She Means Profit

The Power of Influence: Transforming Your Expertise into Impact

• Melissa Houston • Season 2 • Episode 169

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Have you ever wondered what it really takes to stand out in your industry and go from simply surviving to truly thriving?

In today’s episode, I’m diving into one of my favorite topics—building your influence and establishing thought leadership as a business owner. Influence is step five in my PROFIT Method Framework, and it’s a game-changer when it comes to scaling your business and expanding your reach.

This isn’t just about gaining more followers or getting likes on social media posts. It’s about positioning yourself as the go-to expert in your field, the trusted voice people turn to for insights and solutions. When you focus on becoming a thought leader, you open doors to new opportunities—like media features, speaking engagements, and partnerships—that take your business to the next level.

To build influence, you have to start by defining your unique point of view—what sets you apart in your industry? Then, create consistent content that amplifies your message, whether it's through blog posts, podcasts, or social media. It’s also about making strategic connections with other leaders in your field and leveraging media coverage to boost your credibility.

Thought leadership doesn’t happen overnight—it’s about showing up consistently, sharing your unique perspectives, and building genuine relationships. If you’re ready to make a lasting impact, start today by honing in on your niche, developing a solid content strategy, and networking with intention. Let’s take that step together because your voice has the power to create real change in your industry.

Listen to learn:‌

  • Influence is about positioning yourself as a trusted expert, not just gaining visibility.
  • The difference between an influencer and a thought leader lies in providing valuable insights, not promoting products.
  • Building influence opens doors to new opportunities, clients, and collaborations, leading to business growth.
  • Consistency in content creation is key to establishing trust and authority.
  • Strategic networking and collaborations help you grow your audience and expand your influence.
  • Thought leadership is a long-term commitment, but it pays off in business growth and lasting impact.

Links:‌ ‌  

Courses:

Work with me:

Follow me on:

IG: @melissahoustoncpa
LinkedIn: @melissahoustoncpa

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Melissa Houston: Welcome to episode 169. And today we are diving into the fifth step of the profit method framework, which is influence. So if you've been following along in this podcast series, you already know that we've covered four powerful steps to help you build a business that not only survives, but thrives. And today we're shifting gears to talk about something incredibly important when it comes to scaling your business.

And that is expanding your authority, building your credibility and establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry. So whether you're just starting your business journey, or you've been at it for a while, we are going to talk about this. So let's get started. Sorry, this episode is designed to give you actionable insights into how you can create your influence and use it to propel your business forward.

So grab a pen and a notepad because today we're talking about how to strategically leverage your expertise to create a broader impact through thought leadership. Thought leadership is actually one of my favorite things to talk about because, um, it's, it's such a great way to share your expertise and it's very impactful.

It has done me a world of, um, what's the word I'm looking for, like a world of goodness by following the thought leadership method. Um, it's a great way to stand out from the crowd. Get your message out there in a way that people can hear you because there's so much noise, especially online, right? Um, it's really hard to stand out, but when you take a stand and you're, you're offering this new way of looking at things or a different perspective or something completely contrarian, um, people pay attention.

So let's start with the basics. Let's talk about what influences. And why it matters for your business. So influence is more than just social media followers or getting likes on your post. It's about positioning yourself as a trusted voice in your industry. It's about being the go to expert that people seek out for advice.

Knowledge and solutions. It's about having the kind of authority that opens doors, attracts opportunities. And of course drive sales because sales are important in a business. And we are going to get very comfortable talking about sales and how we can make more sales. Now there's a very big difference between an influencer and a thought leader.

And an influencer, I tend to think of people who are, um, basically doing affiliate marketing for the most part, right? So you're pushing products using your audience to influence them, right? Whereas the thought leader is looking at your expertise and giving people valuable advice. are things to think about that add meaning to their life, right?

You're not pushing other people's products on them. You're talking about your expertise and how you see the world and how you can help others with your influence, but you're not an influencer.

In business, especially for us Gen X women, building influence is key to scaling. Influence gives you leverage. It allows you to create a ripple effect where your expertise reaches beyond your immediate circle and starts to attract new audiences, collaborators, and even media attention. Influence is the foundation for, for thought leadership.

Now. Let's talk about thought leadership, a term we hear a lot about, but what does it really mean? So thought leadership is when you become a recognized expert in your field. It's not just about knowing a lot. It's about offering unique perspectives, sharing innovative ideas, And setting trends that others follow.

So when you're a thought leader, people don't just come to you for advice. They come to you for the advice because they know that you're ahead of the curve. So let's think about any thought leaders that come to mind for you. I know for me it would be, uh, one of them is really obvious, Brene Brown. She's huge.

I'm not a big follower of her, but I'm definitely aware of her work because she's a thought leader and she has gotten so much credibility and authority in her space that it's hard not to know her. But you don't need to be a household name to be a thought leader, right? That's just one example. Um, thought leaders that, you know, are not household names are women who are, you know, in the tech industry, um, or, you know, basically start up any startup where they're bringing a unique product or service to the market because they see a need and they're addressing it.

So thought leadership can be as large or as small as you believe, but it's still thought leadership. And here's the thing. Um, Becoming a thought leader does not happen overnight. It is the result of consistently showing up, providing value, and sharing your expertise in a way that resonates with people.

So for example, think about the leaders that you admire. So maybe it's a top CEO or a bestselling author or a speaker. What do they all have in common? They share their knowledge. They offer solutions. And they influence others. And that's exactly what we're aiming for in this step of the profit method.

Now let's talk about why influence is step five in the profit method framework. You've already laid the foundation with the earlier steps. We've honed your entrepreneurial mindset. We've looked at your business model, your revenue models. We've looked at your finances. You've got your, your business at this point is running, right?

And You've solidified your financial strategies. What's next? Influence is what's going to take all of that groundwork and amplify it. Without influence, your business may stay small, but when you expand your influence, you open up entirely new levels of growth and opportunity. So by stepping into your role as a thought leader, you start to attract larger clients, speaking engagements, media opportunities, and collaborations.

You reach new markets, expand your customer base, and create a snowball effect for growth. So, as I was saying, I believe that thought leadership is a great way to stand out from all the noise that's going on online. And if your business isn't online, then you know, you're kind of missing out there, right?

Like everybody's business is online at this point. And you want a way to stand out from the crowd. Thought leadership is absolutely an excellent way to do it, especially for service based businesses.

So simply put, the influence step is about growing your reach. And turning your expertise into impact. It's about sharing your voice in a way that not only builds your brand, but also serves your audience on a deeper level. So as we were talking about, you're not, you know, sharing like the latest and greatest, Oh, here's the latest trend.

I want you to buy it. Or you're not an influencer. You are a thought leader. And you are sharing your insights on a deeper level with your audience. And that's what makes you a thought leader. Okay. So let's start talking about how you can expand your influence.

First, you need to define your unique point of view. What makes you different from others in your industry? What perspective can you offer that no one else can? This is your secret sauce. This is what you're going to be known as the thought leader. These things will set you apart. So second is it's time to create consistent content around that message.

Whether it's writing blog posts, recording podcasts, speaking at events, publishing on social media. or writing for large publications, or maybe it's a combination of all of this. You need to show up regularly, show up consistency, and that will build trust, and trust builds influence. Next, you can focus on collaboration.

Aligning yourself with other influential people in your industry can help you grow your audience. So this means you could be guest blogging, you could co host webinars, or speak on someone else's podcast, you can speak in somebody else's groups, and it all doesn't have to be done online. Like, I mean, there is great opportunities online, but you can go in and speak.

Speaking engagements, you know, the thing is about speaking is you have to start off typically where you're not charging, and you work your way up to charging for events. But in the beginning, the more people you can get in front of, the more you can talk about your thought leadership and you can hone in your idea and, um, how you articulate your idea.

So each collaboration that you're making, it expands your reach and puts you in front of new people.

So another important tip is to be bold in your messaging. Thought leaders are not afraid to take a stand or present a unique perspective. This doesn't mean for, like, it doesn't mean to be controversial for the sake of being controversial. But it does mean being authentic, sharing your true beliefs, and standing firm in your knowledge.

You don't have to be controversial. But if you're going to be controversial, be sure that you, you know, it aligns with your values and your business.

And lastly, and this is a big one, this is one that, um, is often misunderstood, is don't forget about public relations. So that's PR. Getting media coverage is one of the fastest ways to expand your influence. So start by pitching your expertise to relevant podcasts, magazines, or online publications. Even TV media like TV shows, newscasts, local, um, national, international, wherever.

Because the more you're seeing incredible outlets, the more your authority grows. But you have to be strategic with your PR. Make sure that you've got a PR strategy, that it aligns with what your goals are. Because I've seen many business owners just want PR for the sake of getting PR. And that really does nothing for your business.

But if you're strategic about your PR, it can, um, it can propel your business forward for sure and your thought leadership.

Okay, before we wrap up, I want to leave you with a few action steps that you can take right after listening to this episode. Okay, so you can start this today and start growing your influence. First of all, you have to be sure that you've got your, your niche identified. So what area

So focus on that and build your thought leadership around it. So for example, for myself, I choose nothing bad happens when women have wealth. And a lot of what I talk about is around getting women to have wealth. Um, getting more money in the hands of women and by doing it through business building. So that is sort of the claim that I've taken, uh, Brene Brown.

She taught me, not that I'm comparing myself to Brene Brown, cause absolutely not, but just off the top of my head, she talks about shame. Um, there's so many. different ways you can niche down your thought leadership, but be sure that aligns with your business goals, right? Because you don't want to be talking about a thought leadership thing that doesn't align with your business because the intent is to bring more business to your business, right?

You want to increase your sales and um, that's, you know, have it aligned. The second thing that you can do today is develop your content strategy. So decide on the type of content that feels most authentic to you. So do you like to write? Maybe you like podcasting? Maybe you like speaking in person?

Whatever it is, commit to it and commit to a regular schedule of it. Having your own podcast is, is a great way to expand your thought leadership. Guesting on other people's podcasts is fantastic as well. So just think about like the different ways that you can reach people. I mean, social media is a great way to do it as well.

There's so many opportunities for you. Don't let those opportunities slip through the cracks. Third thing you can do today is you can network strategically. Start reaching out to other thought leaders for collaborations. Leverage their audience to build your own. But in networking, you don't want to be sleazy about it, right?

Because everybody can see through a sleazy networker. This, uh, networking is about creating win win relationships. You have to be willing to offer something. And hopefully you'll get something in return. Um, not everybody's going to be open to you when if you just cold pitch them say here like let's collaborate This is what I want you to do for me I mean I get pitches like that all the time and i'm like no this is this feels very Um, Self motivated and it has to be a win win situation for me to take an interest and I know most people operate like that So, you know just be careful of how you network and how you approach people that you want to collaborate with And then the final way that you can start working on today is pitch yourself So research a few podcasts some blogs media outlets, whatever wherever you feel is a good fit and send them a pitch.

So it could be as simple as offering to be a guest or writing an article. Okay, so there's a difference between pitching and networking, right? Networking is creating win win win. Pitching is, you know, they expect a pitch. And, you know, if you're a good fit, they'll have you on their podcast, or they'll feature you in their interview.

So these steps may feel overwhelming or they may feel simple, but when done consistently, they can yield massive results over time. So thought leadership isn't a one and done thing. It's about continually getting your message out. You have to consistently, like it's like PR. Um, all of it, you consistently talk about it.

This is what you become known for and remember. It is a long game, but it's one that pays off when you stick with it. Okay, so that's it for today's episode on influence. Influences, this, this, blah, blah, blah, sorry.

Okay, so that's it for today. The episode on influence, which is the fifth step of the profit method. Building influence is about more than just visibility. It's about establishing yourself as a trusted expert, creating content that serves your audience and making an impact that extends beyond your immediate circle.

So if you found today's episode helpful, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with other women who are looking to grow their influence and make a bigger impact. If you're ready to dive into your thought leadership, be sure to check out my course from expert to thought leader. The link is in the show notes.

Until next time, remember. Influence is not about being famous. It's about using your voice to serve others and create lasting change. So keep showing up, keep sharing and keep growing your influence.