This month Zilker Media teamed up with Texas CEO Magazine to put on a four-part webinar series: “The Era of Thought Leadership Marketing – How to leverage your personal brand to scale your business.”

It was a great event and we loved hearing from the different panelists and participants.

To summarize the key takeaways from each presentation, our team put together a roundup” of what we learned throughout the series about how to leverage personal branding in order to elevate and scale your business. 

The Modern Business Influencer: The power of thought leadership for Texas CEOs with Paige Velasquez Budde and Rusty Shelton

• Thought leadership should be entirely driven by teaching versus selling – your goal is to make a bigger impact.
• In today’s media landscape, your first impression happens on page-one of Google. Conduct an online brand audit and ask yourself these three questions: 1. Are you discoverable? 2. Do you have a common name that you need to add a middle name or initial to your brand name to own your Google search? 3. Are your website and social media channels visually making the right first impression of you?
• Utilize your content marketing as a way to build relationships and empower your customers to talk about their experience with you.

A Deep Dive on Today’s Media Landscape: A look at mass media versus micromedia with Wes Fang, Johnny Merritt, Earlina Green and Joseph O’Bell 

• Podcasts, when used effectively, can be THE most impactful relationship-building tool in your marketing arsenal.
• Setting up a podcast doesn’t have to be daunting (or cost a fortune). You can usually get all the equipment you need to get started for less than $200.

Building your influence online: Social media strategies to build your network with Nichole Williamson, Wendy Papasan, Mason Arnold and Elizabeth Davis

• Networking is more than gaining followers – it’s building an interactive community online.
• When engaging with your audience, look for a conversation. When you interact with conversational comments – it feels more authentic for you and your followers.

Garnering media as a thought leader in your industry: PR tips and strategies with Shelby Janner and Rusty Shelton

• Newsjacking, a term coined by David Merrman Scott, is the strongest way to come up with compelling media angles. By injecting your ideas into a breaking news story, you can generate tons of media coverage
• When coming up with your media positioning, remember the journalism inverted triangle. Your most important credentials should be mentioned very first. Also remember to tailor your credentialing to the target audience you are trying to reach: What actually makes you an expert in their eyes?
• The value of a great PR campaign isn’t limited to the audience you reach via your coverage, it extends well beyond with the ability to re-market that coverage to build credibility and trust with your audience via Authority-by-Association.
• Leverage micromedia to drive targeted lead flow and relationship building by focusing on the right podcasts, newsletters and other niche media. 

We want to share huge thanks to all of our speakers, expert panelists and everyone who joined us and made this webinar series a huge success!

If you’d like to talk to a Zilker Media specialist to start building your brand through thought leadership, email info@zilkermedia.com.