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I spent the last two days in Winnipeg. I really didn't know much about the city. When I was younger my grandmother used to tell me the story of the Golden Boy — I had no idea what she was talking about at the time but I would nod my head politely as you do when you are nine years old and confused. I finally saw it yesterday, sitting majestically atop the legislature. Nice moment. About the only thoughts I had had about Winnipeg in fact involved: the Jets (sadly now ensconced in Phoenix, no offence intended Wayne), the Guess Who and Silver Jeans (who impressively won the Victoria Beckham jeans contract).

Turns out, Winnipeg is a city of many river twists but few bridges, and of an impressive number of hybrid taxi cabs. And of great people. My hosts — a guy named Tom Derrett who is Canadian Marketing Association board member, and a dude named Doyle Buehler who's business just won a Hot 50 award — were very accommodating and kind enough to show me a good time at Earl's (now in Ontario, scaring the pants off of other restaurant chains of the same ilk as they have their stuff sorted out). When it comes to marketing, Tom and Doyle believe strongly in thought leadership as a centerpiece to the whole puzzle.

So why was I in Winnipeg. Well, I was there because I also believe strongly in thought leadership. Tom asked me to come out and speak — to students at the Asper Business School, and to the local CMA members. It was a great opportunity and I'm glad I went. I wish I had consumed more water before going to bed post-Earl's, but that is a different story.

If you are running a small business, and you are in a market where you are competing with larger/well established brands, thought leadership can be a real weapon for you.

Some of you are screaming "what is thought leadership anyway?!" First, what it is not for 99% of us: it is not writing a Pulitzer prize winning book about your field. It's simply talking about what you know, instead of what you do. It's about getting people to think you're half bright when it comes to your market or your discipline, as opposed to continuing to hammer the same product or brand message you've been flogging for years. It's about communicating your thoughts on current trends, or processes that work, or whatever you have to say that is relevant to your customer base along with others in your market (suppliers, etc.).

In practical terms, there are really only two ways to tackle thought leadership: writing and speaking. Some of you are sweating bullets already. Calm down. It's not like you have to address the American public, justifying your choice of Vice Presidential running mate or something. Baby steps people.

Writing

You have so many more choices available to you now vs. a few years ago. The choices have increased as a result of a) a thing you may have heard of called the internet (some feel it will be really big), and b) a fragmentation of mediums (there is a publication for everyone these days). And the demands for formality have come way down, both on the part of readers and in some cases publishers. That's the good news. The bad news is you still have to put some intellectual elbow grease into the exercise, or you are wasting your time (it's better for people to not have an opinion of you than to think negatively of you). So, where do you start?

Blogs. Seems like everyone and their dog has a blog these days. Still, it's an easy entry point into writing/thought leadership. Easy in that entries can be short and punchy, don't have to follow any particular style or format, and don't require you to have a publishing arrangement. Plus you can use other means of directing people to your content. And droves of customers/potential customers read them. Establishing a blog on your website is a pretty easy undertaking.

Trade articles. Most industries have a trade/industry association that puts out a magazine or journal. Most of those publications struggle for content. Voila. Read the last two issues to see what has not been covered but probably should have been written about, get in touch and offer to produce something. If you have the time and think you can produce enough content, offer to write a regularly recurring piece.

Features. A feature is a fancy way of saying that you take more time, produce a bigger/broader piece on a topic, and shop it around until you find a home for it. Might be in the popular media (newspaper), might be in a specialty magazine (Outdoor Living), might be online somewhere other than on your own website or blog (autoblog.com), or might be in a more formal publication. In my game, Harvard Business Review is probably the penultimate place to be published.

Speaking

Don't stop reading fear-of-public-speaking-types. The majority of speaking opportunities are not of the keynote variety. They don't require heavy preparation, or slide decks or podiums with microphones. But, selfishly, the impact is the same as you get your name/company logo published in the speaker list and on the agenda.

Conferences. I promise you one thing. You'll get WAY more out of the next conference you go to if you are a participant, even in a small way, vs. wandering aimlessly around the exhibit hall, hoping to network your way into a dinner meeting. So how? Volunteer to be part of round tables or panels of experts or debates. And don't worry, you don't have to be a 25-year industry vet or already renowned to chase an opportunity like this. Just explain to the organizers your point of view and a point you want to make you think is valuable to the audience, and you're likely to get a shot.

Webcasts. These are really picking up in popularity. Do some research online and find a sponsor (sometimes an industry association, sometimes a brand) putting on a webcast in your field. Get in touch and offer to participate. If they don't find room for you now, they will on a later date as speakers are not typically lined up far in advance. And don't sweat this — the airtime is actually quite low, you will be taken care of in terms of direction by the organizers, and webcasts are largely interactive (Q&A) which is way easier to deal with than scripted pieces.

Speaking circuits. If you are really game, and have a bit of a track record, consider joining a speaking bureau that puts on speaking series/circuits. You'll have to fill out a profile and build up a history, but eventually the phone will just ring and you'll have more invites than you can handle.

If you are looking for a new way to break through in this economy, and you haven't gone hard in this direction, thought leadership could be the differentiator you've been looking for.

Mark Healy, P.Eng, MBA is a Partner at Torque Customer Strategy, a boutique marketing consultancy focusing on brining organizations closer to their customers via insight development and a no-assumptions model. Mark has completed over fifty studies in this new space over the last four years. He is regularly quoted in the national media on topics ranging from customer loyalty to managing professional service firms. Mark teaches" Customer Intimacy for Marketers" at the Canadian Marketing Association, and a "Demystifying Consulting" module at top Canadian business schools. His full bio can be found at www.torquecustomerstrategy.com