Seth Godin, one of the world’s foremost marketing experts, recently posted to his blog about the flood of information that is slamming into all of us relentlessly like the leading wave in a terrible storm. We have access to more information about virtually everything than anyone ever has before. But the more we think we know, the more of a challenge it becomes.

Seth puts it this way:

“In any endeavor where there’s a reason to care about more information, more information is available. A lot more. It’s impossible to have read all the books, seen all the movies, heard all the songs. Domain knowledge is required, but domain knowledge is no longer a sufficient competitive advantage, because it’s widespread.”

He goes on to point out that, “After you do the reading, then what are you doing? Good judgement and a thoughtful point of view are now scarce assets worth seeking out.”

Where will we find the people who can make sense of the trends, reveal the most likely outcomes and help us chart a course forward? These are the thought leaders and they are most certainly out there. 

If only thought leaders would make it a bit easier to find them.

When we work with our clients, many of whom are leading business executives in their fields, we start with a plan that will allow them to be found when they are needed most. This involves writing about the issues that are most likely to become vitally important in the future and going deep enough into the issues to highlight possible solutions.

No one can know exactly what will happen in the future. When things go wrong, the first action many people will take will be to search the web for information someone else has provided about the key issues. Like today, with the COVID-19 crisis, there exists a literal ton of information out there on the web. But making sense of it is very challenging.

In the case of something like COVID, a global pandemic that threatens lives of many and the economic well-being of everyone, we would expect to find bona fide experts who have:

  • A well written LinkedIn profile with a summary that includes pandemic response and credible work experience.
  • A series of well written LinkedIn articles that speak to the key issues that always flare up during such a crisis and the first thing emergency responders will likely try to accomplish.
  • Information about how a good crisis response team for a pandemic might be structured somewhere on their profile.

There are many other things the expert could do to be found, and many other places we would advise them to place their thought leadership, but with a start like this a knowledgeable professional will be in an excellent position to attract the attention of people who are desperate to make sense of the new situation.

It works exactly the same way in any other industry. For more information about how RGA Public Relations helps industry leaders become recognized experts, reach out to me.