In this episode of Thought Leader Life, Michael and I speak with thought leader Matt Heinz (@HeinzMarketing) about some of the secrets to being a successful social seller. Matt, who belongs to the elite Forbes list of the top 30 social selling influencers, describes himself as someone who has been doing B2B sales and marketing most of his life and who understands the language of sales. Matt defines a thought leader as someone who drives people to think differently about something and says that every part of the thought leadership funnel resonates with him, but the part that draws his attention is the “engaged” section of the funnel. The interview circles around why getting and sustaining engagement is so important for today’s B2B marketers and sellers.

Matt tells me and Michael how, by capitalizing on the engagement, a marketer or seller will earn more than just profits, but also long-term relationships with future advocates and clients who become their advocates and sell on their behalf through word of mouth. Sustaining engagement through the social channels takes hard work and much effort, but you will gain long-term benefits. Matt shares some of the techniques to sustain engagement, including re-purposing content, curating content, and making yourself open and accessible, which is what Matt’s consulting company is doing on a regular basis to bring in clients. Matt learned from Chris Brogan that there is no such thing as an overnight success. The 26,000+ followers Matt currently has did not come overnight; they came from years of hard work providing value to his new followers on a daily basis.

One key lesson that Matt shared was to develop the right social media habits by making a daily “to-do” list to respond to emails and engage on LinkedIn and Facebook. He states that providing your followers with that level of attention is a key step toward turning your future advocates into advocates. At this point, I tell the audience about our plans to make a book on best practices in social selling, which I think will be phenomenal.

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 upcoming book, soon to be a part of the THiNKaha app-only book series and watch the interview below!

Build relationships before you need them; engage now and harvest the benefits later. @HeinzMarketing

Focus on what you do best; focus on the value that you provide. @HeinzMarketing

Being a thought leader is not just being a recognized person, but also being approachable. @happyabout

Don’t think of your competitors as competitors, but as potential partners. @happyabout

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