Barbara Walters Price

Photo of the Day

From a fun photo blog: nissou* blogphotography

Photo credit: Anissa of nissou* 

How did you do today?

Did you know that Tuesday is supposedly the most productive day of the week?  So says survey results from Accountemps.

The second most productive day: Monday.  Least productive: Friday.

How was your Tuesday?  Mine?  Pretty darn productive.  Thanks for asking.

Hat Tip: HR World

Business valuation standards

Eva Lang points us to a recent article in the CPA Journal comparing the new AICPA Standards on Business Valuation to USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) and other business valuation standards.  If you're in the business valuation profession, or support a firm with a business valuation practice, you should be aware of the discussion on professional standards.  Thanks Eva!

The power of being true to who you are

Great article from the NY Times about Sandra Boynton entitled "The Power of Whimsy."  If you have kids, you know Sandra Boynton's work.  Wonderful lessons here.  Money quote for me:

“I don’t do things differently to be different; I do what works for me,” she says. “To me, the commodity that we consistently overvalue is money, and what we undervalue is our precious and irreplaceable time. Though, of course, to the extent that money can save you time or make it easier to accomplish things, it’s a wonderful thing.”

Grant Thornton rolls out new website and logo

New site.  Note color scheme and logo.  Looks like their former tag line "A passion for the business of accounting" is history as is the red rose in their ad campaigns.  I like the feel of the new site.  Lots of white space and whimsical graphics that feel light (they don't burden the page).  For example, I like the interactive graphic on this page.  Because it's not your standard "business-y" graph, it makes it seem more friendly and if you're a big firm like GT, friendly is good. I haven't spent much time clicking around yet overall, I like what I see.  It's easier to find their content and I'm a big believer in content.   I can also find actual people and their contact information - a huge plus.  Take a look.

   

For comparison, the prior site (accessed through Alexa's Way Back Machine)

Photo of the Day

 
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.  -  Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) US poet

Photo Credit: Blue Spring :: Keith C. Price, Jr. 2006

Advice from others on thriving in a recession

Whether we're headed for a recession or not, we are in a slowing economy.  I'm not the only one talking about it. Helpful advice from others:

• A Contrarian Bounce? (Adam Smith, Esq. - A must read.  Provides data to prove the point that now is the time for firms to be aggressive and invest)
• Ram's Rules: Managing Your Business in a Downturn (February 18, 2008 Fortune)
• In a Down Market the Best Strategy is to Bolster Your Marketing (Marketing Catalyst)
• We are in a Recession (Larry Bodine's Legal Marketing Blog)
• 25 Things You Can Do to Attract Clients and Wealth During a Recession (Dianna Huff's Marcom Writers Blog - good information here targeted more to solos)
• Recession-Proofing Your Law Firm (The Adventure of Strategy - Great post for firm leaders)

For a bit of perspective, the latest headlines (from a Google search) from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's recent testimony on Capitol Hill. 

• Bernanke says economic outlook is worse (Forbes, NY - Feb 14, 2008)
• Bernanke rattles Wall Street (Financial Post, Canada, February 15, 2008)
• Bernanke tells Congress US outlook to improve later this year (Christian Science Monitor, MA - Feb 14, 2008)
• Chicago Fed's Evans mirrors Bernanke no-recession forecast (Forbes, NY - Feb 14, 2008)

The role of the marketing director in a recession-Pt. 3

Get Close to Your Clients.  Empathize.

I realize that the title of this series (here and here) contains the word "recession."  Are we in a recession?  Are we headed that way?  I don't know.  I know the economy appears to be slowing.  I know I'm going to get a check from the government who is hoping I'll spend it to stimulate the economy.   

The slowing economy is all over the press.  It's making people nervous.  That means your clients are probably also nervous.  As such, now is the time to reach out, to feel their pain, and to respond with ideas that might be helpful to them in a down economy.

As the firm's marketing director, meet with all your senior fee-earners and go through their list of clients.  Help them create a schedule to contact those clients.  Now is the perfect time for a "just checking in to see how you and the firm are doing" call.   Empathize with your clients.

While you are with the fee-earner, pick their brains to determine how the firm can construct an article or bulletin full of suggestions for that client about things they can do in a slowing economy to shore up their business (or other suggestions that make sense for the client and/or industry).  Push your fee-earners to act as advisors, not vendors.

This is an excellent time to reach out to your clients.  Take advantage of the opportunity.

Hat tip:  Debra Helwig, my brilliant friend, for reminding me of the power of empathy.  See her comments to Part 1 in this series.  Thanks Debra!

Happy Valentine's Day

From the photoblog :: fifty.  Check it out.  Female photographer with one son (see the pic above) who is approaching the age of 50.  She's blogging about the impending milestone with a photo each day.  Great stuff.  Connected with me since my husband is a photographer (semi-retired while he's a stay-at-home dad) and I am mom to two girls under the age of 6.  I'm also closer to the age of 50 than to 40.  Last night was full of the events in the picture in order to get ready for the girl's Valentine's parties today.

Photo credit: Jan Sonnenmair 2008

"Soft" is bloody "Hard"

Kick @## post from one of my favorite blogs, Stephen Denny's Note to CMO.  Money quote:

Many companies do tremendous jobs at the relatively easy analysis work and may even spend millions on 'customer insight' to validate preconceptions dearly held. But at the end of the day, the question that is never fully answered is, "so what are you actually going to do that will profitably grow the company?" I can tell you that 57.4% of respondents prefer our new packaging over Brand X with 6.5% sampling error at 99%, but I can't tell you how we're going to get them to actually buy more of it. That would require harnessed creativity, innovation, persuasion, influence... soft skills, in other words. [emphasis added]