In this episode of Thought Leader Life, Michael and I share insights with thought leader Scott Abel about how content can and should be a business asset. As the “Content Wrangler,” Scott believes that you can write content once and use it often, and this can be done by managing content effectively. For Scott, thought leaders are people who see possibilities that others do not easily see, and they are good at providing information that make people want to follow them, talk about them, and call them thought leaders.

In the interview, Scott explains the geographic plays of roles as he stresses how you can make different derivations of your message as people (or the audience) are increasingly able to be anywhere they want. The way the world works now, people come to any “front door” they want. Commenting on the Thought Leadership Funnel, Scott thinks that a future advocate can have different “Ahas” – an “I disagree Aha” or a “Wow! We’ve been wanting to do this Aha.” Still, having said this, the most important question for Scott is, “Are you thinking about content like a business asset?” As most people (buyers) are now more independent in finding information and communicating with others through social, businesses should be able to not only guess what people want to read or know (like a FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions, really?), but to create content using scientific bases. Scott mentions, as an example, the user manual that most businesses don’t pay closer attention to. What businesses don’t know is that post-sales content can become marketing content and can actually prevent someone from buying their products.

Other interesting subjects discussed in the interview include technical tools for developing content and how to convert employees from future advocates to advocates so they can push your content on social confidently.

To learn more about thought leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the Thought Leader Life channel at http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are some “‘aha’ moments” from the episode. See more in the Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life books available in the Aha Amplifier and watch the interview below!

Every single content must be written once and repurposed automatically. @scottabel

How can you predict your Return of Investment if you don’t know what it costs to do things today? @scottabel

Every dollar spent to create good content must be tied to a business outcome. @scottabel

Be a thought leader not just on a certain topic, but a topic within a specific geography. @happyabout

Follow Scott on Twitter at @scottabel. Tune into Thought Leader Life every Saturday for more thought-leader goodness!