Thought Leadership: How to Find the Bigger Story

By Bob Decker

You have something worth saying that the rest of your industry would benefit from hearing. The challenge is figuring out what that something is – and turning it into an idea people will want to read.

You don’t need a groundbreaking prediction about AI, autonomous vehicles, or the future of semiconductors. And you don’t need to wait until your company has a major product announcement.

Good thought leadership starts with a point of view. It’s something you’ve seen, experienced, questioned, or figured out that could help someone look at an industry issue differently.

So, where do you find it? Here are 7 sources for a thought leadership article people will want to read (and publish). 

1. Start with what frustrates or excites you.

Think about the conversations that get you talking. What problem keeps coming up in your corner of the industry? What new development genuinely excites you? What trend makes you think, everyone’s missing the point?

Pay attention to those reactions. A strong thought leadership piece often starts with something you feel needs to be said. If you find yourself explaining the same issue again and again to customers, colleagues, or peers, take a closer look. There may be an article hiding in that conversation.

2. Think about where your expertise gives you a unique view.

You see your industry from a vantage point other people don’t. Maybe you’re a CMO who sees how customers actually respond to a new technology. Or you’re a engineer who understands what happens when an exciting idea has to work outside the lab and in the real world.

Ask yourself, what can I see from where I sit that other people might not? B2B readers don’t need you to know everything about a subject. They want useful insights from someone who knows how things really work in practice.

3. Look for the gap between promise and reality.

New technologies come with big promises. Then someone has to implement them.

That gap can be fertile ground for thought leadership. Where is your industry overhyping a technology, oversimplifying a challenge, or overlooking what it actually takes to make something work?

Maybe everyone is talking about what AI can do, while you’re seeing the implementation headaches nobody mentions. Or perhaps a technology that sounds simple on paper creates an entirely different set of challenges when engineers deploy it in the field. Showing readers the gap between the promise and the reality can give you a strong point of view.

4. Reflect on lessons learned the hard way.

Some of your best insights probably came from something that didn’t go according to plan.

Has your team made an assumption that turned out to be wrong? Have you discovered that the obvious approach to a problem wasn’t the best one? Those experiences give your perspective credibility.

You don’t have to reveal proprietary information or name names. But lessons with a few scars on them tend to be a lot more memorable than generic advice.

5. Tie a technical insight to a larger theme.

Sometimes the difference between a technical article and a thought leadership piece is simply taking a step back. You may start with a very specific engineering issue. But what does that issue tell you about a larger challenge such as sustainability, reliability, efficiency, security, or the way the industry is changing?

Making that connection can elevate a narrow, technical subject into a much bigger conversation.

6. Ask yourself one question.

If you’re still searching for your idea, ask yourself, what do I wish more people in this industry understood?

I’ve found that question has a way of getting straight to the point. Your answer comes from your experience. You’ve seen something happen enough times to recognize a pattern. You know where people get tripped up. Or you see an opportunity other people are overlooking. And that may be exactly what makes it worth writing about.

7. Turn company news into an industry conversation.

Another place you can look for thought leadership ideas is what’s happening inside your own company.

Say your company is celebrating its 30th anniversary. You could write an article about the milestone, talk about when the company was founded, highlight its accomplishments, and thank the customers and employees who helped you get there. That’s perfectly fine company news.

But it isn’t thought leadership.

Instead, take a step back and ask a bigger question: What makes a technology company endure for decades in an industry that never stops changing?

Now you have a different story. You might talk about adapting without chasing every trend. Staying close to customers as their needs change. Knowing which core principles shouldn’t change even when the technology does. Investing for the long term when short-term thinking would be easier.

Your company’s anniversary can still be part of the article. But instead of being the story, it becomes an anecdote or piece of evidence that supports the larger idea. In fact, you won't even mention the anniversary until the latter half of the article.

You’re giving readers something they can think about and apply to their own businesses. That’s thought leadership.

At Redpines, we help technology companies find those bigger stories, shape them into useful thought leadership articles, and get them in front of the trade press editors whose readers want to hear them. If you have expertise inside your company but aren’t sure what the bigger story is, let’s talk. Give me a call at 415-409-0233.

How to Pitch an Editor a Contributed Article (Without Getting Ignored)

By Bob Decker

If you want your contributed article idea to actually land in an editor's inbox and get a yes, how you pitch it matters just as much as the idea itself.

In my last blog post, 5 Ways to Come Up With Contributed Article Topics (That Editors Actually Want), I walked you through where to find strong topics your customers want to read and publishers want to print.

So presumably, now you've got a solid idea or two. You know it solves a real problem, and it fits the "problem → why it matters → how to approach it" framework. But here's where a lot of good ideas stall out: the pitch. You send an email, you hear nothing back, and you're left wondering if your idea wasn't good enough. Or did something else go wrong?

Chances are, it's the pitch. Pitches can be tricky. Let's take a look at how to write one that gets read, gets a response, and gets you published.

Let’s start by thinking from the editor's point of view. They get dozens of pitches a week, most from people who've never read their publication. So the fastest way to stand out is to show them you have.

Your pitch should sound like you already know what fits their audience. Reference a recent article they've run, or a topic area they cover frequently. In just one sentence, you’re telling them you're not blasting the same pitch to 20 publications. You're talking to them specifically and offering them an exclusive story.

Keep it shorter than you think.

Editors are scanning, not reading. Your pitch should feel like a quick, useful conversation, not a proposal. Aim for 3 or 4 short paragraphs at most that cover:

● What the article is about, in one sentence

● Why it matters to their readers right now

● A quick line on your credibility to write it (your role, your company's relevant experience)

● Word count and when you will send the article to them

That's it. If they want more, they'll ask. Don't attach the full article yet. A strong pitch earns you the chance to submit. It isn't the submission itself.

Lead with the reader's problem, not your company.

This is the single biggest mistake you can make in a pitch. Editors are looking for editorial value, not brand exposure.

If your first line talks about your company, your product, or an announcement, you've likely already lost them. Instead, open with the engineering challenge your article solves. For example, "Engineers designing for thermal management in compact enclosures keep running into the same wall. Here's a piece that walks through what’s going wrong, and what actually works." That sounds like something an editor wants to publish.

Give them a reason to say yes today.

Editors have deadlines and content calendars just like you do. If there's a natural hook – an upcoming trade show, a shift in the industry, a relevant anniversary or milestone – remind them. It gives your pitch a timely reason to move up the queue instead of sitting in their inbox for weeks.

You don't need to manufacture urgency. Just point out what's already true and let it do the work.

Skip these reasons for your pitch to be ignored entirely.

● Attaching a press release instead of describing an article idea

● Pitching multiple publications the exact same idea at the same time

● Following up more than once or twice – after that, it's a no, and that's okay

● Overselling your company instead of the article's value to their readers

Before you hit send, ask yourself: if a stranger who's never heard of your company read this pitch, would it sound like a useful article idea, or a sales pitch in disguise? If it feels like the former, you're in good shape. If it feels like the latter, go back and cut anything that talks about you instead of your reader.

That one gut check will save you a lot of ignored emails.

Getting a pitch right takes practice, and even strong writers get turned down more than they'd like. But when you lead with the reader's problem, keep it short, and show the editor you understand their audience, you dramatically improve your odds of getting a yes. You’re also building the kind of relationship that gets your next pitch opened even faster.

Pitching editors doesn't have to feel like guesswork.

At Redpines, helping you craft pitches editors actually respond to is part of the PR strategy we develop for our clients. Because we've built long-standing relationships across the core technology trade press, we know what catches an editor's eye and how to position your story so it fits.

If you'd like to talk through how to get your next pitch in front of the right editor, give me a call at 415-409-0233.

5 Ways to Come Up With Contributed Article Topics (That Editors Actually Want)

By Bob Decker

In my last blog post, What Editors Really Want: Getting Your Technical Articles Published, I shared what decision makers at trade publications look for and what guidelines to follow to have the best chances of getting published. 

But at some point, you may have stalled out on this thought: “I get why contributed articles matter, but what would I even write about?”

If that’s where you are, you’re not stuck. You’re looking in the wrong place.

Because in the sensors and semiconductor industry, the best article ideas aren’t invented from scratch. They’re already sitting inside your company in conversations, documents, and day-to-day problem solving.

The key is knowing where to look and how to recognize a strong idea when you see one. Let’s walk through 5 of the most reliable sources that your customers want to read and publishers want to print.

1. Start with real engineering problems.

The strongest contributed articles almost always begin with real-world design challenges.

Think about the questions your customers are asking:

● “How do I manage thermal issues in a smaller footprint?”

● “Why is my signal degrading at higher speeds?”

● “What’s the best way to ensure reliability in harsh environments?”

These aren’t just support questions. They’re article ideas.

If one engineer has asked, many others are dealing with the same issue. And trade publications exist to help solve exactly those kinds of problems. A simple way to pressure-test an idea is: Would an engineer search for this? If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.

2. Mine the content you’ve already created.

You likely don’t need to start from a completely blank page. Many contributed articles begin as something else:

● An application note

● A white paper

● A webinar or conference presentation

● Internal training materials

● Even a detailed email explanation

Contributed articles can stem from reshaping existing knowledge for a broader audience. For example, a dense white paper can often become a more accessible article by focusing on one specific problem and simplifying the explanation. A webinar can turn into an article by extracting the key teaching points and removing the presentation format.

If your engineers have already taken the time to explain something well, you’re closer than you think to having an article ready to publish.

3. Look at what your sales and applications teams hear every day.

Your sales pros and applications engineers are on the front lines. They hear objections, confusion, and edge cases that make them your best source of article ideas.

Pay attention to:

● Questions that come up repeatedly

● Misconceptions about how something works

● Situations where customers don’t know there’s a solution to a common problem

● Conversations that require a deeper explanation

Those moments often translate directly into strong tutorial-style articles. If your team has to explain something more than once, it’s probably worth writing down.

4. Pay attention to industry trends (and add your perspective).

Not every article has to be instructional. Some of the most engaging contributed articles offer a point of view or thought leadership that will add to your company’s credibility and authority.

Look at what’s changing in your space. Are there new standards or technologies? Has there been a shift in design priorities? How about supply chain challenges? What is the impact of AI on engineering workflows? Are there evolving expectations for performance or reliability?

Within those shifts, what are you seeing that others might not? And what have you learned from working with your customers that could be shared with the broader industry? You don’t need a groundbreaking opinion. You just need an informed one that’s based on real-world experience.

5. Use the “problem → why it matters → how to approach it” framework.

If you’re unsure whether an idea or existing content will work as a contributed article, run it through a simple structure:

● Problem: What challenge is the engineer facing?

● Why it matters: What happens if it’s not solved?

● Approach: What are the practical ways to address it?

If you can clearly answer those 3 questions, you likely have a strong article. This framework also helps you avoid one of the biggest pitfalls: drifting into promotion. When you stay focused on the problem and the solution, the article naturally remains helpful and editorial.

That’s where contributed articles start to work the way they’re supposed to: building authority, strengthening your reputation, and helping your expertise reach a wider audience.

You likely already have more article ideas than you think.

At Redpines, we help you uncover those ideas, shape them into strong technical stories, and place them with the editors who are actively looking for this kind of content. Because we’ve built long-standing relationships across the core technology trade press, we know what works and how to get it published.

If you’d like to talk through a few article ideas, give me a call at 415-409-0233.