Marketing

When was the last time you had a speaking engagement? If the answer is “never” or “a long time ago” you may want to focus on finding an opportunity to present to an audience, either in person, through a live webinar or another online option.

The Institute of Management Accountants is launching an advertising campaign on television, radio and online to promote the Certified Management Accountant credential, including commercials on late-night talk shows and Saturday Night Live.

By my reckoning there are about 42,000 accounting firms in the United States, and 41,600 might be considered to be small.

Many dream of the day they can start their own business. For some CPAs, the leap to self-employment means a chance to set their own schedule and balance work and family on their own terms. For others, it’s about leaving a boss behind and taking the reins.

We all use the cliché that we give the clients the best we've got, but what does it really mean?

Last week I wrote about benefits of attending practice management programs and gave a suggestion to try to make eight changes a year from each hour of the program. Today I am recommending some MAP books and repeat the suggestion of implementing one idea a year from each book.

There’s probably no one “right” time for tax preparers to start a newsletter, but the end of summer might be an optimum time. Vacation memories are beginning to fade, and people are gearing up to get back into the real world of work, busy schedules and tax.

The CPA Consultants’ Alliance has appointed Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk of bbr marketing as the group’s new Marketing Chair and Carrie Steffen of the Whetstone Group as the new Deliverables Chair.

In last week’s column, I described various specializations for accountants. In this week’s column, we’ll talk about gaining the necessary expertise.

How can a CPA firm differentiate itself?

I was not a specialist. In some respects, I am the last of the “expert generalists” and generalists are fast becoming extinct.

Your firm could be in a heap of trouble if you tweet about #TeamUSA, post a photo to Facebook of the Olympic rings or even mention the term “Olympics” from your firm’s accounts.

I like to wear shirts with my firm’s logo. We have an arrangement with Land’s End where we can order what we want from their catalog and have the Withum logo applied. It is a very easy process.

Many accounting firms share a common problem. They need to get staff, especially younger staff, involved in business development. It often feels like an unending uphill battle. The question is, are we on the right hill?

Industry consultant Martin Bissett has tips for getting CPAs more comfortable with sales.

Tax lawyer Kelly Phillips Erb, aka “taxgirl,” has written for The New York Times and is now a staff writer for Forbes.com, but she never set out to be a famous blogger or national thought leader.

With the regulations that once kept financial advisors and other money-management professionals on the social-media sidelines a thing of the past, the floodgate of tweets, Snaps and Instagram posts should be wide open by now. But the response has actually been quite muted.

For those of us in public accounting, there is a continual need to get new clients. Many times we look beyond what we have for the “new” when the growth is there for the taking.

Capital One’s Spark Business unit is offering some advice to accountants to help them and their small business clients get through the summertime lull and attract more customers.

Social media tools are one way to start radicalizing your firm