Whether you’re an executive, entrepreneur, or a non-profit leader, your success is often dependent upon your ability to engage and enroll influencers to get on board with your ideas.

When you create connections with recognized and well-respected influencers, you move from a “one-to-many” to a “many-to-many” model, empowering others to carry your ideas forward to their communities. What follows are 12 strategies to secure the support of influencers and empower them to amplify your message.

Denise Brosseau is the author of Ready to Be a Thought Leader?, published by Wiley/Jossey-Bass. Denise is the CEO of Thought Leadership Lab, a boutique professional services firm that specializes in building the visibility, credibility and thought leadership of executives and CEOs. A Stanford MBA, Denise is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Springboard, the women’s start-up launchpad that has led to over $6 billion in funding for women entrepreneurs. In 2012, she was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change.