By Chris Cochran
I caught up recently on a great program from AIIP 2024 Symposium – the annual conference of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) – that I couldn’t attend in person. Luckily for me the program was recorded and available for viewing after the event – I didn’t miss out on anything except maybe the opportunity to ask questions at the real-time presentation.
The focus was on cultivating evergreen thought leadership – not something I had spent much time contemplating (the cultivating part anyway). Presenter Jennifer Burke used clever metaphors from her gardening experiences to make the case for actively cultivating and caring for your individual thought leadership, like the way you might care for your garden: the value of annual versus perennial content, managing the weeds that pop up in your content garden, and evaluating your content garden to see what needs to be moved or changed out. AIIP members, me included, have come to expect unique insights from Jennifer when she presents workshops for infopros. She didn’t disappoint here.
There were plenty of suggestions, tips and tools to help that content garden grow – from responsible use of generative AI to social media apps and old-school techniques like 1-on-1 calls. Our individual stories – even our “origin” story – are certainly a part of that content cultivation process. And oh yeah, practice. Thinking about content gardening is not the same as doing the gardening. Thinking and planning are important, but the execution of that thinking and planning is the goldmine. That’s how you develop your thought leadership.
Weeds in the Content Garden
Weeds will just hang around in any garden, or anywhere they grow, until they die or get destroyed. Neglecting them just means they keep growing taller and wider – and become more intrusive. The same goes for weeds in a content garden, things like:
- Impostor syndrome
- Inconsistent or absent content
- Pressure to be everywhere online
- Lack of a unique voice and
- Lack of confidence in that voice
Well darn it, when I heard it presented that way, I had to agree – these are weeds that pop up in my content garden. Any or all of those “weeds” will definitely take over your content garden if you let them. There was some solace knowing that I’m not alone or unique, but eradicating the weeds in my content garden is going to take more focused work – not just a few sprays of Round Up. The good news is challenges like this motivate and excite me – who doesn’t want to improve, especially when the bar among your peers is high, but also welcoming?
Finding your unique voice is a common theme in any creative endeavor, whether it’s writing, singing, cooking, teaching – the list goes on. Your authenticity is what people will come to accept, love, possibly hate, but hopefully respect.
In content gardening, just like other things, we can be our own worst enemy. Jennifer says it helps to keep an eye out for the Four Ps of Content Stoppers:
- People pleasing
- Procrastination
- Perfectionism
- Paralysis
I know which two of these are at the top my list. Getting a friendly reminder from Jennifer was like getting a tool out and turning over the soil in my content garden — time to get back to work and create a fertile area for growing these ideas.
Jennifer is a content and marketing specialist, and as she says, content and marketing IS thought leadership. When solopreneurs are marketing their businesses, they are exercising thought leadership.
How is your content garden? What new ideas have you planted? How do you cultivate and create a lush content garden? Please share in the comments.
An Inquiring Mind 