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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Most leaders think about monetizing thought leadership in predictable ways. Write a book and earn royalties. Give a speech and collect a speaking fee. Build a course and collect enrollment revenue. Those revenue streams are real, but they represent only a fraction of the economic value authority can create.<\/p>\n
The bigger opportunity is what happens because you wrote the book, stood on the stage or packaged your expertise into something others could learn from. In my book, The Authority Advantage, I describe the fundamental shift leaders must make as moving from an operator with something to sell to an authority with something to teach. That shift changes the economics of expertise because authority builds trust before the sales conversation begins.<\/p>\n
Most prospective authors want to know how many copies of their book they can expect to sell. That\u2019s understandable. But judging a business book by its sales is like judging a business card by the value of the paper it\u2019s printed on.<\/p>\n
The better question is what happens because someone read your book, or simply discovered that you wrote it. Being an author sends an immediate authority signal, because relatively few people have organized their expertise into a substantive book. A book tells prospective clients that you\u2019ve developed enough knowledge and intellectual property to quite literally write the book on the subject.<\/p>\n
A book can lead to speaking opportunities, consulting engagements, media appearances, strategic partnerships, referrals and larger client relationships. In those situations, a $25 book can influence a $250,000 decision. That revenue<\/a> will never appear on a royalty statement, but it\u2019s still economic value the book created.<\/p>\n Speaking presents the same measurement challenge. Most aspiring speakers want to know what they can charge for a keynote. But large fees are generally reserved for headliners whose names draw enough registrations to justify their rates. That doesn\u2019t make speaking any less valuable. It simply means you need to measure the right things, and one of the most important is what happens after you step off the stage.<\/p>\n Who approaches you afterward? It might be a prospective client, a potential partner, a meeting planner with another event or someone who can make an introduction that would otherwise be extraordinarily difficult to secure. One speaking engagement can also lead to a larger stage, which brings another audience and another set of opportunities.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why a speech that pays nothing can sometimes be worth far more than one that pays $10,000. The important questions are: Who is in the room? Are they people you want to influence? What opportunities can being in that room create?<\/p>\n A speech is also more than a 45-minute event. It can produce video, photographs, articles, social content, podcast discussions, audience questions and ideas that keep building your authority long after everyone leaves the ballroom. One hour on stage can fuel months of authority building.<\/p>\n For most successful leaders, the scarcest resource isn\u2019t knowledge. It\u2019s time. You may have spent decades building expertise, but traditionally the only way to share much of it was one person, one client or one meeting at a time.<\/p>\n On-demand courses change those economics. They let you package a framework or methodology so people can learn from you without you delivering the same lesson every time. The result is an asset that can generate revenue while extending your impact far beyond the number of people you could serve yourself.<\/p>\n The best course ideas often start with intellectual property you\u2019ve already tested. A book can establish the framework, a keynote can introduce it and a course can help people implement it. Someone who reads the book might attend the speech, take the course and eventually hire your company to help put the ideas into practice.<\/p>\n Now you don\u2019t have three disconnected products. You have an authority ecosystem.<\/p>\n The most overlooked revenue from thought leadership may have nothing to do with royalties, enrollment fees or speaking fees. Authority can increase your pricing power because recognized expertise is harder to commoditize. It can speed up sales because prospects arrive already understanding how you think and why they should trust you.<\/p>\n It can also influence decisions behind closed doors. Suppose a prospective client wants to hire your company but needs approval from several other executives. Those executives can discover your book, watch an interview, read your articles or see the respected organizations that have trusted you to speak. Your authority is now in the meeting, even though you aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n That can improve conversion, strengthen partnership terms, increase deal size and make it easier for your internal champion to make the case for choosing you. Your CRM may attribute the deal to \u201creferral\u201d or \u201cinbound,\u201d but the authority that made the prospect ready to act remains largely invisible.<\/p>\nLook beyond the speaking fee<\/h2>\n
Courses allow expertise to scale<\/h2>\n
Authority changes your core business<\/h2>\n
Build a moat, not just a funnel<\/h2>\n