3 Filters to Expand Your Impact (and Keep You on Track)

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When you’re called to make an impact, the pressure can sometimes be blinding. Even when you’re making progress and experiencing results, it can feel like you’re not moving ahead.  When that happens, the internal pressure can cause you to grasp at the latest shiny objects or adopt other successful authors' strategies, hoping they will produce the same results for you. 

Before you realize it, you may find yourself in a situation like this guy - bewildered and wondering how you got there. 

How Clear is Your Vision?

Successful thought leaders know that it’s about more than being a “bestseller for a day” or somehow getting picked by Oprah.  They have a clear vision of the transformation they want to create. 

Beyond helping individual clients or delivering a single keynote, they will not rest until they see the impact of their message + work reflected in the wider industry and world around them. 

If you’re reading this and realizing your vision is not as clear as it should be, stop reading and reconnect to your bigger WHY. 

Choose Your Own Adventure 

Once you’re clear on your bigger vision, the trick is to keep it top of mind and use it as a filter to help you reach your goals. Here are three filters I use with my clients to help them evaluate and choose the right strategies, opportunities and relationships.

Ask Yourself

Is it a fit for my unique skills, gifts and talents?  

While there are some things you can outsource and other things you can improve with expert help, you can’t make yourself into a TV personality if that’s not who you are.

Is it a fit for my message? Will it help me reach my audience?

Just because you’ve heard that Pinterest sends more traffic to some websites than LinkedIn, it doesn’t mean that you’ll find your audience of executives and leaders hanging out there. 

 Am I actually willing to do it? 

Forcing yourself to blog three times a week won’t work if your heart’s not in it. Even though I’m a strong writer, I’ve used teleseminars, webinars and video for the past few years to connect to my audience. Why? Because I had a case of writer’s burnout. 

When you know and stay focused on the transformation you’re called to make, you’ll find your own adventure - and have much more fun in the process.

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The Temptation Every Author Faces (and How to Overcome it)

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Does this look familiar? 

  • You’ve given a talk to six people when you’d hoped for six hundred.

  • You’ve reached out to organizations that look like the perfect fit, but they don’t seem to be interested in your message.   

  • You’ve sent out a powerful new article to test out your next book concept and all you hear are crickets.

Ok, so you may not be bawling your eyes out with a party hat on, but this can often be the reaction when you put yourself out there and things don’t go as planned. 

Beware! It’s a Trap! 

When you feel like this, the natural reaction is to pull back and wait to be picked; however, this is a trap. After all, the temptation to retreat never goes away, even when you’ve reached a significant level of success.  If you succumb, your momentum will grind to a halt and you’ll eventually feel so small that you’ll lose connection to your audience and message. 

Learning to Ride a Bike (Again?!) 

The counter-intuitive “trick” that successful thought leaders know is this: instead of putting on the brakes, you have to pedal faster in order to regain your balance. Likewise, when you fall off, the longer you wait to get back on the bike, the harder it is. 

If you’re feeling a bit like my kid brother in the photo, the best thing you can do right now is to start pedaling.  Here’s a few suggestions:

  • After your speaking gig didn’t go as you hoped, read a testimonial you received from a previous engagement and use that energy to go out and book three more keynotes.

  • When you don’t get a response from that “perfect” organization, revisit your existing relationships and look for new opportunities with the groups you already know.

  • If the wider audience didn’t resonate with your new post, pick a few of your loyal fans who will give you their honest feedback and ask for their input.

If you lean into these inevitable moments, you’ll not only build up a healthy tolerance for these setbacks, but you’ll uncover a huge number of opportunities for your message and work.

As always, I love hearing how things are progressing for you.  Reply to this email and let me know how you’re doing. 


Until next week, 

e

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10 Ways for Thought Leaders Like You to Bounce Back

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I just returned from giving the closing keynote at Greenleaf's Author Summit and had an insight that I wanted to share with you.

For the event, CEO Tanya Hall asked me to not only deliver an inspirational speech, but also to give the audience tangible strategies to survive the setbacks that happen along the way to making a lasting impact.

While delivering the talk, I realized that these 10 strategies were not only important for the authors in the room, but useful to thought leaders at all stages, including you.

Over the next few months, I'm going to be sending you one of these ideas per week that will help you move your message and business forward.

By the way, I'm not going to be sending you a tome.  These will be short, "snackable" emails you can digest while standing in line at Starbucks. Also, I think you'll get a kick out of the images that go along with them.

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Welcome + Resource for You

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Welcome!  I’m thrilled to introduce you to my new website.  I’m glad you’ve stopped by to take a look and to explore what might be relevant for you as a thought leader.

In my experience, the best books are often the product of collaboration – a partnership between the author and all the experts needed to create an amazing final product.  I’ve found the same to be true with websites.  I know for a fact that I would not have this beautiful new online presence without the help of strategist and designer, Andrew McCluskey, and photographer, David Heisler.  If it’s time to upgrade your online presence and brand, I highly recommend Andrew and David!

Along with the new website, I’m creating something for you as well.  As you may have noticed, there’s no linear path or “blueprint” to follow when it comes to making a significant and lasting impact with your message and work.  From publishing models to the speaking industry to media outlets, everything about the business of thought leadership is changing in real time. What does that mean for you?  Whether you’re established or just getting started, success in this new world requires that you create a dynamic strategy that works for your message, audience and business model.  It also means that you must develop an ability to recognize when it’s time to change or revise your strategy and pivot to stay in sync with the opportunities in front of you.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be launching a new weekly newsletter dedicated to helping you navigate the ever-changing world of thought leadership and find your path to greater impact and income.  I’ll be sharing real-time examples from clients, current strategies and fresh insights you can apply no matter your stage, budget and goals.  Of course, I know inboxes are overflowing these days, so rest assured that I’ll send nothing but the best in a “short and sweet” format that you can easily digest.  That rhymed :)

Sound good?  Sign up for the newsletter below and I’ll be in touch soon.

In the meantime, feel free to say hello or to email me with any specific topics, themes or issues you would like me to address in an upcoming issue.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.

Stay tuned for additional updates and resources!

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