[00:00:00] Have you ever felt like you're constantly networking but not seeing results? Or maybe you've been told in order to build your business, you just need to get out there more, but you're already stretched thin and more doesn't seem like it's gonna have the effect that you want it to. Connection matters, but strategic connection isn't about exhausting networking. [00:00:22] It's about building the right relationships with the right people to authentically amplify your message. Today we're diving into the fourth component of the resonant thought leadership System connection. By the end of this episode, you'll understand the three key approaches to building an audience, the four levels of strategic relationships, and some practical steps to develop your own connection strategy that feels authentic and sustainable for you. [00:00:49] Now, we've talked over the last few episodes about how a thought leader business is a lot like a singer and their business that they run. So let's go back to that analogy for a minute. If your core [00:01:00] resonance is the singer who you are, the transformational intellectual property is your unique song. Your central platform is your microphone and your stage. [00:01:08] Then your connection strategy is like the amplifier, the speaker that extends your voice beyond the room. It's what takes your authentic signal and projects it to audiences you couldn't reach on your own. Without that strategic connection, even the most powerful platform can become an echo chamber where you're sharing brilliant ideas all by yourself in a room. [00:01:31] So we need to build that platform and we need to bring people to it. When it comes to that connection, that getting the audience in their seats, there's ultimately three ways to do it. First, there's building, which we've talked a little bit about. This is your central platform. [00:01:46] This is constructing your own house from the foundation up. As you build your central platform, you gather an owned audience through those direct efforts that we talked about in our last episode. Building a website, using your email list, using [00:02:00] your blog, your podcast, creating content there on your home turf that attracts people to come and listen to you. [00:02:10] This building, it gives you complete control, but it's like constructing a house. It's usually the slowest approach. Think about how long it takes to pour a foundation, frame the walls, add the roof, finish the interior. It's a significant investment of time and consistent effort, but what you get in return is something that truly belongs to you. [00:02:29] Something built exactly to your specification that appreciates in value over time. The next way you can bring people to your platform through connection is buying traffic. This includes digital advertising, sponsored content, influencer partnerships and buying gives you immediate results, but you have limited control and often lower sustainability. [00:02:52] Buying is a really important strategy that a lot of thought leaders utilize that strategic paid amplification at certain moments, like during [00:03:00] a book launch or a course launch to supplement your organic growth, the list you already have is really smart, but when we see other people doing something, we often try it in the wrong order at the wrong time. [00:03:15] I see a lot of thought leaders who are just starting out, who see someone like. Marie Forlio or Amy Porterfield running ads for their big courses and think they need to run ads too, so they jump in and start running paid ads. But just like you wouldn't buy furniture for a house you haven't built yet, you may not wanna run paid ads before you have a well established built audience around your central platform. Your money and time can be put to better use. [00:03:42] Finally, the last strategy is borrowing. This is like being invited into someone else's home to share your message with their guests. You're leveraging existing audiences through your relationship with complimentary thought leaders and their platforms. This includes things like podcast guesting, speaking engagements, guest articles, [00:04:00] collaborations, strategic social media engagement, all of those things where you borrow someone's platform or borrow someone's audience. [00:04:06] When you borrow, you have control over your message, but the difference is you're operating within someone else's environment. It's a lot faster than building something from scratch, but there are some natural limitations. The biggest key is finding a host whose home or whose platform and audience align well with your message. [00:04:24] We talked about Brene Brown getting a chance to give her viral Ted Talk. She also appeared on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, she borrowed those platforms to reach new audiences as she was building her own central platform, and she stayed true to her authentic voice. She didn't have to build those platforms herself, but she did need to provide value that served the host and their community, and she was able to do both. [00:04:46] Most thought leaders need a balance of all three approaches when it comes to connecting and driving traffic. But this borrowing strategy is very powerful throughout your thought leadership business as you're building your platform, especially in the beginning. [00:04:59] It allows you to [00:05:00] reach new audiences through relationships rather than depending on algorithms or expensive advertising. And as you grow, you can continue to lean into the strategies you connect with new people and leverage the trust that someone else has built with their audience by being trustworthy and providing value to theirs. [00:05:17] So borrowing isn't about networking constantly attending every event, connecting with as many people as possible. Like we think about networking. It's not about following that exhausting advice to attend all the conferences, set up all the coffee dates, do all of those things. We don't want to drain all of our energy following this approach. [00:05:35] So many people have come home from conferences with stacks of business cards, but no meaningful connections. They're constantly getting out there, but they feel like they're spinning their wheels with no traction. [00:05:45] This is really about thinking quality over quantity. It's not more relationships we need, it's building the right relationships with the right people for the right reasons. Creating genuine value exchange instead of transactional networking, so to borrow [00:06:00] effectively, I found that there's really four levels of strategic relationships you want to be aware of and be cognizant of how you are spending time cultivating these relationships. So the four levels, level one Foundation relationships. These are early adopters, community members, peers. These are the people who gather around your central platform. [00:06:24] They're people that already know you and they see what you're doing and they come and listen and they stay. They may not have massive platforms, but the engagement they give you, especially early on, provides social proof and momentum that you need to grow. You'll typically have a lot of these foundation relationships and they require consistent attention. [00:06:44] But it's really more about the consistency. It doesn't need to be intense attention that you are providing to these foundation relationships. Level two, strategic amplifiers. This includes content creators, [00:07:00] podcast hosts, people who organize events, community leaders, other complimentary experts who serve similar audiences, but offer different expertise. [00:07:08] These relationships create win-win opportunities to share audiences. I remember back when I was a photographer, there was a lot of talk about creating strategic relationships like this, this strategic amplifier relationship. Instead of networking with other photographers and getting to know other photographers. [00:07:25] It's nice I can make friends, but they're not gonna help my business. But if I can connect strategically with wedding coordinators or florists or DJs, people who are also working with brides and grooms, but provide different services than I do that relationship's gonna allow my business to grow too. [00:07:45] So as a thought leader, as you're thinking about that, who are the people that serve your audience that you're trying to help transform that maybe talk about things slightly differently. If you get in front of their audience and provide the value that you provide, [00:08:00] you're going to have an opportunity to connect some of them over to your central platform. [00:08:06] You don't need a ton of these connections, but you need some that have solid amplification potential for your ideas. And these types of relationships do require regular, meaningful interaction To really flourish, you've gotta check in with people. You can't gotta continue to make it a two- way street. [00:08:23] Level three. These are called platform partners. Now at this level, these are more established thought leaders, media outlets, publications, maybe producers for a major event, industry associations. These relationships can dramatically accelerate your visibility. You'll have a smaller number of these, but they require a deeper investment to develop and maintain. [00:08:45] A few of these platform partners can change your visibility dramatically. One of my good friends has really had an explosion in her opportunities to speak in this past year, and it's come [00:09:00] because of her connections with platform partners, in her case, some major event producers, connecting with people who provide education and she was able to come in and provide such value for one audience that someone else saw her and brought her in for a major event to speak on the main stage. She's really starting to grow her reach and she already, but she already has a really solid central platform. She has really great people around her who have helped amplify her, who she has helped amplify, and now it's so cool to see what's happening to her at this platform partner level as she's getting to speak and getting her really helpful ideas out into the world, because of the connections she now has to major event producers. She shows up and just kills it on the stage, makes more relationships when she's at that event, and it continues to be this really self-generating loop of awesome. [00:09:58] Now, the fourth level. [00:10:00] These are transformational allies. These are category defining thought leaders, major media figures, high influence decision makers, industry transformers who have exceptional amplification potential. Just one relationship at this level, level four, can transform your reach completely. It's the equivalent of Brene getting to go on Oprah. We know Brene's name is a first name only person, partly because she got to go on Oprah. you'll have very few of these relationships. [00:10:28] Just be aware that that is another level beyond these platform partners. You may need just a couple of these throughout your career, but they require deep, authentic connection and substantial value exchange to really maintain. These are the people that can be your champions who can really make all the difference in you getting your voice out in the world. [00:10:51] So you should be deliberate about cultivating and being open to relationships at all levels. Relationships that align with who you are, what you do, [00:11:00] how you wanna show up. But I want you to pay particular attention to level two strategic amplifiers and level three platform partners because the return on your relationship investment there is going to be the highest. [00:11:13] Obviously, we wanna take care of the people at the foundation relationship basis as well. But again, that will be taken care of through you consistently showing up and providing value for those that will follow your platform. But level two, strategic amplifiers and level three platform partners. When you're thinking about networking, those are the type of people you just want to keep your radar open for. [00:11:38] And as you're doing that, here's a critical insight I want you to keep in mind. For this strategic connection strategy to really work, it has to align with your core resonance, and it has to be a way or a place that you can showcase your transformational ip. If you appear on platforms that don't align with your authentic expression mode, or if you dilute your message to fit other people's audiences, [00:12:00] you're gonna undermine all the work that you've done to connect with someone. [00:12:03] Brene Brown, like we've talked about, she's been on Oprah. She's done some amazing things. She is very strategic about her connection. She's very selective about where she shows up. She doesn't show up in a lot of places unless she's in the middle of a launch, and she's very consistent in the message that she shares. [00:12:21] Those connections amplify her core resonance instead of diminishing it. And they always showcase her transformational ip instead of her just showing up and talking about random things. [00:12:31] same thing goes for someone like James Clear. I've heard him on a lot of podcasts over the years. He consistently speaks about habit formation. He wants to be known as the foremost expert when it comes to developing habits. All of the frameworks in his Atomic Habits book, those are the things that he talks about. He doesn't try to be everything to everyone. He stays true to his core message and expertise, and he shows up on stages on podcasts when he's borrowing someone's audience that [00:13:00] make it possible for him to provide value for them in the area of habits. [00:13:04] And then if you decide to follow him, you get his 3, 2, 1 newsletter that's part of his central platform, and you're part of his more connected group now. As you bring people to you, all of that really, really matters. Not only connection to an audience that aligns, but making sure you stay true to who you are. [00:13:23] How do we do this? Like everything. We need a system. There's a system to all of this. Everyone utilizes this differently, but let's break down the steps. [00:13:32] First. I think it's important to map out your current relationships. I. Think about the people you know who could help you connect their audiences to your audiences and identify where they fall within the four levels. Who are those people and where do they fall in those four levels? Who already knows, likes, and trusts you? Who has access to audiences that would benefit from your expertise? [00:13:54] The second thing you wanna do is identify connection gaps. After you map out those current [00:14:00] relationships, where are you missing relationships That could help amplify your message. Which levels need the most development? And again, I would focus on level two, those strategic amplifiers or level three, those platform partners. How can you get in front of folks who have access to a bigger stage? [00:14:16] Third, create value first approaches. Anytime you are looking at a potential strategic relationship, you need to look at how you can provide value first without requesting anything in return. [00:14:29] I think that providing value in advance is one of the best lead generators in the world. Whether you're on a stage teaching something to people, whether you are looking at someone's, you know, thought leadership platform or there's something specific you can provide for someone that you meet, you offer that help you offer that assistance. [00:14:46] The law of reciprocity is real. Your influence and your ability to help others is really determined by how abundantly you place other people and their interests first. So think about that. When you have the opportunity [00:15:00] to connect with someone, how can you provide help to them? What do they need that you could help them with? [00:15:06] And just do it . [00:15:08] The fourth thing you need to do is develop what I call audience migration pathways, which is just a fancy way of saying we need a clear bridge or a clear route for these audiences from borrowed platforms to move to your central platform. [00:15:22] This could include a special landing page for being, on a podcast when you're guesting on someone's podcast. This could be exclusive resources for a specific community if you get a chance to speak in front of them. Then making sure you have targeted follow-up sequences for those audiences. One of my favorite audience migration pathways I've seen recently was from my friend Mike Pacchione.. [00:15:44] Mike is an amazing speech coach. He has worked with the best of the best. He has helped Amy Porterfield with her keynotes. James Clear, Donald Miller, pat Flynn. Pretty much anyone you've [00:16:00] heard of who has given a life-changing talk, mike has probably helped them with it, and Mike had the opportunity to be on Amy Porterfield's podcast at the end of last year. And he prepared for it. Got ready for it. And one of the things that he did that was so smart from an audience migration perspective was he talked about a freebie that he had created for Amy's audience on the show. [00:16:23] It's a really great, lead generator about how to nail the first 13 seconds of your speech. 'cause that's one of the parts of the speech that everyone is afraid of. And if you can nail the first 13 seconds, you've got them. And then like a really great lead generator. It solves one problem right away and it opens up a new problem so that you can go work with him. [00:16:43] So he had that as a lead generator and he also had a breakdown of one of Amy's keynotes that he helped her write, which was so smart. But that wasn't even the smartest thing he did. He created a custom webpage on his site that he shared [00:17:00] with Amy that's in her show notes. You can go listen to the podcast now and you can get there. [00:17:03] I'll put it in my show notes so you can see it. And at the top it says, welcome Amy fans. There's a picture of him and Amy together. The copy on it is really personalized and really smart. It makes you feel like you know Mike, even though you just met him on this podcast and you didn't know about him before, and it was just so personalized and so well done, and was such a perfect pathway for people who are listening to Amy, who are interested in taking the next step, who want to have a custom keynote that is their ip, their life-changing speech, and they connect to Mike and they're off to the races. [00:17:39] Really, really smart. So if you can develop those audience migration pathways. After you go through and figure out your relationships, identify the gaps, start to connect with folks, and when you get that opportunity, make sure you take advantage of it. [00:17:55] And then finally, you want to measure what's working. You can track the connections and the [00:18:00] opportunities that actually drive the results you're looking for in terms of your audience growth or engagement, or people eventually hiring you. 'cause we always want to double down on what's working. We don't wanna just do things that are random. So measuring what's happening. It's gonna make a big difference. [00:18:17] Effective connection is not about random networking or visibility for its own sake. It's about strategic relationships that amplify your authentic voice and extend your reach to audience who would benefit from your expertise. When this fourth component of connection works in harmony with the first three, of your core resonance, your content, your transformational intellectual property and your central platform, something really remarkable happens. You, your ideas begin to spread beyond your direct efforts. People show up that you don't know how they got to you. Your audience grows while you sleep, and your impact extends far beyond your personal reach. [00:18:51] On our next episode, we're going to explore the final component of the resident thought leadership system -commercialization. This is all about creating intentional business [00:19:00] models that align with your core resonance and generate sustainable revenue while delivering maximum value. If you're excited about what we talked about today, building relationships that authentically amplify your message, I wanna help you turn that enthusiasm into action. [00:19:15] Download my resident Thought Leader Starter kit. In there you'll find the Strategic Amplifier Identification Framework we talked about today, that structured approach to identifying and cultivating the key relationships that can amplify your message. But, start thinking about it Now this week, think about three to five strategic amplifiers, people who are at the same stage and phase as you are. Who consistently shows up for their audience in ways that you admire? Where do you see some natural alignment between your expertise and their expertise, and what conversations are they already having that your wisdom could help enhance? Then when you download the starter kit, you can take those names that you thought of and start to answer the questions there, and make a plan to provide them value to help them [00:20:00] grow what they're trying to build, and see how you can partner together. [00:20:03] And hopefully the rest of the starter kit will help you not only identify these connections, but see how they fit into your broader thought leadership system. I'd love to hear about your insights, and I'd love to have you connect with me on social media. I'm at Macy Robinson pretty much on every platform, and I'd love to hear how your experience goes with this exercise. [00:20:22] Make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss our final episode in this introductory launch series, we're going to explore those sustainable business models that help turn your thought leadership into lasting impact that you can own.