It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of your day-to-day business challenges, and totally miss realising the big ideas that can trigger a radical change for the better. But who are some good sources? Madi.Digital has put together this list of 7 business thought leaders to help you get inspired.
Seth Godin
Seth Godin, famed for his marketing expertise, has written over a dozen books, blogs every day and runs the famed Akimbo Workshops. He’s a 2018 inductee of the Marketing Hall of Fame. Many of Godin’s books have made it on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Plus, his blog, ‘Seth’s Blog’ has plenty of unique insights to explore. He even foreshadowed the rise of digital content marketing, and the entire shift from advertising “at” your market, to an “opt-in” relationship.
“Permission marketing turns strangers into friends and friends into loyal customers. It’s not just about entertainment – it’s about education. Permission marketing is curriculum marketing.”
Follow Seth here: @ThisIsSethsBlog
Paul Graham
Paul Graham co-founded the startup accelerator, Y Combinator. Y Combinator has funded over 2000 startups. And chances are, you’ve heard of a few of these companies – Graham saw the potential in Dropbox, Reddit, Airbnb, and Stripe early on.
Graham is a successful venture capitalist, programmer and writer. In fact, his essays are wildly popular, with his website generating 15 million page views every year. Readers can expect a plethora of wisdom and insights from his words.
“Paying attention is more important to reliability than moving slowly. Because he pays close attention, a Navy pilot can land a 40,000 lb. aircraft at 140 miles per hour on a pitching carrier deck, at night, more safely than the average teenager can cut a bagel.”
Follow Paul here: @paulg
James Clear
James Clear’s work is focused on how to create better habits. His training platform, The Habits Academy, is a practical and science-backed course that assists behaviour change to remove bad habits and develop good ones.
Clear has published many books. He’s a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Audible best selling author. His website generates almost 400,000 visitors, every month. Plus, his neat “3-2-1” newsletter is one of the most popular newsletters in the world. It offers three ideas from Clear, two quotes from inspiring figures, and one thought-provoking question for the reader.
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”
Follow James here: @JamesClear
Ann Handley
Ann Handley is a renowned expert in the field of content marketing. Handley is a best selling author, popular social media influencer (with over 450,000 LinkedIn follows) and keynote speaker. She is the Chief Content Officier at the marketing training company, MarketingProfs. Handley’s book Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content is a Wall Street Journal bestseller. Her newsletter is full of incredible tips for enhancing marketing efforts and lifting your content game.
“In an online world, our online words are our emissaries; they tell the world who we are.”
Follow Ann here: @annhandley
Tim Ferriss
His podcast has over 500 million downloads. He’s the author of five number one bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek. In fact, this book managed to spend seven years on The New York Times Best Seller list. We can see why – it unpacks how readers can learn to live more and work less – and not just during retirement.
You can say Tim Ferriss has a good sense of intuition, too. He was an early investor in Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Alibaba, and Duolingo.
“For all of the most important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it “eventually,” just do it and correct course along the way.”
Follow Tim here: @tferriss
Ryan Serhant
Ryan Serhant has made a name for himself as a highly successful New York City real estate agent, best selling author and television personality. Last year, he sold almost $1.45 billion in closed and contract sales. Oh, and he’s only 36 years old.
Ryan has also founded SERHANT, a vertically-integrated mega brokerage comprising an in-house film studio, education arm, marketing division, and technology platform. He’s delivered keynotes around the world for over a decade. On YouTube, he’s amassed over 1 million subscribers.
“A Win is the legacy you leave behind. And your Win doesn’t have to be as big as “change the world”—but it needs to be real, it needs to change you, and it needs to be something you really want.”
Follow Ryan here: @RyanSerhant
Adam Grant
All four of organisational psychologist Adam Grant’s books have been New York Times bestsellers. They have managed to sell more than two million copies, and have been translated into 35 languages. His successful podcast, WorkLife, averaged over 500,000 downloads per episode, spent two weeks as the #1 show on the entire Apple Podcasts chart, and was one of the most downloaded new shows of 2018.
Grant frequently writes for the New York Times and consults with companies like Google, Bridgewater, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the NBA. To top it off, he has been the recipient of Fortune’s 40 under 40 award.
“The more I help out, the more successful I become. But I measure success in what it has done for the people around me. That is the real accolade.”
Follow Adam here: @AdamMGrant
If you’re ready to learn more about marketing and start improving your social media skills, head over to our homepage, Madi.Digital and get started now.