The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Make a True Audience Connection and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! Make an audience connection and do a better job reaching your prospects!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

This week’s installment is all (well, mainly) about connecting – not just the audience connection!

#10. Nom Nom Here’s a Tasty Business!

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about starting a food truck business. Fundera says there are several things you need to know. You can position yourself for success and also avoid legal hassles and fines.

But wait, wait, hold the phone! Maybe you don’t have a falafel or fried chicken or ice cream sundae truck and you don’t want one. That’s okay.

Because the really amazing thing about this article is how it can be adapted to nearly any type of industry.

Really?

Would I lie to you?

Keep on Truckin’

So your business is something else – a trucking business perhaps, or a restaurant. Or maybe it’s a nail salon or a dry cleaner, or you’re a house flipper.

You will still need to face your startup costs. You will still need to get all of the proper licenses and permits to operate. And you will still do best to keep your clientele in the loop.

And, in all seriousness, particularly in the beginning, you need to be prepared to work super-long hours.

But that’s the nature of small business, especially at the start. And you know, and I know, it’s all worth it, whether your product is cupcakes or crutches.

#9. Dear Sir or Madam, Will You Read My eBook?

The next awesome tip is about writing, publishing, and promoting an eBook. Selz says it’s pretty, and we’re inclined to agree – to an extent.

We were particularly pleased with the emphases on some important steps which newer writers may be tempted to skip. So those are formatting your eBook, getting it proofread, and getting a great cover for it.

But let’s step back for a second and into the wonderful world of writing.

A Word from a Published Author

That would be me, your intrepid blog writer. One part of the article concerned writer’s block, but I honestly don’t think it covered it too well (sorry!).

See, writer’s block is very real and it can be truly debilitating. So here, for free, are my suggestions for overcoming it.

Go AFK

As in, step away from the keyboard. Staring at a screen and a keyboard, hoping they’ll magically spit out coherent, compelling words, is a fool’s exercise. Instead, remove yourself from the situation. HUGE bonus points if you actually go outside.

For how long? Maybe an hour, maybe more. Shake the cobwebs. Repeat daily, if necessary.

Blank Pages are Daunting…

… so fill them. A blank page can be a major stressor, so do yourself a favor. When you’re inspired, write a little more than a chapter or section. Start the next one. Trust me. The next section or chapter won’t be blank, and you won’t feel quite so overwhelmed.

Fill the Well When You Don’t Need to…

… because you’re eventually going to need it. So if in April you have a ton of awesome ideas for eBooks, write them down! In October, if you’re hurting for ideas, you’ll already have them.

And last but not least –

Outlines Are Your Friend

Seriously. Don’t wing it; you’ll just end up with word salad. Take some time to create a basic outline of what you’re going to cover. Then flesh it out, but only a bit. In the fiction writing biz, this is what’s called a beats outline. Get your basic ideas down on paper or pixels and you’ll know where you’re supposed to be going.

If your eBook is about cooking, then you probably want your outline to follow a standard meal, e. g. appetizers, soups, salads, etc., all the way to dessert. And if your eBook is about anything else, then you still want to follow a structure like that. Start with the preliminaries, and then work your way to the payoff.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make an audience connection and do a better job reaching your prospects!

#8. Business Success – to the Max!

Our following life-changing tip concerns how to maximize your chances for business success. Entrepreneur lays out five stellar steps. We particularly adored step three, which is all about cultivating a network.

Mentor City

Gather ‘round the electronic fireplace, kids; it’s time for a true story. So, your intrepid blog writer has had several careers. And one interesting one was doing data analysis and reporting for a large publisher (as in, we got the most recent Stephenie Meyer books as a bonus one year – anybody want mine?). Now, this was a thoroughly unfamiliar industry.

So the company did something amazing. They offered a mentoring program. What was perhaps most interesting was the other protegees participating were all people in their twenties. Whereas your intrepid blog writer was – cough, cough – a little older than that. Okay, a lot.

Hence the mentor was a person close in age. The best idea we had was to meet anywhere but the office. So we would walk around the city and that was our meeting. It wasn’t just helpful for the transition into a new industry. It was also a great way to make a new friend.

Maybe This is a Little Different?

Or maybe it’s not. Networking can feel weird to a lot of people, like an odd little minuet with arcane rules which nobody really understands, anyway, unless you’re a born natural. And if you aren’t (and your intrepid blog writer most assuredly is not), then making this sort of a connection could be difficult.

So instead go to industry events and local meetings (of, say, the Chamber of Commerce or even a Meetup group devoted to small business owners or people in your industry), and say hi. And maybe offer an outside of the office/outside of the box style of connecting.

Mentors are awesome. Being with someone who has been there, done that is invaluable.

Reach out – this is a connection you won’t want to miss.

#7. Use a Picture, it Lasts Longer to Make an Audience Connection

For our next sensational tip, we looked at Instagram stories. Socialnomics says if you’re not on this primarily visual social media platform, then you’re missing out.

Now, we know we’ve written about Instagram stories before, but many of those points bear repeating.

Perhaps our favorite tip was to be consistent. Your audience is depending on you for content on a regular basis, whether that’s every two hours every single day, or just 3 AM on Thursdays. So be dependable, in this and everything else!

#6. Stay on Target for Audience Connection

This tip is so compelling, and it works! Word Stream says you can make an audience connection with targeting strategies.

And the best part is, this goes beyond ad retargeting. It also goes to figuring out just what your audience knows, loves, and wants to learn about and see.

Oh, LinkedIn, You Ole Rascal, You!

Huh, LinkedIn? Yes, really! We are just gaga over this one tip, which is to use LinkedIn profiles for keyword research.

Yeah, we were blown away by this one, too.

So, how do you do that, anyway?

Scrape That Bad Boy

Scraping online content is nothing new. If you’ve ever seen a ‘newspaper’ composed of amassed tweets, then you’ve seen scraping in action. Scraping is particularly helpful as you can scale it much better than doing this manually.

So by hunting through the LinkedIn profiles for doctors (for instance), you might find they prefer the word ‘physician’. Or they might emphasize automation or patients’ rights or any of thousands other things.

But you will never know until and unless you check.

#5. Make a Compelling Audience Connection

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

You can make a fantastic audience connection and better reach your customers and prospects. Quick Sprout says it’s all about the content marketing. And what they are suggesting just might be a touch familiar.

So Take a Good Look Around

… at this blog post!

Yes, yes, we confess. These Friday posts are a form of content marketing. And they are designed to not only educate, but also to engage. Being personable, without heavy-handed selling, is what content marketing is all about.

One thing we were especially impressed with in the article was how the act of content marketing isn’t an afterthought, and it isn’t a job for a summer intern. It is the sort of work which should be done by professionals.

We were also thrilled to see our favorite requirement for pretty much anything – that the practice of content marketing requires the use of metrics. Measure everything, so you’ll know where you’re succeeding, and where you aren’t.

Another tip we loved was the suggestion to add to blogging, e. g. to do webinars or write eBooks, etc. Blogs are great (of course we love blogs!) but they are a bit like a peanut butter sandwich. Blogs are better with YouTube, infographics, and online classes. You know, just like peanut butter is better with jelly.

With content marketing, your job is to make the audience connection before you ever talk sales.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make an audience connection and do a better job reaching your prospects!

#4. Brain, Brain, what is Brain?

Okay, so the title of this tip was a really obscure Star Trek reference. Er, sorry.

So check it out anyway (don’t mind me), all about how the use of neuroscience can improve marketing productivity. Buffer says there are all sorts of ways to help you and your employees work better. We loved all of the tips and highly recommend checking out the article in its entirety. Here’s what stood out for us.

Start with the Hard Stuff

Yeah, we know, you just got in, you haven’t had your coffee yet, and your email inbox is barking at you something fierce.

Ignore it.

Instead, start your day with the difficult tasks, and don’t put them off. While the article notes willpower and self-control are at their peak then, so it’s a great time to do the hard stuff, we have another thought on why tackling the brain surgery part of work in the morning is important.

It keeps you from procrastinating about it. And it also keeps it from looming into something far larger and worse than it truly is.

So start your day slaying the dragon. Say hi to the fair damsel in distress later in the day.

Make it Mean Something

Here’s another area where the article said one thing, but we are thinking of something else. The article rightfully mentions meaningful rewards are a great motivator for everyone. So if you tie your rewards to something which matters, you’ll work harder.

But we also believe there’s something to making your work more meaningful. When you feel like all you’re doing is endlessly making the doughnuts, work stinks. But when you see it as nourishing your community, then work just might have some more meaning to you.

It truly helps to know, and feel, like you’re one of the good guys.

#3. Presenting … the Magnificent … You!

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you deliver a killer presentation. Black Enterprise says this form of audience connection doesn’t have to be scary or daunting.

We truly adored the idea to keep slide verbiage to a minimum. For the love of God, people, please don’t plonk your entire presentation into your slideshow!

Your audience, presumably, can see and hear you (if they cannot, then of course please make the materials available to them so they can enjoy the presentation even more). So take advantage of that, and tell them what’s going on without relying on your slides too much.

Because if your slides are 100% of your presentation, not to put too fine a point on it, but what does your audience need you for?

Ouch.

#2. Mad About … Us!

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on writing a stellar ‘About Us’ page for your company website. Small Biz Trends says there are a lot of great ways to stand out. And, in fact, a great about page could conceivably become a sales tool.

We really loved the idea of narrating your story. So let’s consider your story.

Who Are You, Really?

A company story can be truly compelling. But how? Let’s think of a different kind of story first, to get in the mood. What sort of story? The story of a family.

So when you tell your family’s story, what do you say? You usually say more than just ‘we live in Atlanta and own a jeep.’ Often, you go into more depth than that, as well you should. A far more compelling family story talks about how Mr. and Mrs. Family met at Coachella when she noticed his Star Trek tee shirt. Or it might go into how Tovarich Familyesky came over from the old country in a rickety, leaky boat and change his name to Family.

Your Company’s Story and How You Can Really Make an Audience Connection

Where’s your leaky boat, or your eyes meeting across a crowded room story? Those are the details you want in your about page. Tell your prospects why they should care, and lo and behold, they will.

#1. Plan the Work, and Work the Plan – Now, Where Have We Heard THAT Before?

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on writing a marketing plan. Young Upstarts says this is not the time to spitball, and we are so on board with that.

We especially liked the idea of code sheets.

What’s a Code Sheet?

It’s a cheat sheet, basically, all about either the company or its products, or its brand statement or the like. The idea is to have this basic information down on paper or pixels so it can be at the fingertips of your creative team(s). If it’s important to your branding to always spell out the state name Connecticut, rather than use an abbreviation (such as CT or Conn.), then add it to a code sheet.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make an audience connection and do a better job reaching your prospects!