Barbara Walters Price

Is Electronic Collateral Dead?

Bruce Allen at Marketing Catalyst posted with a question: Is Printed Collateral Dead?.  I commented on that post today and it got me thinking about how best to deliver information given how people actually receive it today.  Couple that with the observations of our company president regarding the same issue and we have kismet.

Let's see, there is printed material (brochures, newsletters), electronic material (website, pdfs), and audio material (CDs, podcasts).

You can check out Bruce's excellent post and my comments (along with a few others) to see my view on the subject of printed material vs. electronic material.  What I want you to think about is the third method of delivering your marketing information ... audio.

I know everyone reading this blog knows what podcasting is but I don't see many professional services firms adopting it (don't look at Mercer Capital's website because we're not there yet either).  However, when we think about the best ways to deliver information, we not only have to think about things like the marketing budget and the brand experience, we most importantly have to think about how people will actually use the information we provide.

If you or your firm have content to share, do it via audio.  Mercer Capital has hundreds of articles on our website that pertain to how we do what we do and freely sharing this wealth of content has been a marketing advantage for us.  We plan to take much of that content and turn it into audio.  Why?  Because that is how many people will best receive it today and in the future.

I don't know about you but I listen to CDs in my car and download presentations from the web to listen to when it's convenient for me.  It makes it easier for me to use my time wisely and to at least stay on the learning curve (if not up the curve).  I appreciate the information and appreciate the ability to choose how I will receive it.  And I'm 43 years old.  Many people much younger than I are already wedded to their IPod and expect information to be available via audio. 

So don't just think print vs. electronic.  Understand the changing demographics.  Audio can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.  Use it.

New Blog for Solo CPAs

There is a new blog out there for solo CPAs.  No, I don't mean single CPAs.  I mean solo practitioners.

Jeff Moore has launched "The Solo Accountant Reporter.  According to Jeff, the blog is "an interactive, profit-enhancing forum for solo-practitioner accountants and consultants...and the clients we serve."

He's got some interesting content.  If you are a CPA who is flying solo or one who is contemplating the move, check out his blog.

Postage Rate Hike & Holiday Mailing Deadlines

A first class postage stamp will likely jump from 37 cents to 39 cents in January.  The increase expected from the Postal Service's Board of Governors will affect all classes of mail, including Priority Mail, Express Mail and Certified Mail.

In addition, Express Mail delivery will now be available 365 days a year.

For all of you sending holiday cards, the deadline for first class mail to be delivered by December 24th is December 19th. Deadlines for holiday domestic shipping are December 14th for parcel post, December 21st for Priority Mail, and December 23rd for Express Mail.

www.usps.gov

Is Your Reading Strategic?

I've been challenged to read two magazines a day for a year (I can take weekends off).  50% of the titles should be within my area of knowledge, interest, and/or expertise.  The other 50% should be totally outside the realm of anything I'm familiar with.

Why?

To spot upcoming trends.  To be future-focused.

I've begun to try this and am seeing a subtle change in my thinking.  I'm seeing some of the same article topics spread across numerous titles (and they are not about the avian flu).  I notice a sense of "group think" that I find interesting.

I challenge you to give this a try.

You are skimming more than reading.  A book counts.  A seminar counts.  A podcast counts.  And magazines are free, or they can be.  The internet, doctor's offices, Starbucks, airlines (at least for the time being  -- with the exception of Delta), hotels, the library, etc.  The point is not to count up the number of titles read or seminars attended, but to broaden our thinking through an introduction to the broader world.

And, the ideas you get from this effort could be a primer for your own publishing efforts.

In this hyper-competitive, ever-shrinking world that we live in today, we must find ways to be future-focused.  To get to the idea before the other guy.  Or we'll be consigned watch from the sidelines while others are having all the fun.

Brevity is the Soul of ...

Mark Twain once said:

"I would have written you a shorter letter but I didn't have the time."

When I think of some of our marketing and promotional material, I wince.  While there are instances where more is more necessary than less.  More is, in general, just, well, more.  Have I made my point?

Get Your BV Niche Out There

My article, Get Your BV Niche Out There, was published in the November issue of the AICPA's Journal of Accountancy. 

Any CPAs who also practice business valuation or have business valuation niches in their firm should read this article and follow its advice.  I know it works.  I've lived it for twenty+ years and my firm, Mercer Capital, has grown because our marketing program has been an important piece of our overall strategic plan. 

When Will You Be a Millionaire? Now You Know

Working hard?  Making money?  Saving?  Ever wonder what it's going to get you?  Maybe a million dollars ...

Plug in your basic information into this calculator and it tells you when you'll hit the millionaire mark.  Hopefully it is sooner rather than later!

swz.salary.com/millionairemaker/

Does Everyone Know the Value You Add?

This is another post for marketing directors.  And the question to you is:

Does everyone in the office know the value you add to the firm?

If not, get to work not just with the partners, but with everyone in the firm.  Don't brown nose, fawn, or promote, for gosh sakes.  Communicate.  Listen.  Keep your promises.  Tell the truth.  Act with total integrity and for the benefit of the firm, not any one individual.

In a strategy session with one of my bosses, he shared with me that he was asked by one person on the staff what value did the inhabitants of one row of offices bring to the company.  I am the inhabitant of one of those offices!  Gulp. 

In the context of what we were discussing, the question wasn't as devastating as it could have been but it clearly sent a message that I had not been doing what I needed to be doing.

And the thing that makes me kick myself is that I knew it.  I've been so busy with tactical things (that's why I've been absent from the blog) that I neglected the strategic things that I had to push along.  And in our firm, I am the only one that can really push them. 

So all you marketing directors, remember:

• Just because you know what you do is important, that doesn't mean anyone else knows it
• Many, if not most, "fee-earners" assume that marketing can be done by any young blond female who is good with people.  It's your job to bring your skills and expertise to the table every day
• The "fee-earners" are your internal clients.  Treat them that way and remember the pressure they are under
• Metrics, metrics, metrics.  Live by them.  Die without them
• Keep your eye on the top line
• It's not the brochure or the website or any other collateral material.  It's how they interact to make the phone ring

I have a score of other things to add to the list as I'm sure you do too.  Time and space don't permit their inclusion right now.  But I hope I've made my point. 

Does everyone at your firm know the value you add?

Marketing Directors: What is Your Job?

This post is directed to the professional marketers of professional service firms. 

Ask yourself:

What is my job?

If you answered anything besides,

To make the phone ring

you are not adding value.  You're just doing "stuff."

I don't care whether there is a separate business development staff or function.  It's your job to market the firm and that means ultimately, to make the phone ring.  You won't be successful if you think that you're in this alone.  No.  You are part of a team and that team consists of everyone in the office. 

As the marketing director, you need to understand what the firm does in a real way and the value it adds to its clients.  You have to keep your ear to the ground for opportunities.  You have to always be focused on the top line.  Do that, and you're a partner.  Don't do that, and you're an employee and an expendable one at that. 

Show your value.  Make the phone ring. 

Do Your Systems Make You Stupid?

I attended a half-day seminar on the subject of small business growth co-sponsored by Inc. magazine and SunTrust.  The speaker was Steven S. Little who wrote The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth.  Steve has started, grown, and sold three fast growth companies prior to his career as a professional speaker who speaks, not surprisingly, on the subject of business growth.  At least two of his businesses appeared on the Inc. 500 list.

Let me share one story (rule) of Steve's and see if it speaks to you.

The Milkshake Rule...