With all the annual fuss about new year's resolutions, why does no one suggest checking backwards? It's all very well making promises about what you want to do differently, but how strong is your resolve? I've never been one for doing the same as everyone else, so I've rarely made new year
You have probably heard the old networking idea that it's important to help people get to know, like and trust you. Only then will they buy from you. Only then will they even consider becoming your client. This idea originated in the book ‘Endless Referrals', written by Bob Burg, who said: “All things
I have never ‘swiped’ someone’s profile picture as online dating didn’t exist when I met my wife. The whole concept of swiping left or right is quite alien to me. I was curious though so asked a friend to show me how this ‘swipe left’ and ‘swipe right’ business works. It quickly became
One of the accountants I spoke with recently has been struggling for over three years to build their own practice. Although they had won a fair few clients in year one, some have since moved on. The accountant feels their service is good enough and that their fees were not excessive. They
What are your top skills? The key question though is not what YOU think they are, but what other people believe you are good at. What do your contacts and connections say when they reference and recommend you? And what do your clients say? A few years ago I had a surprise
Think about ten top accountancy brands. Or at least the ones you can remember. How many of those do you think your typical client would be able to name - or would even recognise? Once you move outside of the accountancy and finance professions, brand awareness drops off very fast. Even the
I've addressed the subject of Networking many times before on this blog. I make no apology for returning to the topic as it's a key business skill for accountants who want more clients. And also for those seeking their first clients too. Networking is not something covered by our professional training. But it has
This was the headline to a question I was asked recently. I have summarised the question below and expanded on my reply and advice as this may help other accountants too. Question How can accountants use LinkedIn for marketing purpose? I have a company page, I have a profile, I am in some groups but
I forget how long ago I added the word 'debunker' to the list of my roles/activities. It's on my business card, my marketing materials, my online profiles and on the title slide for many of my presentations. I was first asked what I mean by 'debunker' when I was facilitating a workshop for an international
Regular readers will know that I am both very active on social media and highly ranked for my online influence.* Equally you will also know that I do not routinely encourage accountants to use social media for promotional and marketing purposes. And I challenge the evidence and arguments of those who do advocate this -
I have referenced what I call the 3Ms of marketing an accountancy practice before. This blog post is related to the third M. That is, which Media should you use to get your chosen Messages to your chosen Market? The answer to the question depends on where you will find your chosen Market and target
The longer you spend on social media the more you realise that overt sales and marketing messages do not typically have much positive impact. Posting adverts on social media is a different topic and not the subject of this blog post. Before I explain how you CAN use social media effectively for promotional purposes, I should
This was another question I was asked during a recent interview. This post is drawn from the notes I made before giving my answer on air. Many accountants and bookkeepers reference their best source of new business as being referrals and recommendations. So let's deal with this first. Tools I would recommend here include: Linkedin
In the days before email there were only 3 ways that clients could communicate with their accountants. In person, by phone and by letter. Now the list of options is much longer. Do you encourage, tolerate or refuse to accept communications by less conventional methods? How does this impact your client base? Email is perhaps
I have lost track of the number of accountants I see trying (and failing) to use social media to build their brand and to attract new clients. It’s tempting to try things out and to experiment on social media, as we think of it as being ‘free’. Except that it’s not. It takes time to
I was asked two related questions during a recent interview. This post is drawn from the notes I made before giving my answers on air. 1. With so many businesses competing with each other online, has it become more important to put more personality into your practice? The smaller your practice the more important
A research student asked me this question and, after drafting a short reply, I have now expanded my response as it may be of wider interest: "As regards how much of my business comes from social media, forgive me but the question is too simplistic. Social media is never a source of business for me.
After being ranked in the top 3 of online influencers by the ICAEW I was recently interviewed about my social media journey. The following extracts may be of interest. When and why did you start using social media? It was 2006 when I first registered on Ecademy.com This business focused online networking site predated
It’s all too easy to get caught up in the game of chasing followers, likes, connections and social media klout. It may be fun to keep track of these metrics and to keep increasing them. But, in real life, they are not important by themselves. There is little point in simply pursuing these metrics. You
How long do you need to spend on social media to build up a decent following, contribute effectively and secure a good level of engagement? I'm not sure much has changed over the years since I started to use social media in 2006. The answers to those questions depend on your reasons for getting involved
The top ranked personal skill or expertise on my Linkedin profile is currently 'strategy'. It has been moving up the list over the last year. I am flattered that hundreds of people have endorsed me for ANY skills and expertise on Linkedin. Until recently 'Accounting' was top - presumably by reference to my background in
At the ICAEW's 'Growing your practice' conference yesterday, speaker after speaker shared similar ideas - allbeit from very different perspectives, with different emphasis and in different contexts. I was first up and talked about the 7 step framework you need to follow to STAND OUT from the competition. There are a host of detailed factors
Well over a hundred accountants responded to a recent short survey in which I invited them to summarise their biggest challenge using Linkedin back in 2014. Following the survey I arranged a webinar for accountants which I ran with Mark Perl. Almost 100 accountants were online. Feedback both during and afterwards was very positive. Mark
Too many people play at social networking and don't really 'get it'. Then they assert that 'social networking' doesn't work - although the fault is not so much with the medium as with the way they used it. There are many posts on this blog that can help social media novices - and also more
If you are on Linkedin you will get connection requests from people you don't know. And you will also get plenty of bland connection requests from people you're not sure whether or not you know. It's very tempting to treat such connection requests in the same way as other unsolicited messages. But that would be
