Today we’re discussing how to write copy that positions you as a thought leader. There are subtle nuances that separate the average copy from the excellent copy. I discuss strategies to become an excellent copy write and therefore an excellent thought leader with my guest, Kristen Sweeney.

Kristen is a content strategist who has helped over 100 organizations communicate more clearly, especially when the subject matter is complex or highly technical. She’s the founder of Every Little Word, a boutique content and communications agency that believes great ideas—and the people who power them—deserve a bigger voice. Her team builds expert-led content programs in industries like life sciences, higher education, and B2B services.

Getting Started with Copy Writing

Kristen did not come up as a professionally trained marketer, but she considers herself as someone who’s always been a writer. And for many years, freelance writing was one of her many side jobs that she worked while she was an actor in New York City and while she was a yoga teacher in New York City and Boston.

Over the course of those years, freelance writing, she started to learn more and more about marketing. What happened for her was that classic situation where you hand over something to a client and then you see that the website copy never got launched or the asset was never created or they’re not using something. Something fell short somewhere.

She started to ask questions such as what does it take to actually put these ideas and this information out into the world in a way that’s going to make impact? That led her to learning more about the disciplines of marketing and communications. In 2019, her first daughter was born. Long story short, like for so many people, that was a pivot point that changed everything. She started taking her writing and content work seriously and the rest is history. It’s certainly been a range of ups and downs, but she’s been running her business and team for over five years with over 15 years of experience in the copy writing field in general.

The Origin of Great Copy Writing

Kristen believes it starts with good ideas. Her company’s mission is to share great ideas with the world. The way they do that is through their approach to creating content and copy. To her, it’s all about the thinking that goes into the perspectives and the opinions and the ideas that people and companies can share. It should be something of substance.

She believes content for a lot of people and companies has become more like “containers”. It’s a container to try to get somebody to click through. It’s a container to try to get someone to stay on the page longer. It’s a container to be able to track them, cookie them and start tracking them. Kristin’s of the mindset that the great ideas and the substance, the content of content is what we’re really after.

Some Characteristics of a Great Idea That’s Worthy of Creating Content Around

Kristen has a whole big piece on her company website about thought leadership. Great ideas in general tend to come from a place of someone who’s taken the time to really develop a unique perspective. That most often comes from their life experiences. It can come from their belief systems and their values. It can come from understanding their space or their industry and taking the time to think deeply about it. In general, Kristen believes it also comes from a high degree of caring.

Her team has had situations in the past where they’ve tried to partner with someone as a thought leader. What happened was they were there to do their job day in and day out and they weren’t really invested in sharing their knowledge publicly. It takes a lot to be that kind of collaborator and that’s why that caring piece is really important

When it comes to writing copy to be a thought leader, where does that process start?

Kristen likes to think of a thought leader as someone who leads with their thoughts. That might sound obvious, but what she means by that is a lot of people define thought leadership by the external markers such as they have a huge following. The ideas come first. You could be a thought leader alone in your room all day long. The problem is you need to have the right platform to share those ideas and spread them and help them grow and get your message out there.

When we think about thought leadership, again, the kernel of it is making sure that you are developing and forming your own perspectives and opinions. And then ultimately that you’re finding the right messages that align with whoever it is you are trying to reach. Many companies, when they think about thought leadership, they’re trying to reach customers.

Other times you’re trying to reach peers. Think about folks who sell to their peers, such as a marketer who sells their courses to other marketers. They want to be seen as a thought leader among their peers who also happen to be their customers.

Know Your Audience

Really understanding your audience and how your perspectives and those things align and provide value to the people you want to be speaking with. That’s different from some common approaches to content where content is generated from the outside. And it’s main goal is to answer your audience’s questions.

Kristen likes to think of thought leadership as answering questions. That includes questions your audience hasn’t even thought to ask sometimes. It goes beyond helpful into something that is thought-provoking, insightful, that gives them some kind of shift in the way they’re thinking about a particular topic.

We also dive into topics including:

What “The curse of knowledge” is to experts and how to overcome it.
The ever present “blank page syndrome” and how to get started with writing copy.
How to create a content creation strategy and integrate it into your professional life.
A few definitions of thought leadership and how to decide which one applies to you.
How to create value for your audience through content creation.
Why “basic” is a really good place to start to establish thought leadership.
Ideas for types of structure for your copy.
Examples of copy writing best practices.
The case for creating long form copy assets and how to successfully do it.
How to consistently write great copy for thought leadership.
The project management approach to writing great content and how to implement it.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to create great content for thought leadership.

…and other golden nuggets of advice

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

About My Guest

Idea Climbing Podcast Kristen Sweeney

Kristen Sweeney is a writer and content strategist who has helped over 100 organizations communicate more clearly, especially who has helped over 100 organizations communicate more clearly, especially when the subject matter is complex or highly technical. Her agency, Every Little Word, develops expert-led content programs that use an organization’s expertise to build visibility, credibility, and trust.

Every Little Word is a boutique content and communications agency that helps organizations in life sciences and pharma, higher education, and B2B professional services. The company is founded on the belief that great ideas—and the people behind them—deserve a bigger voice. Because audiences don’t need more filler content; they’re hungry for real substance.

Connect with Kristen on LinkedIn!

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How to Write Copy That Positions You as a Thought Leader with Kristen Sweeney