How To Become A Respected Thought Leader

Plus, Peter Zeihan's creator biz, why safety has risks, pricing structure and the Elon vs. Zuckerberg showdown.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Hey there. Tim here. Grab your popcorn. Elon vs. Zuckerberg is heating up. Be sure to read this week's final thought. It's possibly the most important lesson I could ever teach you in content marketing. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored This week's issue is brought to you by [The Convertkit Sponsorship Network](). It's easily the best way to grow your audience and your email list. --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. How To Become A Respected Thought Leader ​ AI is very effective at answering your target audience’s FAQs, and the old strategy of publishing “how-to” content won’t help you build a loyal audience. However, this surplus of factual content has created a demand for content that includes an individual’s stories, experiences, and unique perspectives. This is why TikTok, YouTube, and other individual influencers have become increasingly popular over the past several years, and brands that can emulate these influencers by sharing distinct insights, case studies, and stories are much more likely to succeed. This style of content is called thought leadership content, and in this post, we’ll discuss how you can create thought leadership content that your audience loves and provide specific examples from B2B thought leaders. ​[>> Click here to read the ultimate guide on thought leadership content and learn how to build your authority to become a go to resource in your space](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Deconstructing Peter Zeihan's Creator Brand And Business Model ​ Peter Zeihan is probably my favorite creator. The way he delivers his ideas and content seems lighthearted and easy, yet the knowledge he brings forth is proof positive that he has spent decades learning and perfecting his craft. Zeihan inspires me to do more on YouTube, because he doesn't take it too seriously, yet he continues to build a huge following. In this episode, we break down his audience, his business model, how he makes money and how much Peter Zeihan is actually making. Spoiler: It's a lot. ​[Click here to listen to the full episode](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 3. It's Time To Promote Your Brand Guess what? You're reading promotional content in a newsletter. Sponsoring newsletters, like this one, is a great way to reach engaged and targeted audiences. It will build your brand — whether that is your personal brand or your business. So here's the deal. This newsletter is part of the ConvertKit Sponsor Network (CKSN), representing more than 100 individual newsletter creators. Sponsor the Copyblogger newsletter and gain access to many more. ​[Sponsor this Newsletter ❤️ CKSN]()​ --------------------------------------------------------------- 4. There Is Risk In Safety =​ I think a lot about the concept of safety. In my view, betting on yourself, creating content, and being self sufficient is much safer than applying for jobs. This video from Peter Thiel is another perspective on the idea of safety. Many times the choices we make to "play it safe" have unforeseen risks. What are you risking in exchange for safety? ​[>> Click here to watch the full video](=)​ --------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Understanding Price Anchoring And The Reason To Create Different Pricing Tiers (Academy Members Only) ​ Today, I am responding to [Byron Allen]('s question about pricing structure. If you would like, you can see [Byron's video by clicking this link](). I learned how to properly price products by reading my friend Nathan's twitter thread a while ago. Frankly, all I knew about pricing before this thread was negotiation. Anything was worth however much I could sell it for, but I was so wrong. Once I started selling products, I learned how valuable proper pricing and structure is. ​[>> Click here to watch this week's lesson on pricing structure, anchoring, pricing tiers and how to increase your conversion rates](). P.S. - Not a member? ​[>> Click here to join The Copyblogger Academy](=). --------------------------------------------------------------- Final Thought At Copyblogger, we've always had a love / hate relationship with social media. I encourage EVERYONE to use social media as a tool to build your online profile. But I also encourage you to understand the risks. Make no mistake, if you stay on social media long enough, you will inevitably come across a situation where the platform changes the rules on you, which means the brand you have built through much of your hard work will suddenly be less valuable than before. It feels like all your hard work was for nothing. Social media platforms don't owe you anything. They have one priority, which is to provide profits to their shareholders. You know the deal, we've talked about it many times. Yet, Another Example Recently, I've been writing a lot about Twitter on my personal newsletter. I've spent years building my Twitter profile and suddenly, without warning, [my reach on the platform has almost disappeared](). Luckily, I have also been building my profile on LinkedIn, and I am seeing great success there. I am constantly reminded that there is no safety on social media. You must ALWAYS be using social media as a tool to drive email signups. You must own your audience, or else you are running the risk of losing everything overnight. Suddenly, A New Player Emerges Out of nowhere, [Meta releases a new app called Threads which looks to be quickly taking Twitter's market share](). In just a few days, Threads has grown to 30 million active monthly users, which is 1/10 of Twitter's 300 million active monthly users. It's a fun new toy. It's exciting. There seems to be a lot of traction on the app. As always, I encourage you to get involved on the platform and to use it to build your business. But more than anything, I want you to recognize that it's a trap. Zuckerberg doesn't care about you. He has no obligation to help you. The Point Of My Rant Always look after yourself. Use these tools as a mechanism to grow YOUR BUSINESS. Don't let these platforms use you as a way to grow their business. The sooner you accept that every social media platform is temporary, the less emotional attachment you will have to the hard work you put in to build the audience you did. It's only a matter of time until social media platforms change the rules on you. You should expect it and you shouldn't be upset when it happens. It would be like being upset at a sunset for ruining a perfect sunny day. As long as you go into every situation with the goal of funneling the traffic you build on social media to your email list, you will be fine. In fact, you will be more than fine. You will be thriving. Use them. Don't let them use you. Love you guys. Talk to you next week. Tim Give us 30 Minutes, And We'll Transform How You Sell Online. [Click here]( for a free conversion audit. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to hit reply and shoot me a message. I respond to ever every email. :) This email is sent from Copyblogger Media LLC, 6029 Old Court Rd , Boca Raton, Florida 33432 If you would like to stop receiving emails from me you can [Unsubscribe](