I've just come home from a conference. I felt like a rock star. No, I'm not famous, wasn't even a guest speaker and had nothing to offer but my bum on a seat, my open mind, and flapping ears ready to learn. Not exciting at all.

So why was there an air of excitement when people met me?

Because I had jumped off the pages of social media and into real life! Before we met, my conference buddies felt like they already knew me, and here I was in the flesh!

Let me explain. The convenor of Copycon18 (the illustrious Kate Toon of The Clever Copywriting School, there's a plug) created a simple Facebook group before the event and invited attendees to join, rabbit on with other members of the group, overshare and basically, hype themselves up before the conference weekend.

And so, by the time Copycon18 came around we were very familiar (possibly over-familiar in some cases? Nah) with each other. I walked into a room of very recognisable faces, each with their own social media persona. It was like walking into the Oscars but without the Botox. So many 'famous' cyber friends!

Here's how it all went down. "Hi! How was your holiday/is your new baby/has your writer's block cleared up/did you go with that challenging SEO copy?"

Months of cyber friendships spilled out into real life.

Before the event, many conference goers (delegates, but let's keep this more casual) even posted warning messages. "Hi, just to prepare you all, I'm so shy I may be sitting in a corner, just ignore me." Or, "Hi, I'm such a hugger don't take offense if I'm overly familiar and bear hug it out with you when we meet." This led to one big amazing meet and greet without the need for small talk. "Come out of that corner!". "Give me a hug!".

In cyber Copycon18 even the sponsors and speakers got into the act. Within the group, they had time to scope their audience, make connections and take some feedback about what we wanted to hear. If I felt I had rockstar Delta Goodrem status then surely they were in the Beyonce category (let's think, that would be Guy Sebastian and Justin Bieber for the boys?).

There's always supposed to be one clear take-out message from any conference.

My takeout was this. If you're hosting a conference, pump your energy into social media and build the best community before you bother putting out the peppermints! You'll present the best concert (ahem, sorry) conference ever!

Wanna join in next year and feel like a rockstar? www.copycon.com.au

The look on this cat's face was the look on mine about five minutes ago. Why?

Because, there's something you should never lose in business (obviously apart from millions) and that is

the ability to suck it up.

I had to suck it up (and that's how my face looked just before I did it).

A learned colleague of mine (OK, let's in fact call them what they are, a very smart friend) was enjoying my website and taking a peek at my venture.

Several minutes later some helpful hints about some grammatical aspects of my site came through on email. Unfortunately (for my pride) they were correct, and could not be ignored for the benefit of my business.

I took a hit and sucked it up. I made small changes to my website and improved its professional appearance.

OK so maybe referring to the fact that there were errors on my site on this very Blog could be undoing some of that professional standing but, you know, I don't mind.

Why have I shared this with you?

Because when it comes to copywriting, the little things are important. The punctuation, the grammar and simply the nuance all contribute to your message.

When it comes to your business,

taking honest feedback about your business is critical to your success.

You may be wondering why a copywriter is dabbling in the how-to's of business?

Because over time I've noticed that the businesses that are the easiest to promote are the ones who are honest about themselves. When they listen to feedback from their clients and customers they've engaged in a valuable relationship.

They've opened the dialogue that will help them improve and grow. At this time of the year it's a good time to seek feedback and take stock of how you appear to your clients and customers.

A clear, concise understanding of your business makes it much easier to communicate a clear and concise message.

I love that, because it also makes my job a lot easier.

Lyndall Talbot is a Newcastle and The Hunter based copywriter. Contact on 0408 747 173.