Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Business, Comment, Communication Strategy, Corporate Evil, Cunning, Devious Strategy, Egovertising, Food For Thought, Honesty, Point Of View
Anyone who has ever read this blog would know the last thing I’m about is thought leadership.
Maybe thought rambling, but not thought leadership.
However a company recently reached out to me about that very subject.
Not to hear my perspective on a particular subject, but to offer to tell me my perspective on a particular subject.
Is this AI on a whole new level?
No, it’s a company who apparently doesn’t like small talk and wants to get straight-to-the-point about offering me the chance to have them write an opinion piece for me and then get it published.
Not my actual opinion, I should add … but one they know they can shove in any random magazine because they’re desperate for content and get me to pay them for the privilege.
Oh, they drop some great magazine names.
Fast Company. Forbes. Tech Crunch.
But we all know the reality is 99% of the articles will be in stuff like the West Bridgford Gazette and the Illawarra Mercury.
I would love to know how many of these things they do?
How many ‘thought leaders’ are actually thought outsourcers?
And I guess I will because I’ve written to them to say ‘this looks amazing, please can you give me more information’, even though the reality is I already feel enough of an imposter without paying these bastards to rub it in.
20 Comments so far
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Brilliant. I have a sneaky suspicion a great number of high profile people use this service which, as you say, makes a mockery of thought leadership.
Comment by George June 19, 2018 @ 6:22 ampeople who want to be thought leaders are wankers. fact.
Comment by andy@cynic June 19, 2018 @ 6:27 amI agree with you. If anyone aspires to be a thought leader rather than be given that label as a byproduct of what they do, then they deserve all the abuse they will get.
Comment by Rob June 19, 2018 @ 7:22 ami might pay them to write this blog. it cant be as shit as it already is. fucking impossible.
Comment by andy@cynic June 19, 2018 @ 6:27 amI wouldn’t like insulting a ghost writer. It would feel a waste of my precious sarcasm.
Comment by DH June 19, 2018 @ 6:40 amPrecious would mean you only have a limited amount of sarcasm. Trust me, you don’t.
Comment by Rob June 19, 2018 @ 7:23 amyouve got more fucking sarcasm than an eu corn mountain.
Comment by andy@cynic June 19, 2018 @ 7:58 amyou feel an imposter? better mean an imposter of a man.
Comment by andy@cynic June 19, 2018 @ 6:29 amMan. Planner. Human. So many to pick from.
Comment by DH June 19, 2018 @ 6:41 amAll of the above.
Comment by Rob June 19, 2018 @ 7:23 amIs this the next stage of fake news, fake authors?
Comment by DH June 19, 2018 @ 6:39 am“Written-content” with an academic twist and a superfluous hyphen. You should hop on that call. We all want to know what your target community might be?
Comment by John June 19, 2018 @ 6:50 amI am … I’m talking to them next week.
Comment by Rob June 19, 2018 @ 7:23 amyou waste other peoples time like no fucker ive ever met.
Comment by andy@cynic June 19, 2018 @ 7:59 amA meeting of minds.
Comment by John June 19, 2018 @ 7:59 amI recently received a similar mail and was appalled. After speaking to our PR team, I have been informed it is an approach widely adoptef by many FTSE companies which has made me even more disappointed.
Comment by Lee Hill June 19, 2018 @ 6:51 amGod that is even more depressing. Thanks Lee.
Comment by Rob June 19, 2018 @ 7:24 amI can sense this story will be as good as the magazine that wanted you to pay to receive an award for cynic.
Comment by Pete June 19, 2018 @ 9:27 amWhy don’t you fuck with their heads by offering your services to them.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 19, 2018 @ 10:08 amhe doesnt write bullshit for anything less than 10k per day.
Comment by Bazza June 19, 2018 @ 5:17 pm