The advantage of pioneering a new discipline is that you get to own the space. The disadvantage is that being a pioneer can be lonely—you might have a well-defined audience (perhaps you even know them by name) that is completely unaware of its need for your discipline and its associated service(s).

Here are some recommendations for curing your loneliness by increasing brand visibility and lead generation.

• Establish a clearly defined professional discipline. Some pioneering businesses don’t think beyond the service context and so miss the opportunity to establish and name a new discipline. Control the discipline so you are in a better position to maintain leadership claims and defend your space.
• Seek leadership roles. Determinedly marketing yourself as the leader in your discipline. Seek opportunities to participate as a featured speaker, presenter, or panelist at conferences/tradeshows and in the media.
• Pursue highly visible, credible partners. Establish relationships that will increase your brand’s visibility and enhance your reputation as a trusted authority—these are critical to lead generation.
• Utilize research as a tool for benchmarking your audiences and initiating outreach. Create verifiable information about prospect practices/performance and related needs (this is essential to branding and marketing). Begin the outreach process to your target audiences.
• Recognize your #1 competitor. Your greatest competitor might be internal teams at your potential clients. Pitch your involvement as placing new, dynamic tools in the hands of the client’s in-house experts and avoid this possible barrier to entry.

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