How to Write Thought Leadership Content

$199

How to Write Thought Leadership Content

Course
41 Lessons

Learn how to write thought leadership content in this self-paced video course. Discover frameworks for ideation, writing techniques to improve credibility, persuasiveness and memorability, and tactics to improve the reach and spread of your ideas.

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"The first content piece I wrote right after finishing the course was the most successful content piece I ever wrote. Ryan really has this thing figured out. "

Ziemek Bućko

Senior Content Manager, Hunter.io

"The way Ryan broke down thought leadership content made it all crystal clear, doable, and 0% cringe."

Diana Briceno

Head of Content, VEED.IO

"It's helping me define what thought leadership is and isn't with my team. And the ideation section totally removes the blank page problem for new writers."

Jacob Miller

Marketing & Brand Manager, Headway

About the course

Much has been written about "content marketing", but there's a big ol' gap in the discourse on one crucial topic: thought leadership content.

Thought leadership content is writing that is built on your own experience and ideas. It's designed to demonstrate your expertise, elevate your personal brand, generate sales, and unlock career development opportunities - all while helping your readers to become smarter.

It's generally regarded as the hardest type of content marketing. It requires original, interesting ideas; the ability to articulate and advocate for them; and the confidence to learn and share in public spaces. (Not to mention that we can't fall back on keyword research to save us...)

Over the past twelve years as a content marketer, I have had to overcome these challenges, and this course is a product of introspection into the lessons, processes, and mental models that allowed me to do so. Writing thought leadership didn't come naturally to me. If I can learn how to do it, you sure as hell can too.

And you should learn. Writing thought leadership content will make you more persuasive and articulate. You will learn how to interrogate ideas. You will develop a toolkit of writing and thinking techniques that you can carry into every company, every interview, every job.

And, as SEO becomes ever more competitive, thought leadership content - predicated on original ideas, personal experiences, and contrarian insights - is becoming more powerful. Thought leadership is a competitive differentiator: whether you're a founder marketing their startup, or a content marketer looking to grow their career.

With all that said, this course will teach you how to:

Develop a shared language for thinking about, talking about, and creating good thought leadership
Use 4 ideation frameworks to consistently brainstorm interesting, engaging article ideas
Become more persuasive, credible, and memorable through your writing.
Effectively distribute your content and plant the seeds of a fruitful personal brand.

"If you’re looking for a resource to help you think (and feel) differently about content, I can’t recommend Ryan’s course enough."

David Ramos

Former Senior SEO Analyst, AAA

"Ryan helps you settle into the dreaded world of Thought Leadership content so you can start sharing your unique POV without fear."

Lateef Maleek

Freelance writer

"Tremendously valuable & extremely well-organized. I especially appreciate the generosity of the bonus teardowns and the reference library."

Barb Shimasaki

B2B Copywriter

Course contents

Start Here

Oh, Hi There!

Download Course Slides as .PDF

Module 1: Foundation

Let's get concrete: what is thought leadership, really? What separates bad thought leadership from good? And how can you "thought lead"... without being a jerk?

The Hardest Part

Earned Secrets

Making the Case

The Jerk Problem

Five Traits of Good Thought Leadership

Module 2: Ideation

Thought leadership is essentially applied critical thinking. Learn how to systematically brainstorm, evaluate and refine your writing ideas with these four mental models.

The Primacy of Good Ideas

1. "Yes, and..."

2. Challenging Truisms

3. Personal Experience

4. Analysing Events

Module 3: Writing

Discover the handful of writing tactics that account for most of thought leadership's allure. Learn how to be more persuasive, credible, and memorable with your writing.

The Pareto Principles of Writing

How to Be Persuasive

1. Steel-manning

2. Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis

3. The Rule of Three

How to Be Credible

Shibboleths

1. Jargon

2. Weighting of Ideas

3. Realistic Anecdotes

4. Lack of Polish

How to Be Sticky

1. How to Borrow Existing Frameworks

2. How to Create New Frameworks

Module 4: Distribution

Improve the spread of your ideas by learning the strategy - and tactics - behind growing your first audience.

Traffic Is Not the Goal

The 0 to 1 Problem

The Distribution Flywheel

1. Participate in a Community

2. Community Ideation

3. Fuel Discussion

4. Siphon a Permanent Audience

One Article, One Channel

Bonus

Rummage through my personal library of thought leadership article and inspiration.

A Final Note

The Thought Leadership Library

Teardown - When to make your first finance hire

Teardown - Content-driven growth

Teardown - Create a “Content Playground”

Teardown - Zero Click Content

Teardown - Why Trello Failed

"Ryan provides a series of thoughtful frameworks backed up by examples and anecdotes. I'm excited to put them into action."

Mike Sonders

Head of Marketing, Rainforest QA

"Just finished the Writing Section, and this section alone is worth the money. Marvelous stuff, man."

Nuno Sancha

Marketer, Simplero

"The course was fantastic. The writing portion was very interesting and gave me a ton of food for thought."

Amanda Cross

Content Marketing Manager, Nectar

Frequently asked questions

Who is this course for?

In a nutshell: anyone that wants to get better at sharing their own ideas, experiences, and beliefs through writing.

Thought leadership content is particularly helpful for:

Founders and executives that want to build their personal brands
Content marketers that want to move beyond generic SEO content
Freelance writers that want to add a new, high-leverage deliverable to their arsenal

Who is this not for?

This is not a writing-for-complete-beginners or content-marketing-101 course.

You will get the most from these lessons if you have a passing familiarity with the basics of content marketing, and already feel fairly comfortable writing for yourself.

What is "thought leadership content"?

"Thought leadership" is written content that's built on your own experience and ideas.

It's designed to elevate your personal brand, demonstrate your expertise, and unlock career development opportunities - all while helping your readers to become smarter.

Here are three examples of the type of content we'll be exploring:

What will I learn?

The course has five modules:

Foundations: how to think about, talk about, and explain the benefits of thought leadership.
Ideation: 4 frameworks for creating your own thought leadership ideas, using the "Yes, and..." method, personal experience, industry analysis, and counternarratives.
Writing: Tactics to help your writing be more persuasive, credible, and memorable (with real examples).
Distribution: How to build your first audience and start distributing your content (the right way).
Bonus: A library of thought leadership examples and 5-minute article teardowns.

How is the course structured?

This is a video course, designed to be worked through at your own pace.

Does this course contain transcripts?

Yes! I recently added full transcripts for every video. Just scroll below each lesson video to see the transcribed text, in full. Happy reading.

Will this course help me ghostwrite for other people?

Yes! The ideas and frameworks should definitely be useful for ghostwriting.

(In fact, that's the same context that I started using them in - writing thought leadership on behalf of teams/execs at B2B SaaS companies.)

For example:

the "foundations" module is meant to help you talk convincingly and persuasively about thought leadership, so it can help you explain the merit of thought leadership to other stakeholders.
the frameworks in the "ideation" module can be used to help other people structure their thought leadership (e.g. "Let's brainstorm the biggest truisms in your industry, and talk through whether you agree or disagree with them").

Will I get lifetime access to the course?

Yes! Once you've bought the course, there are no time limits to access, so feel free to work through it at your own pace.

Watch a lesson

Not sure if you'll like the course? Watch a quick lesson to get a feel for the style and subject matter.

About Ryan

Hey there! I'm a content marketer that's worked with companies including Google, GoDaddy, Clearbit, Wistia and Algolia. I've been a writer, content strategist, team lead, marketing director, VP and agency co-founder.

I'm currently Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs. Before that I was CMO at Animalz, where I managed and wrote the Animalz blog, famous for its thought leadership content. I've ghostwritten for founders, execs and well-known tech companies, and overseen content strategy for many more.

These are some of my best-known thought leadership articles:

If you have any questions about the course, or just want to connect, send me a DM on Twitter.