Long Live the Idea

EVERYTHING’S CHANGING!!!!!!

No matter what field you work in, that statement feels true in 2025.

Marketers and business writers are feeling a lot of long-brewing changes really take hold right now.

Here’s one significant change: How we share our big ideas. Gotham Ghostwriters recently flagged an article by PR veteran David Meadvin. His can’t-miss headline: The op-ed is dead; long live the idea.

His thesis is that major publishers have essentially killed the op-ed by squashing their opinion sections. For decades, CEOs wanted their op-ed in the New York Times and other prominent newspapers and magazines. Now, that goal has essentially gone away as the media landscape has splintered.

But in my view, a shifting media landscape doesn’t make a huge impact on the core process of thought leadership. Even as traditional marketing and PR channels are changing, the fundamental practice of thought leadership should stay steady.

Sure, the channels for sharing your ideas are shifting. And your PR agency’s advice might look different today than it did a decade ago. But there’s one thing that shouldn’t: You still need to work on your personal habit of thinking, reflecting, and developing ideas. If you retain that habit and build that muscle, your ideas will have a long life. You’ll be able to flex with the times and share your ideas on the platform du jour. Because you’ll still have ideas to share.

The channel has never been what’s most important. That’s just the packaging. It’s what you’re actually sharing — what’s inside the fancy wrapping of the publication name – that matters.

So, if you’re feeling unsure right now because:

–Your business is swimming in bad news, and you don’t know what’s coming next…

–The market is more uncertain than ever…

–You aren’t sure how to get your message in front of your audience because everyone’s getting their news and information from different places…

–You’re feeling frozen, and aren’t sure what to say…

Here’s my advice: Keep walking through the thought leadership process. Keep reflecting, asking yourself questions, and digging up insights about your work. Share your honest thoughts. Don’t stop reflecting just because your work is getting harder. Hard times are a signal that you should be reflecting more.

Reflection prompts to center your thinking

Need help kickstarting your frozen reflection process? Try these questions:

• What is changing right now?
• What are you unsure about?
• What is staying the same?
• What questions are you trying to figure out?
• What questions are your clients asking you?
• What questions is your team asking you?
• What advice would you give someone else in your shoes?
• What do you wish everyone would be honest about?
• What are other people getting wrong?

Keep thinking, keep honing your ideas, keep sharing your thought process with others.