Welcome to day four of “Making Your Stuff Cool.” To review, we covered the little-known “RADIO technique” on Monday, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tactic on Tuesday; Wednesday was about making predictions, and today is about details.

We’ve all heard the saying that “the devil is in the details,” but I’m going to tell you that the money is there, too.

Claude Hopkins taught me that. Of course, I never met Claude, because he died forty-three years before I was born. But he lives on in the ads he created for the companies that were clients of the ad agencies he worked at. And yes, ad men and women can definitely become Thought Leaders. It’s their business to lead the public.

Let’s talk about one of his ads and see if we can steal the tactic he employed.

If you never saw the very first episode of “Mad Men,” you should probably do that. In the show, a Madison Avenue ad agency Creative Director named Don Draper is trying to come up with a “hook” for an advertising campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes.

At the last minute, he has a stroke of genius. He says to advertise this phrase: “It’s Toasted.”

Of course, all tobacco companies toast their leaves as a standard part of their production process, but Don made the point that nobody talks about it. By giving consumers something to think about (besides the fact that cigarettes will kill you), their company gets to sidestep that issue and set themselves apart.

It’s genius.

And it was pulled from real life. That “Mad Men” episode was based on the campaign that Claude Hopkins came up with in 1917 for Lucky Strike. It was a very successful campaign.

So that’s a great story, but what can you and I do with it?

Let’s look at the technique itself: Claude learned as much as he could about the product (just as a Thought Leader should) and then took a single, little-known detail that he could talk about in a fresh, new way.

The tactic was so successful, Claude also used it for Schlitz beer, Quaker Oats, and other companies.

If you put a little thought into it, you could use this tactic as a way to draw interest to your thought leadership content and products as well.

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Welcome to day 3 of “Making Your Stuff Cool.”

As previously discussed, I’m talking about driving up the interest of your audience by making your information “cool.” On Monday, we talked about the “Radio Test.” On Tuesday, we talked about combining the interests of your audience in new and original ways. Today, we’re going to apply the technique of fortune-telling to your thought leadership.

Here’s what we know about all people: they’re fascinated with predictions. I was just reading an article the other day about the end of the NHL regular season, and the writer talked about his predictions, and the predictions of readers who commented on them, at the beginning of the season.

You might or might not be surprised to learn that the writer was completely wrong about a number of things he thought would happen. In spite of that, the article was still informative and enjoyable to read.

The point I want you to take from that is that while it’s even more fun when people get it right, nobody cares when they get it wrong.

In fact, if you make a lot of predictions and only get a few right, you can focus on those few correct ones and people will generally forget that you got some of the others wrong.

Now let’s take this one step further, beyond just making predictions.

You can use those predictions to draw a crowd by how you talk about them. For example, you could make a prediction about what you think smartphones are going to be like in a year, and then point to a major change that will happen because of that. Maybe people will trade in or throw out their iPhone, and that’s how you begin your story. Of course, not everyone will upgrade, but if a few people do, that’s a valid prediction.

Maybe you could talk about what industries will be in decline, or what will happen if the President gets re-elected, or if his opponent gets elected. Maybe you could talk about technologies that will be made obsolete.

My prediction is that if you use this to your advantage, you can make your content fun and interesting to the people you want to attract and bond with.

Coming up tomorrow, we’ll talk about using a technique from a marketing copywriter who was born in 1866. You’d never believe this tactic is so old because it works so well. I’ll see you then.

If you’d like to make certain you keep learning all these strategies, you can do that by subscribing to my free daily thought leadership emails at You Can Be A Thought Leader.

Welcome back for day 2 of “How To Make Your Stuff Cool.”

I’m going to jump right into the story:

In November of 1983, Ronald Reagan was a year away from one of the largest landslide election victories in the history of the United States.

But that has nothing to do with it.

At the same time, in Dover, New Hampshire, illustrators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had an idea: they thought it would be “fun” to start a comic book.

They decided on their target market (teenagers), and then brainstormed things that teenagers found exciting.

After a while, they had a long list, and then circled three entries on that list:

Turtles, Ninjas, and Mutants.

Eastman drew a massive turtle standing on its hind legs and holding a pair of nunchucks. Below it, Laird wrote the words “teenage mutant.”

And the rest is history. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (renamed “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles” in Europe) became a multi-billion dollar entertainment, toy, and licensing franchise.

You can use their technique to come up with new and fresh angles to give your own audience. Start out by getting very clear on who your audience is and what they already know and like. Look for crazy and appealing combinations of those things, add in a dose of your personality and creativity, and see what happens.

The reason I’m telling you this story isn’t so you can start making up stories about reptiles. Here is what I know for sure about thought leadership: Thought Leaders become leaders of thoughts by saying original things that have never been said before. And if they have to say something unoriginal, they say it in a way that has never been said before.

This technique will help you with that. Now go sign up for my emails so you can get tips like this every day.

Some of us might not like to admit it sometimes, but a part of thought leadership is simply bringing cool ideas to your followers. It’s just the appeal of interesting information and concepts. Don’t underestimate your audience’s need to entertained.

So how do we do that?

This week I’m going to focus every day on ways to bring the “cool” to your followers.

Today, I want to talk about a little-known copywriting trick called “the RADIO Test.”

“RADIO” is an acronym for:

Reward
Affirmation
Deadline
Intrigue
Originality

Reward stands for the advantage that will accrue to your reader (or listener or viewer) for having consumed your content. It’s the old “what’s in it for me?” thing. Make sure that the reward to your follower is clear.

Affirmation means that they will feel better for having been with you for that moment. As Blair Warren told us in “The One Sentence Persuasion Course,” people will do anything for someone who makes their follower feel further convinced that they are “right.” A cynical and reductive way of looking at this could be called, “pandering for fun and profit.”

Deadline, in this case, refers to the timelines of the content. Why is this important right now, and why should I take action right now? Don’t let your cool stuff get thrown on the pile of “I’ll get to it someday.” Get them in the game right now.

Intrigue means to “arouse the curiosity or interest of; fascinate.” Make sure that your content is fascinating. The trick to this is not only to provide interesting information, but make sure you’ve chosen a market that would and should find your information interesting.

Originality, the final criteria, means that they can’t have heard what you’ve got to say every day for the past week. You need to bring them something unique. If you can’t be unique, at least say what you’ve got to say in a unique way.

If you’re going to use the RADIO Test to be cool, make sure your content meets all five qualifications. Three out of five isn’t much better than one out of five.

I’ll see you tomorrow with what you can learn from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! In the meantime, you should sign up for my free daily Thought Leadership email tips at You Can Be A Thought Leader.

Today, let’s talk about testing and experimentation in Thought Leadership. You probably already know that establishing yourself as a Thought Leader in your industry requires constant innovation and experimentation.

As an information marketer, it’s essential to take risks and try new things. Today, we’ll discuss why experimentation is crucial in thought leadership and explore some areas wherein you could greatly benefit by testing and experimentation. I think you’ll get a lot out of this if you’re willing to put in the work.

Experimentation can take many forms, such as introducing new marketing strategies, changing the format of content, or exploring new social media platforms. When it comes to thought leadership and information marketing, being open to trying new things and learning from them can be transformative.

Some areas in which experimentation is key include:

Content formats — Blog posts, videos, podcasts — experimenting with different formats and seeing which ones resonate most with your audience can be eye-opening.

Social media — depending on your audience, some social media platforms will definitely be more effective than others. So this is a great area to experiment in.

Product development — trying out new products or variations on existing products can inform the direction of your business and inform your audience. You’ll sometimes be pleasantly surprised at your results.

Whatever you experiment with, it’s essential to look objectively at the results and use them as a learning opportunity. You may discover new strategies or techniques that you hadn’t considered previously.

Experimentation is a necessary component of thought leadership and information marketing success. By constantly iterating and trying new things, you can stay ahead of the curve and differentiate yourself from the competition. Be open to new ideas, and don’t be afraid to take calculated risks.

Here’s an experiment you can start right now: Dedicate the next six months to growing your thought leadership. All you need to do is to sign up for my free daily thought leadership emails. Implement one strategy a week — that’s just one out of five — and see what happens in the next six months. You can start this experiment by going to You Can Be A Thought Leader and dropping your email address in the form. The very next weekday, your experiment can start. I can’t wait to see what you accomplish!

If you want to establish yourself as a recognized and well-rewarded Thought Leader in your market, creating and selling information products is a key part of that goal. Providing such products to your audience is a great way to help them achieve the transformation they seek.

Information products are resources that provide valuable insights and knowledge to your target audience. They come in various formats, such as ebooks and physical books, physical written courses, video courses, or membership sites.

Each format has its own strengths and weaknesses, and you should choose the formats of your various products carefully, according to the buying behaviors of your market, the curriculum you plan on teaching, your pricing strategy, and other factors.

To create impactful information products, you must invest time in designing a balanced product and curriculum that is tailored to your audience’s needs. A well-designed information product has several characteristics. Let’s go over a few right now:

Impactful information products provide value to your audience. Ensure that your product solves a problem they have or introduces them to a body of valuable knowledge.

Impactful information products are easy to understand. Communicate clearly and avoid any sort of technical language your audience might not understand.

Impactful information products are are tailored to your audience. This is where having an intimate understanding of your market comes in. Whether you are sharing insights for beginners or planning an advanced course, ensure that the content is aligned with the audience’s expectations.

Curriculum design for information products is critical, regardless of format. A well-designed curriculum will have a logical flow that builds on the previous lesson or chapter. It should be paired with appropriate examples, questions, and assignments that reinforce the subject’s concepts and provide opportunities for students to confirm to themselves that they are on track.

Crafting impactful information products takes time and effort, but it can pay off handsomely when done well. They can help you establish yourself as a Thought Leader in your industry, provide the income an expert deserves, and provide valuable insights and knowledge to your customers.

Against my own advice and better judgement, I don’t have a information product to sell you. But I should! In the meantime, I only have something to give you for free:

Every day, I email a group of my followers a tip on how to build and maintain thought leadership. It would be a great way for you to up level your skills and start making real progress toward your goals. You can sign up for these emails at You Can Be A Thought Leader.

As a Thought Leader, your primary aim is to provide value to your audience. However, your message is incomplete if your audience doesn’t take any action on the information you have provided. That’s where a call to action (CTA) comes in.

A call to action is a prompt that encourages readers, viewers, or listeners to take a specific action towards doing something about the information you have provided. It can be anything from signing up for a newsletter, buying a product, or leaving a comment on your article or video.

Examples of CTAs include “Sign up for our free trial,” “Download your free eBook today,” or “Get your exclusive discount now.” All of these might be very successful, depending on the context. That is why it is important to test the wording of your CTA to see which one works the best.

In today’s world where attentions span are short, it’s important to have a strong and effective CTA strategy to turn people into followers, and followers into customers.

The key to crafting effective CTAs is to make them persuasive through strong messaging. So here are some tips for crafting persuasive CTAs:

Use action-oriented language that drives your message forward, such as “Grab,” “Join,” or “Subscribe.” In other words, lead with a verb.

Keep it short and sweet. Make sure your CTA is easy to understand and straightforward. Now is not the time to get cute or to drop hints. Be bold, and be direct.

Provide value to the reader. A CTA is always more effective when it offers a clear benefit or incentive to the reader. They aren’t going to do anything for you, so they need to understand why they should do it for their own benefit.

Create a sense of legitimate urgency. If there is any kind of deadline or limitation, make sure you highlight that. People respond to urgency like nothing else.

It’s also important to note that the placement of CTAs on your website or Thought Leadership material is key. Placing them in high-visibility areas can increase click-through rates.

An effective CTA strategy is essential for successful thought leadership and information marketing. It engages potential customers, drives conversions, and helps you build and maintain thought leadership in your industry.

My call to action, right now, is this: Register for a free subscription to my daily thought leadership emails so you can up level your skills and achieve the recognition and reward you deserve. Sign up today, right now, at You Can Be A Thought Leader.