Business
Use Thought Leadership Content to Niche Down What You Will Learn: How Tim’s career started as a successful journalist before breaking into thought leadership content and marketing How Tim defines low-quality content, and why good content feels specific, narrowly focused, and personal to the target audience Why Tim and the team at Layup Content decided to only focus on the financial services and fintech industries How niching down and keeping a tight focus has helped Tim build his business and reach his ideal clients Why Tim believes his focus on the financial services and fintech niches has made it easier to get referrals from existing clients based on his depth of expertise How Tim started in thought leadership content with a book, and how the book led to other projects and opportunities Why it is important for your content to stay on voice and reflect who you are and what you truly believe How Tim coaches his clients to understand what unique voice they have to share, and what key skills business owners need to master to become great thought leaders What critical lesson Tim learned from a past mentor that made a lasting impression that still resonates in Tim’s business today Why Tim believes creative work comes down to having a plan and knowing where you want to go, and then executing on your plan Niching Down with Thought Leadership Content Maintaining a tight focus on a specific niche, rather than limiting your opportunities as you might expect, actually has the opposite effect — often opening new doors to opportunity by allowing you to demonstrate your expertise within your chosen niche. Tim Sprinkle knows this lesson well — he is the founder and Chief Strategist of Layup Content, a thought leadership and content marketing agency that specifically focuses on the financial services and fintech industries. Tim has leveraged his expertise and experience into a powerful platform for creating thought leadership content for his specific audience. The effect on his business has been profound. In this episode of Onward Nation, Tim shares how creating the right thought leadership content for the financial services and fintech niches has helped him reach his ideal clients and build out his business. Thought leadership content: Where do you start? The path to becoming a thought leader can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? What is your niche? Are you smart enough? But I have found most people can get started down the path with minimal effort if they can learn to start creating the right content. Thought leadership content comes in many, many different forms, but, the best content has a few things in common. 1) It is focused. After all, you can’t be a thought leader in everything. 2) It is deep. This is why books, research projects, and podcasts are popular places to start. 3) You are prepared to back them up with more. One piece of deep work isn’t enough. Writing a book may feel like you just ran a marathon, but the book is only the start. Tim Sprinkle spent more than 20 years in journalism, working for prestigious outlets like Yahoo Finance and Seeking Alpha. However, Tim’s first foray into thought leadership came from his book “Screw the Valley: A Coast-to-Coast Tour of America’s New Tech Startup Culture”, where he discussed how tech startups are abandoning the insular nature of Silicon Valley and finding tremendous opportunities for innovation all across America. That book became Tim’s cornerstone thought leadership content and an opportunity to slice, dice, and remix his wisdom. According to Tim, the book also opened many new opportunities to further his thought leadership and became a powerful driving force behind his business. But the book isn’t where Tim stopped. He KEPT writing great content on his specific focus for years to PROVE that he owned his position as a thought leader. The power of focusing on a niche By maintaining a focus on his specific niche of the financial services and fintech sector, Tim was able to build a deep level of understanding and expertise in the space. In short, he planted his flag of authority, and in doing so Tim has been able to get referrals from existing clients specifically because he positioned himself as an expert within that space. Tim works hard to ensure that his thought leadership content is tightly focused and reflects his unique voice, drawing from his depth of experience. In doing so, Tim is able to ensure that the thought leadership content he creates adds tremendous value for his audience. That, in turn, keeps his audience coming back for more and acts as rocket fuel for his business. About Tim Sprinkle Tim Sprinkle is the founder and Chief Strategist of Layup Content, a thought leadership and content marketing agency for the financial services and fintech industries. Before that, he spent 20+ years in journalism, working for outlets and publications like Yahoo Finance and Seeking Alpha, while writing on a freelance basis from some of the largest media brands in the world covering everything from business and finance to outdoor sports. Tim is the author of “Screw the Valley: A Coast to Coast Tour of America’s New Startup Landscape” and is laser-focused on bringing quality, thoughtful content to the world. How to Connect with Tim Sprinkle: Website: www.layupcontent.com Book: http://wearelayup-6521606.hs-sites.com/screw-the-valley-blueprints LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/timsprinkle/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/layupcontent/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/layupcontent/ Twitter: @timsprinkle Twitter: @WeAreLayup Additional Resources: Free Executive Leadership Summary report from Predictive ROI: https://predictiveroi.com/research Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13 Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/ Stephen Woessner’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/