Plug "thought leader architect" into the title field of a LinkedIn search and only one name pops up: Mitchell Levy, CEO of THiNKaha and author of the new book, "#Creating Thought Leaders Tweet," (www.thinkaha.com/experts2gurus).

"The truth is, a lot of people are trying to become viewed as 'thought leaders' because they recognize that being a well-publicized, well-respected expert in their field is good for business," Levy says.

"But most people have a hard time figuring out how to do it on their own."

Levy, who works with corporations to develop thought leaders among employees, says CEOs recognize that the wide availability of information on the internet has changed how customers do business.

"Customers are quite knowledgeable, and they get that way by using the resources available online," Levy says. "It doesn't take long before they know enough to spot a true expert - someone with vision; someone with a strong track record of success; someone who knows their field so well, they can tell you where it's going, and where it should go."

When we had only the traditional media and its well-guarded access, our thought leaders tended to be people who were already in vaulted positions, such as elected officials, CEOs of major corporations and entertainment personalities, Levy notes.

Today, thanks to the egalitarian nature of social media, anyone can become one. But many people don't know where to begin.

Levy offers these suggestions for developing your reputation as a thought leader.

• Start by zeroing in on an area of your field in which you excel. Focus on one area of your business or profession that excites you. Rather than stepping out as the consummate expert on a broad range of topics, choose one slice of your expertise that you enjoy - that you love to talk about. The beautiful thing about social media is that it caters to niche interests, which is a great way to start building your following. The more focused you can make the space you want to be a thought leader in, the easier it will be for you to reach your audience.

• Develop your own message and share it in a distinctive style. Think about who your audience is and what they want and need - remembering that they don't care about you, they care about themselves. Are there better ways to do something that everyone has been doing the same way for years? Can you solve problems or foresee trends that others seem to be blind to? Craft a message that will resonate with your audience. Share it in a distinctive, authoritative voice. Don't be afraid to show some personality. Do you need to be bigger, tougher, louder, stronger, wiser? You don't need it all, but you do need to set yourself apart.

• Create useful, valuable content that people can use. Online, you can write a blog; create video tutorials on YouTube; share nuggets of information on the various social media sites. Write a book on your topic! By constantly sharing information that solves problems for users and readers, you begin developing a reputation as knowledgeable, helpful and reliable. This should be an ongoing process - which is why you need to be passionate about it! Thought leaders make it look easy, but they work at it every day.

About Mitchell Levy

Mitchell Levy, Thought Leader Architect and CEO at THiNKaha, has created and operated 15 firms and partnerships since 1997. Today, he works with companies who are active in social media to leverage their IP and unlock the expertise of their employee base to drive more business. He is also an Amazon best-selling author with 18 business books, including the new "#Creating Thought Leaders Tweet." Levy is a frequent media guest and a popular speaker. In addition to the companies and joint ventures he has started, he has provided strategic consulting to more than 100 companies, has advised more than 500 CEOs on critical business issues through the CEO networking groups he's run, and has been Chairman of the Board of a NASDAQ listed company.

Bipartisan amendment introduced by Loebsack added to Defense Appropriations bill

Washington, D.C. - Late last night, Congressman Dave Loebsack's bipartisan amendment to prohibit furloughs of civilian employees like those at the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center who are funded through Defense Working Capital Funds (WCF) was added to the 2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. WCF employees are not directly funded by the Department of Defense.  Instead, they are funded through sales revenue, including revenue from prior years. As a result, furloughing these employees does not create direct savings for the Department of Defense. Loebsack's amendment would address the situation of men and women working at the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center at Rock Island Arsenal who are WCF employees. Loebsack has long opposed all furloughs and voted against sequestration, which created these pay cuts. He has pushed Congress and the Administration to find a balanced, commonsense way to replace sequestration and responsibly deal with the fiscal situation facing the nation. He also supported an amendment that was included in the legislation to ban all furloughs for Department of Defense employees.

"It is unconscionable that the dedicated men and women who work at Rock Island Arsenal are being forced to take a pay cut because of Washington's dysfunction. I opposed the creation of sequestration and I oppose the decision to furlough any dedicated individuals who work every day on behalf of our troops and national security," said Loebsack. "What's more, furloughing folks like those at the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center doesn't even create direct savings for the Department of Defense. I am opposed to all furloughs and will continue to fight to eliminate them. I am glad my bipartisan amendment was supported by the House to address the unique situation of folks like those at JMTC and to send a strong signal of support to all Rock Island Arsenal employees."

Video of Loebsack speaking on his amendment can be found here.

PLAINVIEW, NY July 24, 2013 - CSC ServiceWorks (CSC), the industry leader for multi-family laundry services and the largest provider of Pay Air Services for automobile tire inflation in North America (Coinmach and AIR-serv, respectively), announced today that it is merging its interests with Sparkle Solutions Corp. (Sparkle), Canada's third-largest laundry route operator. The merger provides CSC with a laundry-equipment presence in Canada and enables Sparkle to grow by leveraging AIR-serv's Canadian footprint.

CSC will provide its exceptional service backbone and the capital to make the investments necessary to grow Sparkle's route operations nationally. Sparkle will expand its service by opening offices in all major Canadian cities.

Regarding the merger, CSC CEO Bob Doyle stated, "I'm excited about the prospect of entering a new market in Canada. Sparkle's management team and existing knowledge of the Canadian market combined with our capital and service support, will truly make Sparkle a competitive national laundry route operator."

Sparkle COO Ray Helwig agreed: "The CSC management team has been in the industry for over 65 years and has a track record of successful expansions in new markets. They have the same core competencies as we do and are willing to go the extra mile for their clients as we have done over the last eight years."

About CSC ServiceWorks

CSC ServiceWorks is the leading provider of multi-family housing and commercial laundry solutions and the industry leader in air-vending services at convenience stores and gas stations. CSC's family of businesses includes Coinmach Corp., ASI Campus Laundry Solutions, SDI Laundry Solutions, Appliance Warehouse of America, AIR-serv, AirValet, and Super Laundry. CSC ServiceWorks employs more than 2,250 dedicated professionals and provides services for nearly one million air and laundry systems throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

About Sparkle Solutions Corp.

Sparkle Solutions Corp. manages more than 12,500 machines in Ontario and Quebec and provides laundry equipment sales.

Sparkle is the only multi-family laundry route provider with a real-time integrated WebXpress Card System that allows landlords to view their income online, providing 100% transparency. The company is also launching its new Sparkle SINC web system : a cardless, cashless activation system.

Recently, a colleague asked me, "What was the most rewarding mistake you ever made in business?"

It's a great question, and I quickly had an answer for him because it was an incredibly painful mistake. However, it proved to be an invaluable lesson that has served me well in the years since. I'm sharing so perhaps you can learn it the easy way.

The lesson: Don't ever stop marketing because you think you've reached the point where you don't need to. And, secondarily, believe the old adage that warns, "Don't put all your eggs into one basket."

There's a story, of course!

Years ago, my public relations company connected with a large publishing house that served many prestigious authors. The first few of its authors we accepted as clients had such successful campaigns, we quickly became the publicity firm of record for this publisher. I thought we'd tapped the mother load! The publisher kept a steady stream of clients flowing to us, and eventually, they became about 80 percent of our business.

We were so focused on delivering for these authors that we became much less focused on getting our company name out to prospective new clients. We slowly stopped marketing. Our newsletters ground to a halt. We didn't waste time networking. We quit our efforts to get the same publicity for our company that we get for clients. Why bother? We didn't need new clients!

We had a whole basket full of beautiful perfect eggs and we were happily skipping along with it.

And then ... it broke.

The publisher ran into some serious problems with its investors and the business came crashing down. And guess who almost went with it?

Our eggs were cooked.

Faced with only a few clients and no prospects, we got busy fast and cranked up the marketing department (me!) again. It took awhile to regain the momentum we'd lost but, thankfully, we had a side business that could help pay the bills in the interim. Slowly but surely (this was before the age of social media, which really speeds things up), we built up a new list of prospects and clients - only this time from a diverse array of sources.

It was a terrible but powerful experience that demonstrated very clearly: No matter how great things seem to be going, you never stop marketing. It needs to be a constant hum because if that hum stops, you know there will be a big problem ahead.

I stopped marketing because I thought I had all the clients I needed. Over the years I've seen others make the same mistake but for different reasons. Here are a few:

One great publicity hit is a really bad reason to stop marketing. I've talked to people who believed if we could just get them on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (before 2011) or "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," that was all they'd need. They'd be done. Yes, a big national show can give you a tremendous launch, but you won't keep soaring unless you do something to stay in the public eye. I guarantee you, there are plenty of people you never heard of who got their "big break" and then disappeared because they stopped marketing.

Most of us won't get those huge hits - and that's not a reason to stop, either. I haven't been on "Oprah" but I often hear from prospective clients that I or my business was recommended to them by someone I've never met and don't know. That's what good, sustained marketing does. It may not always create fireworks, but that doesn't mean it's not working for you.

Yesterday's story is old news. Look for fresh new ways to stay in the public eye. The publicity you get today can continue to work for you online, but eventually, it's going to be old news. We encourage our clients to post links to their publicity on their websites; it shows visitors that they have credibility with the media. But if those visitors see only publicity and testimonials that are five or 10 years old, they're going to wonder why no one's been interested in you more recently.

Just as I put all my eggs in one basket by relying on one source for clients, it's also a mistake to rely on just one marketing tool. Maximize the reach of the publicity you get in traditional media by sharing it on social media. Put a blog, or other content you can renew and refresh, on your website. Write a book. Do speaking engagements (for free, if necessary). Your audience is likely not all huddled together in one corner of the world. To reach them, use a variety of marketing tools.

Whatever it is you're promoting - your business, your product, your book, yourself - keep the momentum going. If you want people to know you're out there, you have to stay out there.

About Marsha Friedman

Marsha Friedman is a 23-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to businesses, professional firms, entertainers and authors. Marsha is the author of Celebritize Yourself and she can also be heard weekly on her Blog Talk Radio Show, EMSI's PR Insider every Thursday at 3 p.m. EST. Follow her on Twitter: @marshafriedman.