Many people have dreams or aspirations of creating/owning their own business. According to the Small Business Association, 66% of businesses fail in the first 10 years. For most, this means their dreams will never bud. Aaron Aders, founder of Slingshot SEO and LEIFTECH, defied those odds by founding not one but two different thriving companies. Is it possible that he knows secrets the rest of us do not? Spoiler alert, they are no longer secrets. Mr. Aders was kind enough to answer some questions about business communication that shows how he uses communication as a tool for success.

Always match the level/vernacular of the person you’re speaking with

Image by Aaron Aders via LinkedIn

Questions

What is your professional history?

“I’m an entrepreneur. Founder Slingshot SEO 2006-2014, founder LEIFTECH 2014 to present.”

What writing advice do you have for professional communicators?

“Follow the format of the medium you’re on. For example, be formal in email but friendlier in social media.”

What is your one pet peeve when it comes to professional writing?

“Using buzzwords. They’re not necessary and only impress low level people.”

What kind of business reports do you read and/or compose regularly?

“As an entrepreneur you won’t have teams of people creating reports for you, so you’ll have to do them yourself. This means most of the time it doesn’t get done, but it’s not a problem if you’re on top of every inch of your business.”

What are your writing suggestions to make that type of report successful?

“Always start with a high-level summary – something that could be read and understood in an elevator ride.”

What speaking advice do you have for professional communicators?

“Always match the level/vernacular of the person you’re speaking with.”

Name one thing you wish you had known about business communication prior to your professional career?

“Don’t be intimidated by it – everyone is human and the people you’re speaking with likely communicate a lot like you.”

After assessing the Burning Glass list of Baseline Skills (2016), which skills not in the top 5 would you move into the top 5…and why?

“All of this totally depends on your role in the company, so I can only speak from the perspective of a founder. I’d say none of the top five above are right for a founder. Here are my top 5:

Perseverance – understand that failures are part of the game but learn to push through them.

High pain threshold – needed to get the most out of any and all failures.

Salesmanship – speaks for itself.

Ability to learn quick – as a founder you are trekking uncharted waters, absorbing everything helpful is a must.

Ability to change course at a moments notice – when curve balls are thrown you have to be able to lean into it and take it another direction to stay productive.”

Don’t be intimidated by it – everyone is human and the people you’re speaking with likely communicate a lot like you.

 

What team skills do you feel young professionals need the most?

“I’m not the best team player, but you need to take people’s feelings into consideration before speaking. You also need to do this without being political.”

Key Takeaways

It is clear from the context of the interview that business communication played a key role in the success of founding a company. Mr. Aders made no claims that he knew all these skills in the  beginning. He learned from his mistakes and crafted his skill over time. A couple answers stood out as something to learn sooner as opposed to later though. By reading this, and learning from Mr. Aders’ personal experiences now, you will see less speed bumps in your own journey to found a company.

Matching the level of those you’re speaking with sounds like a valuable skill, because people tend to resonate better with whom they are similar to. Relating to the audience is a crucial part of business communication so Mr. Aders was spot on with his advice here. Mr. Aders stressed at one point that business communication is not a skill to fear. Yes, it is crucial to the success of a business, but rarely are the people you speak to business communication experts. He did not say this in such a way to discount the practice, but to help encourage people to let their voice be heard without fear of ridicule.

Some History on Aaron

Aaron Aders is in a league of his own, as his first inclinations of starting a company began all the way back when he was in high school. The internet was still new so he and his friends were able to make some money doing something that hadn’t taken off yet. Search engine optimization wasn’t a sustainable career at the time so they moved onto college to get “real jobs.” Aaron graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Biology with aspirations to be a doctor. Shortly after getting accepted into medical school he and his old high school friends came together again to start SlingshotSEO. He shelved med school at the time saying, “I could always go back and be the old dude in medical school!”

SlinshotSEO is a company designed to put paying customers on the front pages of search engines like Google. He spent seven years with this thriving company working in positions such as Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operations Officer. Success in and with the company wasn’t enough to compete with his love of outdoor sports though, particularly snowboarding. This love of snowboarding is what drove him to found the company LEIFTECH, which produced the world’s first eSnowboard. LEIFTECH continues to grow since its beginning in 2013 and already has customers in 70 countries around the world. Aaron now lives in California where he plays a significant role in the marketing, strategic thinking, and product development of LEIFTECH.

Spencer Herzog is a Business Management major at the University of Southern Indiana. His plans are to have a corporate level job with a Fortune 500 Company. He can be found here on LinkedIn