marketing campaign, it might be time for you to spend a small amount of money with different avenues so you can build better social media presence.

2. Go slowly

It’s easy to get excited about social media marketing. But you must only go slowly. Remember that you’re still at the early stage of investing in social media marketing so you shouldn’t spend a lot of your money in it yet. Ensure that your returns are actually growing as you increase your expenses on SMM.

3. Avoid overspending

As mentioned earlier, it’s easy to get excited on SMM. As a result, you might overspend. That is if you don’t have discipline. For that reason, it’s best that you have a budget set and you should always stick to it, no matter what. Even if you didn’t reach your target audience, you should call it a day when your budget has been used up for that day.

4. Choose the right tools

This will help you stretch your budget. As a beginner, you need to get the most of your time and money when you choose the right social media tool. That said, you must check out the various options on the market and know which platform offers you the biggest bang for your buck.

When you’re certain that such tool can indeed help you get a good ROI, don’t be afraid to buy it.

5. Begin now

It takes time to learn the ropes of SMM. That said, if you don’t start investing in social media marketing, you’ll miss a lot of opportunities. Just like other personal finances, you shouldn’t wait until you’re already left behind the curve.

You should start to build a solid strategy to help you in making a proper budget and approach while you’re leveraging the benefits of social media.

Source : http://bit.ly/1QjcmiF

8 Tips You Should Know If You Want To Start Your Business Successfully

As Scott Belsky said, “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” It’s really not that the success of an idea depends on its uniqueness and potential foremost. Rather, it depends on how you bring the idea into action.

You may have heard, as an entrepreneurship enthusiast, people calling an idea a “billion dollar idea”. However, ideas in themselves are of negligible worth. It’s hard to sell just an idea for even a few thousand dollars, unless you’re an expert salesperson.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to undermine the value of an idea at all. In fact, a concrete idea is the first and foremost thing that you need when starting your business. However, there are plenty of other variables which determine whether you transform an idea into a successful enterprise or not.

Here are some tips to help you if you want to get your business of to a successful start.

1. Identify strengths and weaknesses

A common fallacy among young, enthusiastic entrepreneurs is the invulnerability regarding their idea. It is convenient to believe that your idea is impeccable. This however is not always the case. No matter how brilliant an idea is, it will have shortcomings.

A proper analysis of strengths and weaknesses of your idea will help you understand its actual value. It can help you identify risks and difficulties in implementing your ideas. Furthermore, it can reveal opportunities that you are unaware of.

Once you identify the strengths and weaknesses in your plan, you can decide how much time and money you will need to put into the endeavor.

2. Create a business model

Your idea is not going to earn money by itself. You need to find the best ways to milk money from your idea. You will need a proper business model for that.

A proper business model will help you figure out elements such as who your customers are, which demographic your idea appeals to, what marketing approach you should take, what are the company’s capital and resource requirements, and how does the company plan to manage its operations as it grows.

A business model helps you to set clear financial goals and develop a proper implementation strategy to achieve those goals.

3. Take feedback from experts

One of the biggest mistakes young entrepreneurs make is that they don’t care to take any suggestion from experts. They feel their idea is solid and see no need for any feedback.

However, with years of experience under their belts, experts can understand the multiple aspects of your enterprise in a much more dynamic and realistic manner.

Taking feedback from experts will help you to take a better approach towards implementation of your project and will also introduce you to difficulties or problems you might not have considered previously.

4. Form an alliance

If you think you alone can successfully grow a huge enterprise, you are wrong. If it’s a small scale enterprise, you could do it on your own. But even in that case, teamwork helps a lot.

You need to find a group of likeminded individuals with compatible skills who add to the value of the group. It’s best to go for people with different skill sets.

It’s always better to form a group that includes a developer, manager, designer, marketer and business analyst than one consisting of all developers.

5. Know your competitors

You might think that your idea is one-off and never thought of before. But there is a high chance somebody else has already thought of it in one way or another.

Whether the idea is a novel one or quite common, you will always have competitors, both new and those with years of presence in the industry.

You should give plenty of thought towards contending with the competitors, existing and potential ones alike. And, outsmarting the rivals should be more than displaying more captivating ads or glossier banners on your building. Here are some great ideas on where to put those vinyl banners. The main focus should be on providing better customer experience than your rivals.

6. Earn your team’s support

Just increasing the number of heads in your team doesn’t achieve anything for the success of your enterprise. You need to build a solid team.

You need to build a cohesive team where individuals add up to each other. For that, the most important thing is to build a sense of trust and belief within the team.

You need to earn the support of your team. You need to instill belief in them that your enterprise is going to succeed. You might even need to make compromises in doing so.

7. Focus to boost skills within your team

For the continuous growth of your business, the team members also need to grow constantly. That requires continuous increment of individual skills.

Even when the business is not really succeeding, you need to find ways to aid in the boost of individual skills of team members. The members should constantly upgrade themselves for the betterment of business as well.

It might be hard to do so in the beginning, but you should set aside some amount for training of the members, their recreation and also challenge them at every step.

8. Expand your idea 

Ideas often arise from that sudden spark, when you feel you have come up with something big. At that point, you could even explain your idea in a sentence. But ideas continuously grow. You might start with something elementary but, after lots of brainstorming and planning, you add more aspects to your idea.

With the growth of your business, you should continuously work on reforming your idea. You should regularly refine it, adjust requirements and try to continually assure that it is relevant.

Source : http://bit.ly/1NQuhHt

5 Rules for Stand-Out Marketing Campaigns

Seven years ago, in the midst of an economic recession, Boston’s Yale Appliance + Lighting was losing money. “I’d read somewhere that people will buy some things anyway during a recession -- and one of those things was refrigerators,” recalls CEO Steve Sheinkopf. “So we pumped more money into radio and newspaper advertising, thinking it would help. It didn’t -- it hurt.”

Sheinkopf, who had taken over the store founded by his grandfather, refocused with what was (at the time) a radical approach. He doubled down on a digital marketing strategy that included social media, blogging, reputation management and email components.

The focus on a content-based inbound marketing program allowed Sheinkopf to bring his advertising budget to near zero. (Last year, he says, he spent nothing aside from seasonal Google AdWords buys around Black Friday and a tax-free holiday weekend.)

Today Yale Appliance is profitable and growing, with 140 employees. Top-line revenue is expected to hit $80 million this year, and in June the company opened a state-of-the-art showroom in Framingham, Mass. -- only its second store after 92 years in business.

So how did Sheinkopf use digital marketing to turn around his grandfather’s company? There’s no magic or special gift involved. “Obviously I’m not a genius; otherwise, I wouldn’t be in the appliance business,” he laughs.

What he does have: commitment. A content-based marketing strategy requires it. Here’s how you can get similar results.

1. Actively manage your online reputation.

When you’re a small, regional business, you compete with companies that can easily outspend you in advertising. In Sheinkopf’s case, that includes big-time players: Sears, Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe’s.

But digital content can give small, scrappy companies a bigger footprint -- if they’re willing to work it. “Google is democratic,” Sheinkopf notes. What’s more, online review sites like Yelp and Angie’s List can give a small business direct insight into its brand reputation. “Businesses may despise Yelp, but [it’s] a window on how you operate and are perceived,” he says.

So encourage social reviews, thank people who say nice things, and view negative reviews as an opportunity to fix what’s broken. “It’s painful to see a negative comment or review,” Sheinkopf admits. But take a long-term view: Use the criticism as a chance to both resolve an immediate issue for one customer and to improve a process or system for the good of future customers.

2. Know what your customers want.

In 2007, when Sheinkopf started blogging, he got some traction through organic search results. But things really ignited when he dug deeper into digital marketing basics. He credits Marcus Sheridan at thesaleslion.com with teaching him how to write a metatag, a headline and a call to action that can convert prospects into customers.

Sheinkopf also studied customer reactions to figure out what kind of posts would be most useful. It turned out that trend pieces and specific comparisons of, say, a Thermador to a Viking cooktop, got the most traffic. Recommendation posts like “The 5 best counter depth refrigerators” also did well.

Creating customer-centric content takes time. But it’s a valuable exercise, for two reasons: It helps you understand what motivates customers, and it requires you to learn everything about your stock, inside and out.

Online content has become Yale’s biggest driver of new business, Sheinkopf says. Page views were at 18,000 visitors per month in 2011; this past August, the site had 448,000 visitors. What’s more, those who visit the blog and download buyer’s guides convert into buyers at a much higher rate. That’s why Sheinkopf personally reviews all the content his blog publishes.

I told him I was surprised that the CEO manages the company blog, and he laughed: “There’s no better business-development effort. So why wouldn’t I?”

3. Make customers smarter.

Yale Appliance has more than 20 guides covering everything from how to buy under-cabinet lighting to what to look for in a dishwasher. Many of those started as internal, vendor- agnostic training resources for new employees. “We already had a 10-page guide on an induction oven,” Sheinkopf says. It wasn’t a far leap to turn it into a buying guide for customers.

Yale uses marketing-automation vendor HubSpot to nurture customers through the buying process. Anyone who downloads a guide to buying a sub-zero fridge opts-in to a series of emails designed to deliver more information about the appliances. Those emails have a high engagement rate: 35 percent, vs. 5 to 10 percent for other emails Yale sends (mainly newsletters and daily promotions).

“We focus on making our customer smarter,” Sheinkopf says. “People want to be informed; they don’t want to be sold to anymore—if they ever did.”

4. Invest in staff and other resources that touch customers.

Customer happiness is rooted in happy employees. So Yale hires carefully, finding employees with the right cultural fit and making sure they are happy and well taken care of -- through profit sharing and generous benefit packages, as well as top-notch training programs.

Yale has also spent time and effort identifying and investing in improvements to customer experience, including better phone and computer systems.

5. Quit procrastinating.

Sheinkopf embraced content marketing long before a lot of other businesses caught on. So is his success linked to a first-mover advantage? “Good, original information is still good, original information,” he points out. “Good content is still good content.”

In other words, any small business can -- and shouldtake advantage of these digital strategies. “I’m not an outlier,” Sheinkopf adds. “There are still millions of industries and countless opportunities in underserved markets. You just have to refuse to do business like everyone else.”

Source : http://entm.ag/1Y7i4oW

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3 Reasons Why Thought Leadership Matters

Thought leadership has been at the forefront of digital transformation and continues to expand the idea revolution that started with the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press. It has become a key driver for innovation and creating new opportunities as ideas are shared and distributed beyond traditional sources and across social platforms that were unimaginable a decade ago.

The term “thought leadership” means different things to different people. It is used and practiced both in personal and professional spaces. Some take place on large stages; others unfold in small corners that are hidden from the limelight. But no matter the size or shape, they all share a common DNA. In its simplest form, it creates an opportunity to become a trusted source on topics we are passionate about by delivering different perspectives on all questions—new and old.

As the name suggests, it requires two things:

• Thought. Ask every possible question and ignite the critical-thinking process, which is a prerequisite for asking the right questions.
• Leadership. Write with passion as an informed opinion leader to become the go-to-person in an area of interest or expertise.

Thought leadership is a pursuit that is more about growth, innovation, and creating opportunities.  It starts when an idea is kindled, and it doesn’t stop when the fruits of that idea is delivered.

Thought leadership is about growth

When we set out to develop a perspective, the process gives us a chance to experiment freely with different ideas while escaping the disciplined and demanding rigor that may be otherwise required in certain roles, functions, and disciplines. Neither the process nor growth happens in random circles with loose ends. For those who follow and stay committed, the process of molding these ideas can sometimes be as intense and focused as the development of new products and services.

Thought leadership helps us grow not only as an individual, but also as an organization to learn more about our purpose, which is a reflection of both our passions and imperfections. More important, it’s a journey that sheds light on our path–allowing us to seek what is yet to be discovered through our natural talent and creativity.

Thought leadership is about curiosity and innovation

How do we innovate with thought leadership? If innovation is how we create new things, whether they are completely new solutions or improvements over existing ones, then thought leadership is the spark that recoils the energy needed to deliver these ideas and harness unrealized value.I often talk about curiosity to achieve this forward-thinking motion because neither innovation nor thought leadership can endure without it. I see it as a gift that we’re given as a child to explore what surrounds us and risk losing as we get older. We innovate because we are not satisfied with the status quo. In the same vein, thought leadership is about a keen desire to extend accepted models of thinking to amplify opportunities.

Thought leadership is about creating opportunities and engagement

Thought leadership is neither a magic formula nor one that can be rushed or done in a vacuum. One of the main ingredients is a relationship—albeit virtual in many cases—that is built (sometimes from scratch) between thought leaders, organizations, and their audiences. This invisible process by its nature takes time. And to use an analogy from cooking: Cranking up the heat doesn’t necessarily reduce cooking time.

Consistent delivery of quality content that engages our audiences begins the process of building trust—a crucial component of this journey. Topics and ideas that are explored in these thought leadership pieces echo the core values of those, who harvest these ideas. Each piece we present serves as a building block that will later become the foundation from which we will all lead and create new opportunities.

Why thought leadership matters

Generating excitement about topics that are relevant and timely—not just in one business, industry, or niche, but across the entire ecosystem—provides inspiration and intellectual stimulation to get the process started.

Finding viewpoints and relating them to real-life stories with a new angle—even if they represent a small window for discussion or engagement—gives birth to new opportunities never-before imagined.

Thought leadership matters because stretching old ideas beyond their traditional boundaries creates new perspectives. 

More important, it can serve as a foundation for others to expand and innovate, inspiring conversations that would have been otherwise lost or never started.

Source : http://onforb.es/1RERekb