Thought Leadership is the art of influencing the masses to make substantial changes that bring healing, deliverance, and empowerment on a local, state, or national level. Using the power of the written and spoken word, thought leaders convey their expert knowledge through carefully crafted content that delivers actionable solutions to our world's most challenging problems." - Coach Felecia Killings Greetings Beloved,Back in 2011, I first began my publishing career by serving as an editor and writer for new authors. I helped dozens of authors craft their stories in compelling, concise ways; and as each one went through the publishing process, I celebrated their accomplishments with great enthusiasm. Over time, however, I noticed my leader-clients struggled with reaching new readers, selling more books, or even finding speaking engagements. Add to it, some simply put their books to the side because they didn’t know how to leverage their products effectively. I could relate to their experience, because I went through the same struggle. I had recently published one of my first books; but because I didn’t understand the publishing landscape, I couldn’t achieve many of my goals. That’s when I began studying how other authors successfully navigated this playing field. I realized writers who became our Thought Leaders and influencers were those who treated their authorship as a business or ministry. In other words, such voices employed best business practices to their books; and coupled with their online dominance, they created their own opportunities. Now, as an author, I wanted to learn how I could implement these strategies into my own works; but in my search to find a coach who had mastered this, I came up short. That’s when I coined the term “Writerpreneur” and created an educational platform for God-focused leaders who had an empowering message that needed to reach millions of people. What is Writerpreneurship?Writerpreneurship is simply a method by which authors employ entrepreneurial endeavors to their authorship. In other words, just as entrepreneurs have a business and product or service they sell to the market, so do authors. When this demographic treats their authorship as a business or ministry, they witness exponential results. Now, when you think of yourself and your story in these terms, you tend to see your book in a new light. You’re no longer wishing and hoping you experience success with your book. Instead, you can anticipate growth because you are applying spiritual and practical principles to your work that guarantee success. Writerpreneurship, which is my play on words for writer and entrepreneurship, is simply about establishing a lasting career as a Thought Leader who builds an online platform using the written and spoken word. Every successful author, whether she calls herself a writerpreneur or not, achieved and exceeded her goals BECAUSE of her entrepreneurial spirit. So, if you’re a new leader and you desire to elevate your authority, then you need to consider how writerpreneurship will best suit you and your goals. Understanding EntrepreneurshipAccording to the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs are distinctive from all other types of workers. Consider the term and its roots. “Entrepreneur” derives from the French word “entreprendre,” another word for “undertaking.” According to this same reading, a 20th century economist named Joseph Schumpeter elaborated on the meaning: It is one who creates or implements a change in the economy “by introducing new goods or new methods of production,” which can render other products or services obsolete. Think of an entrepreneur as one who creates something that no one else has created, or one who has developed a product that makes other products in an industry useless. An entrepreneur is one who will develop a unique product or service that meets the needs of customers beyond what others have created. Here’s a more conclusive definition of entrepreneurs: “an individual that develops a new or improved product, service, or way of doing things that can exist independent of the creator, and bears the financial responsibility for risks in bringing their development to market.” In comparison, a writer or freelancer is simply one who delivers a service (i.e. writing), but has no motive to create something new that adds value to the market. In light of these definitions, can you see why becoming a writerpreneur positions you for greater results? In a world filled with millions of stories and books, only those who CREATE opportunities or add new value to the market are considered society’s great online or offline influencers. And to thrive as a writerpreneur, you must understand the 6 pillars that lay the foundation for your inevitable success. Pillar #1: Laying the Foundation for Your Leadership Platform Using a Simple, Solid Business PlanEvery structure needs a solid foundation; and as a Thought Leader, you must lay the groundwork for the vision you have. When teaching my clients about their own ideas for book publishing, I ask them to first record their God-given vision. During our coaching session, I ask them to be as specific as possible, detailing the kind of people God called them to empower. I ask them about their desires to walk in their calling full-time. And I ask them to visualize who they want to reach and how they want to empower their audiences. This, Beloved, is the first pillar in writerpreneurship; and this element includes constructing an effective business plan with your book serving as a primary product. Now, your platform's plan is not complicated or dense like your traditional business plans. Instead, it is based on best practices for launching your work using the virtual space. Here are the areas your plan must address:
This blueprint is what my clients revisit throughout their training, because as they learn more about the virtual landscape (and how their books play into it), they can record their systems of operations that lead towards success. During this phase, leaders engage in extensive research regarding their book’s topic, their ideal audience, and how they ought to craft the RIGHT kind of book for their readers. When the foundation is laid, the book product, services, speaking engagements, and more finally have substance; and eventually, the virtual space comes to see your work as a powerful force among the most prominent influencers in the market. Pillar #2: Choosing the Best Career Option for Your Thought LeadershipOnce your business plan has been established — especially the vision and mission statements — you enter the phase where you decide which career options suit you best as a leader. While most leaders assume they can only generate income from book sales, there are multiple options one can select to help create multiple streams of income. I’ll use my own example to illustrate this point. My online business and virtual ministry consist of the following income streams:
If you notice, each offering is based on my expertise and gifts. I love teaching, and I use the online space to deliver training solutions to specific audiences: Thought Leaders in the social, political, and economic spheres. My books serve as the marketing materials and entry-level products that acclimate my audience to my higher-priced items (my training services). I selected this career pathway because it aligns with what I’ve done for decades now: educating and empowering people to use their most powerful weapons – their words. And the more I deliver to the online space, the more people come to see me as an expert in this field. Now, a few of the career pathways I teach my one-to-one clients who enroll in my programs include:
Now, if you’re wondering how your book fits within these career options, here’s how: Whether your book details your personal story or it packages the knowledge you have about a topic, to the public, that product seals you as an expert in the market. For example, my books related to Conscious Black Conservatism and effective thought leadership have brought my name before influencers in both the conservative and publishing industries. My memoir, which gives an account of how God cleared my name of a heinous crime, is my personal letter to My Beloveds, who became a part of my online family. In each case, my books serve as a “business card” to people. They are my key to other doors of opportunity, including acquiring new clients and scholars. And the same will happen for you. Pillar #3: Cultivating Your Brand and Online PresenceWhen building your new online business, virtual ministry, or political platform using your authorship, the next pillar to consider is your brand. Simply stated, your brand is your online reputation. It’s how the market differentiates your work from the rest. Now, quite often, my leader-clients wonder how their works will stand out, especially when many of them write about topics that have already been discussed. In such cases, I teach my clients that while the message may be similar, their unique experience gives their works a different flare. To give a more definitive understanding of this concept, here is our working definition: "Branding involves the core values, principles, or truths behind an organization, product, or service. A brand strategy encompasses marketing techniques that help a system stand out from the crowd. It’s a phrase, a color scheme, a theme that tells others what that business entails’’ - Coach Felecia Killings. When considering your own brand (and its voice in the online space), you want to pinpoint the recurring message, values, and principles behind your work. You want to shape your business’s reputation around certain truths so your ideal readers are drawn to your message. And for those who are visual learners, you want to create a uniformed persona that represents your brand’s values (i.e. logos, social media images, avatars, colors, etc.) To help develop your online brand, ask yourself:
Once you have accomplished this, then you’re set to learn the next stage in building your online platform. Pillar #4: Employing Effective Marketing for Your Platform to Help Launch Your BooksAt this point, you may wonder why we haven’t discussed the writing and publishing of your book, and here’s why. Before constructing anything you intend to sell, it’s important to study your market (based on your ideal reader) so you know what to contribute. Inside my self-publishing courses, I teach my clients to engage in market research; and based on their findings, they perform pre-launch marketing endeavors that:
Quite often, when new authors enter the publishing stage, they assume all their attention must go into putting the book together. They spend thousands of dollars and countless hours constructing the content; and when their book is finally released, they assume the sales will immediately roll in. Unfortunately, that’s not how the process works if you intend to see powerful results. By engaging in extensive market research and preliminary marketing, you can create enough buzz to make sales the day you publish. Thus, we come to understand the power and science behind marketing. But what does marketing look like and how can a new leader engage in it? The answer is found via content marketing. Content marketing involves a system of creating powerful, engaging content that helps promote your paid product or service. In the online space, we have several types of content marketing tools from which authors can choose, namely blogging, video marketing, LIVE presentations, white paper, e-books, virtual events, and more. To simplify, think of content marketing as content that markets your brand, business, ministry, and political ideas. It’s really that simple. And for the new authors who leverage this powerful tool, they increase their chances of selling more books than those who reject content marketing. When advising my clients, I require them to employ blogging as their primary method for expanding their online platform. I do so because they are writers; and if they want more people to subscribe to their tribe, they must demonstrate their ability to construct written content that astounds, educates, entertains, and empowers their readers. But blogging isn’t the only vehicle by which you can build momentum for your future book. You can create a podcast, a series of webinars, chapter samples, and more. Again, the idea behind marketing is to channel enough attention – and conversation – around your brand and product so people anticipate your offerings, including your books. Pillar #5: Employing Social Media EffectivelyAs with content marketing, prior to publishing your book, you’ll want to engage with people using social media. Now, perhaps you are already on several platforms, and you have successfully generated a following of 100+ member. This is certainly a great start, and I want to encourage you to be more strategic with your audience, especially as you prepare to launch your book, business, and ministry. Back in 2016, I had a following of about 500 followers on Facebook. These followers were mostly family, friends, and former scholars of mine. At that time, my initial purpose was to use the platform for personal reasons. But as I perfected my online business, I started using the platform to share some empowering lessons related to book publishing. I joined numerous Facebook groups and developed a tiny network of author coaches and writers. To this day, I still have this small following; but as my content around conservative politics increased, so did my following. One of the reasons my social media platforms have expanded is because I learned to use them to engage my audience in real time. I learned to network effectively; and today, my business circle consists of millionaires, political candidates, black conservative influencers, small business owners, and more. In addition, my following increases because I listen to what my audience wants and needs, and I deliver content, products (books, online school), and solutions to them based on their desires. And that’s what I train my clients to do as it comes to effective social media engagement. Social media is not designed for you to spam your followers with your newest book. Instead, you must learn to convert your following into a loyal tribe; and each time you produce a new resource (book, etc.), that tribe will willingly:
I’ve seen this happen numerous times over the last few years with my own online business; and because I continue to invest in my following (without paying for ads), I receive new followers daily. Now, social media is equally powerful in terms of using their paid ads services; but such efforts should only be employed after you have learned how to organically reach your ideal audience. Once you’ve nailed this aspect, you are ready for more advanced social media training, which will essentially position your books, your business, and your ministry for the millions. Pillar #6: Constructing, Publishing, and Launching Your BookAnd now we come to the final pillar: constructing your manuscript and publishing your book. If you noticed, each pillar leads up to the final product. Now that you know your vision and mission; you know your ideal reader; you’ve studied the market as it relates to your ideal reader; you know what she needs and wants; and you’ve conducted research around your topic, you can construct the book that will empower her. The process for writing your book can happen in numerous ways; but inside my online courses, I share a simple process for completing your work in 60 days.
While the technical portions are underway, this is also a great time for the author to engage in the book-launch phase. In other words, we ask the author how he wants to introduce his book to the market, whether it be via a book-signing event in his local area or an online launch event. The blessed part about learning the publishing process is once you master the first project, you can create new books as often as you like. As a self-published author, you don’t have to wait around for a publisher to pick up your next project. You don’t need anyone’s permission to write content that you know your audience needs. Best of all, you control the entire production process and the profits it delivers. As you can see, Beloved, these pillars form the structure for your virtual empire. When you put the steps into practice, you are sure to thrive. In Conclusion ...Employing writerpreneruship as a new Thought Leader can dramatically expand your God-given vision and message. And in this lesson, I taught you about this publishing science and the 6 pillars that help you lay the foundation for your platform.
If you're ready to build and launch your leadership platform, then join my company of rising leaders inside my leadership networks where you will gain access to more empowering articles, coaching office hours, and VIP discounts on my coaching offerings. Next, explore my online courses that walk you through the steps of launching your thought leadership platform in 60 days or less. Finally, join me each year for my annual leadership conventions where you can network with top experts in the social, political, and economic spheres. It is never too late to manifest your God-given vision. So, get started today. Until next time, Beloved, be blessed. And as always, let's grow together! - Coach Felecia Killings
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AuthorFelecia Killings is the Founder and CEO of The Felecia Killings Foundation, a Conscious Conservative think tank and coaching organization that trains rising leaders for full activation in the social, political, and economic spheres. Through her training hosted on her website, her podcast, her leadership network, her social media platforms, her books, and her annual leadership convention, she equips leaders with spiritual and practical tools that help them bring revival and reformation to the communities they serve. |