Back to school, back to work

The smell of fresh paper in notebooks. The feel of new, freshly sharpened pencils. The thrill of a new backpack or a fun new binder. Back-to-school season is one that school-age kids really feel. Adults feel it too.

After the fun of summer concludes, heading back to school feels like a natural, new beginning. It’s a close second to the feeling people have around Jan. 1. The vibe catches a lot of people off guard.

We watch our children go off to school with new gym shoes, a favorite new T-shirt and fresh crayons and markers. What’s the equivalent for business owners? A sense of renewal is one that might inspire some marketing efforts you put off during the languid summer days.

There are a few things you can do right now to benefit from the sense of newness this month.

First, try asking AI platforms to summarize your business or you, professionally, and really dig into the resulting summaries. Consider the links that are being used to formulate the summary. Examine those links and websites to see if the information on them is accurate. If it isn’t, especially if it is information from a directory listing, use this time to update the content to more accurately reflect who you are or what your business does. Deepen your content presence online with authentic content that speaks to the work you do or the services or products you offer. Placing and publishing accurate, well-written text will help the AI summaries surface you and your business accurately and authentically.

Second, take a little time to examine all the directory listings you are presently participating in. Review them for accuracy and then review them for depth of description and consider what search terms, keywords or phrases best do the heavy, descriptive lifting you need to enrich and refine AI understanding of you. Many businesses and professionals are listed on many directories, but when was the last time you reviewed them for completeness or correctness? Now is the time to do this.

Third, consider what directories you should be prominently positioned in. If you maintain voluntary professional memberships plan to enjoy them and map their benefits to your needs. Commit to using these groups more deliberately this fall. You stand to gain a lot from becoming more active. Professional memberships are a lot like gym memberships, you can join, but to obtain true value, you need to engage with them regularly and deeply and authentically.

Fourth, plan to connect more with people. Time and again I have been moved by the value of in-person meetings I’ve had with people I care about. Virtual meetings do bridge many gaps, and they are timesavers and bring people together when physical presence is impossible, but in-person time spent enjoying conversation and coffee almost always leads to connections and collaborations that can’t be foreseen until they bubble up between us in the moment. There is simply no substitute for human connection.

Fifth, consider what newness means for you and your business. What new things do you feel compelled to try? What new opportunities are just waiting for you to consider them. It’s easy to fall into routine patterns. Now is the perfect time to challenge that inclination with a different approach that asks you to make the most of novelty. The kids are all back in school. Let’s similarly use this time to embrace the newness that comes with this time of year.

• Rebecca Hoffman is the founder and principal of Good Egg Concepts, a strategic communications and brand marketing consulting practice serving clients across the Chicago region and nationally.