How To Be About Something In Your Business

A Hera Hub Business Booster with Maggie Frank-Hsu

You have a Big Idea, but how do you go from being in your business becoming a thought leader for your industry? There is a way forward!

Who should do this and why? You should! Creating content for your business is often seen as only about SEO. You put it off or hire it out. Yet the more real you are, the more interest you create. Being your true self builds your space as a thought leader.

It sounds overwhelming but you don’t have to go from zero to the big stage–there is a space between where you are now and writing a book, starting a podcast or offering a new service. The following will help you start, practice, develop and grow your Big Idea.

What is your Big Idea? Start with these three questions about your industry:

What pisses you off?
What breaks your heart?
What do you want to fix?
What are secret things about your industry that you wish people knew?

For example, graphic designers get pissed off because people don’t understand their expertise. If you write about the graphic design industry, tell us about the secret sauce, something special about your industry or the way you work that no one knows about or is underappreciated.

Try answering each question separately—then look and see if there is a theme. Whatever is coming up for you, at the bare minimum you want to come up with ideas you are excited to explore. As you write, you are able to think through how your ideas fit together. Even if something doesn’t come up right away, keep working at it. When you get excited you are on the path to your Big Idea. Have a fun exploratory experience that you can share. When you explore your Big Idea this way, you do an end run around your resistance. You get so excited about your idea you get ahead of your resistance–I can’t believe I did that!

K.I.S.S.: Stop trying to pick things that are hard to write or do. If you are comfortable using video, start with video but don’t let technology get in your way, writing is great because there is no technical barrier to entry.

How Do You Share It? Share your Big Idea publicly from the start and don’t be afraid of comments. When you are passionate about something, people respond. You will get some negative responses—it is a rite of passage. Grow your idea from small to big: create it, test it, and work on it while you are testing it. If you put an idea on a platform and walk away, it dies. When you keep posting and practicing, you create something truly special and unique and your Big Idea crystalizes. When you have a great conversation with someone, grab your phone and live stream yourself recapping the conversation. Create Instagram stories without censoring yourself. They don’t live on your profile forever; they bring your ideas back to business and can be a great seed. This process helps you to get over the thought that your Big Idea has to be perfect before you share it. Your Big Idea is an evolution, the more you do, the more it will come together.

Track how your posts do. You can use a spreadsheet to track what kind of engagement they generate—how many likes, comments and shares as well as the type engagement. Track your engagement. Which posts bring something to you? Was there a DM or follow-up with a comment? The more real you are, the more people are interested—like a magnet. Are you getting the people you want, who is coming toward you? What are people asking you?

Your Big Idea evolves, your audience grows, you are a thought leader! Share it with others!