Stand Out: How to Build a Following That Matters

Are you wondering how to stand out in the noisy online world?

Want to build your status as a thought leader?

To discover new ways how to stand out, I interview Dorie Clark.
More About This Show
The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode I interview Dorie Clark, author of Reinventing You and an adjunct professor at Duke University. She's also a consultant and speaker. Her clients include Google and Microsoft. Her latest book is called Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It.

In this episode Dorie will explore how to stand out in the noisy online world.

You'll discover why creating breakthrough ideas and becoming an expert are essential today.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below.
Listen Now
You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, or Stitcher. How to subscribe/review on iPhone.

Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:
Stand Out
Dorie's backstory

Dorie started her marketing and strategy consulting business nine years ago, following a pretty eclectic career. After studying theology in graduate school, Dorie was a political reporter, a spokesperson for first a gubernatorial and then a presidential campaign, and ran a non-profit.

Through her journey, Dorie noticed increasing numbers of people reinventing themselves, so she wrote Reinventing You to capture best practices for the process. She then realized the next challenge (after you find the place to make your mark) is to become a recognized expert.

She wanted to learn from the best, so Dorie interviewed 50 top thought leaders, including Seth Godin, Daniel Pink and David Allen, to try to figure out how they came up with their breakthrough ideas and built their following.

Dorie wanted to demolish the myth that famous people are perceived as having always been famous. There are certain replicable actions that anyone can do with the right strategy.

One common thread is that all of the people she profiled are known for their ideas. The idea comes first, and then these people roll up their sleeves and work in the trenches in their profession to spread their ideas.

Mindset is a key factor in whether someone will be successful. Dorie refers to Carol Dweck from Stanford University, who talks about a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. If you have a growth mindset and you're not getting the results you want, you believe if you change what you're doing, you'll get those results. If you have a fixed mindset and you're not getting the results you want, you think it must be because you're not smart or talented enough, and there's nothing you can do to change it.

Sharing ideas puts you in a position of vulnerability, because it's possible people won't like them. However, it's fundamentally an act of generosity if you have ideas you believe can help the world.

People need to step up and be willing to share their ideas, because those who are doing it now are no different than anyone else. They are just willing to do something differently.

Listen to the show to learn more about what stops most people from becoming successful.

Why create a breakthrough idea?

A breakthrough idea is something new and valuable that you (and often only you) can contribute, Dorie explains. This is more important than ever, because the world we live in today is so competitive and globalized. There is always going to be someone willing to do the work for less money than you.

Ten years ago, if you needed a website designed, you went to the Chamber of Commerce mixer to see who does websites, and you picked a designer. Now, you go on Elance or Odesk and find someone who will do it for half the price around the world. As a result,