Barbara Walters Price

Resources to Improve Your Writing

I work in the business valuation profession. Many professionals in this profession are finance and accounting majors, which is great for the Excel portion of a business valuation report. However, a good business valuation report is one that is well-written. The client should recognize his or her company from the report and be able to understand the valuation.

This written part of a valuation report is often a challenge for many in my profession. I once had a business valuation/CPA firm owner, who employs CPAs as valuation analysts, tell me that his firm sends his new valuation hires to outside writing training sessions because they are so bad when they begin.

That is an extreme situation (I hope), but it is true that good writing is a skill. As such, see this post "10 Resources to Improve Your Writing" from Lior Levin, guest posting for Lynn Terry at ClickNews!  Lior says:

Writing is not always easy to master and requires dedicated practice and knowledge. The upside is that good writing skills will be a massive advantage in almost any business model, and can even open up exciting new possibilities for you.

So, where does one go to learn the skills and rules that will make anyone a good writer? The Internet has a treasure trove of writing resources. Here are 10 resources that will improve your writing… (emphasis in original)

If you want to become a better writer, read this post and access the resources listed.

Photo Source: _StaR_DusT_ via Flickr

Need to Concentrate? There's an "App" for That...

... Okay, what I'm about to tell you about isn't an app, but it is a tool for those of you who need to get rid of distractions when you're writing.

For many professionals, publishing is one of the things you have to do to succeed in your field. Yet, it can be tough for some of you - especially those who don't really enjoy writing - to find creativity and focus on the task. When you do finally sit down to get started, there are emails to check and a crowded desktop to steal your attention, among other distractions.

Try this tool - I have and I like it. It is OmmWriter. It is a program that delivers an experience, if you will. You have to try it to know what I'm talking about. Here is what OmmWriter has to say about itself and a short video. Give it a try and learn again to concentrate. (I have no relationship with OmmWriter. I'm just a fan.)

A wise man once said "We are all at the mercy of our wild monkey minds. Incessantly swinging from branch to branch." With multiple windows and applications all vying for our attention, we have sadly adapted our working habits to that of the computer and not the other way around.

OmmWriter Dana is a humble attempt to recapture what technology has snatched away from us today: our capacity to concentrate.

OmmWriter is a simple text processor that firmly believes in making writing a pleasure once again, vindicating the close relationship between writer and paper. The more intimate the relation, the smoother the flow of inspiration.

If you are a scriptwriter, blogger, journalist, copywriter, poet or just someone who enjoys writing, welcome back to concentrating.

 

Introducing OmmWriter Dāna from hs&co on Vimeo.

Free and Easy Way to Save Keystrokes and Time

In every business, there are terms, phrases, product or service line names that we continually type as part of our work product, marketing material, or other. There are tools that record keystrokes for you so that, instead of typing out the name, title, phrase, etc., you just hit a few keys and, voila, your name, title, phrase, etc. is inserted.

For example, Mercer Capital's (my firm) newest book is entitled Buy-Sell Agreements for Closely Held and Family Business Owners. That's a long title and its easy to miss a letter here and there when typing. So, in the free download tool I use, Texter, I've created a macro and instead of typing out that long title, I instead type BSA [enter] and get the full name of the book returned.

I also use Texter successfully for LinkedIn invitations (I always personalize but I use Texter for the boilerplate sentence in every one of my invitations) and, importantly, for responses to those who either accepted my invitation or who invited me  to connect. I always try to send a thank you to these people. It's an easy way to help you stand out from the crowd, and it's easier still when using a tool such as Texter. I've created my thank you message in Texter so when I am responding to an invitation, I type LI [enter] and Texter returns this standard thank you message.

Think about how a keystroke saving tool such as Texter can be helpful to you and your business. There are other tools available to you. If you use one other than Texter and like it, please let me know.

Mercer Capital's Newest Book :: Buy-Sell Agreements for Closely Held and Family Business Owners

This year alone, Mercer Capital has written and published three books.  The latest is Buy-Sell Agreements for Closely Held and Family Business Owners. 

This book, written by Chris Mercer, is a follow-on to the 2007 book, Buy-Sell Agreements: Ticking Time Bombs or Reasonable Resolutions?.  The newest book is written directly to and for business owners.  It is very conversational in tone which makes it an easy read.  However, don't let the tone fool you – the book is full of valuable information that no business owner (or advisor to business owners) should overlook.

From the book:

Buy-sell agreements are not merely legal documents to be signed and forgotten.  How they operate when triggered can have huge consequences for a business owner, his or her family, and the business.  Are you sure that you know what will happen when your agreement is triggered?  If not, this book is for you.  It provides critical information and insight you won't find anywhere else – information that can save you and/or your heirs money, as well as possibly control of your business.

Stephan Leimberg of Leimberg Information Services says of the book:

This is the business owner's self-defense manual.  Reading it could be the most cost-effective hour or two you've ever invested.  Don't dare sign a buy-sell agreement until you've read and pondered the questions posed in this book.  Your life('s work) may depend on it!

Jared Kaplan of McDermott Will & Emery says:

In direct and non-technical terms, Mercer thoughtfully explores the pros and cons of competing approaches, unflinchingly expressing his specific recommendations.  Anyone who owns or advises a privately owned business needs to read this book.

For more information about the book and the topic of buy-sell agreements, we have created a dedicated website at www.buysellagreementsonline.com.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

New Article, "Keys to Growing Your Practice," Published

I have the honor of being the new practice development columnist for NACVA's publication, The Value Examiner. 

The first column has been published and is entitled "Keys to Growing Your Practice."  It is linked here along with the Tactical Planning Spreadsheet referenced in the column.  (Note: the Tactical Planning Spreadsheet is an Excel spreadsheet.)

Both are also available in the "Free Downloads" section of the blog.

Feedback on the column, as well as ideas for future columns, are appreciated.

Answer These 3 Questions and You'll Have a Personal Marketing Plan

It's mid-January.  Do you have your personal marketing plan in place for the year?

If you Google "personal marketing plans," you get about 11,000 hits.  Clicking through, many authors advise beginning with developing a personal mission statement, vision statement, and SWOT analysis.  While this is fine advice, and likely preferable, I have found that the more complicated the process is on the front end, the less likely it will ever be started, much less finished. 

Therefore, let's begin without the mission, vision, or SWOT analysis.  Let's make it easy.  Take out a sheet of paper.  Write these questions down:

Two New Articles Added

Two articles have been added to the "Complimentary Articles" section of this blog.  The first was published in June of 2008 (yep, I'm behind) and it is entitled "How to Develop & Manage a Niche."  The second was published this month and is entitled "Social Media: What Is It & Should You Care?."

Both articles are addressed to business appraisers.  Other professional advisors to business can certainly benefit as well.

They were both published in CCH's Business Valuation Alert newsletter.  Hope you enjoy them.  You can find them in the "Complimentary Articles" section of this website.

We Are Testing Website Pop-Ups

For professional services firms, content is an important marketing tool.  Articles, white papers, e-books, powerpoint decks, podcasts, etc. can convey expertise.  At Mercer Capital, my firm, we have four e-mail newsletters that contain very useful content for their target markets. They are free, or complimentary, as we say.  Two of those newsletters have fewer subscribers than we would like.  Add to that the marketing engine which is our website - one of the most visited, if not the most visited, sites in our profession.  The question was and is how to use our website to convert visitors into newsletter subscribers?   While we have "subscribe to our newsletters" on every page of the site, that isn't getting the job done. 

We are experimenting with a pop-up.  The pop-up asks the visiter if they have subscribed to our newsletters.  To keep the pop-up from being absolutely annoying, it does not pop on the home page (only on the interior pages) and only appears once as you navigate throughout the site.  While nirvana would be different pop-ups for different sections of the website (a BankWatch newsletter pop-up that appears when visiting our financial services valuation section, a Financial Reporting Valuation Flash newsletter pop-up when visiting our financial reporting valuation section, etc.), that isn't feasible for our site and our budget. Therefore, the pop-up is general in nature and takes the visitor to a landing page which lists all our newsletters.

We launched the pop-up three weeks ago.  So far, we're seeing an uptick in our newsletter subscriptions.  How much of an up-tick is yet to be determined.  I'll report back. 

If this works for us and if your site can support it, it might be something to consider.  It might also be a way to differentiate you from your competition.  As far as I can tell, we're the only firm in our profession with this type of functionality on our website.  Visit our site (www.mercercapital.com) and click to one of the interior pages and tell me what you think. 

New Words Get New Results

A friend sent this to me today.  After a bit of research, I find that it's been around for a few years at least, although I can't precisely pinpoint its original author or publication date.  If you know, let me know and I'll provide the appropriate credit.  In the meantime, enjoy.

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read:

"I am blind, please help."

A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently." He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: "Today is Spring and I cannot see it."

Learning what to say changes everything.

Business Valuation Newsletters

Not too long ago, I received an e-mail blast from the good folks at Business Valuation Resources about their BVNewsletter Service.  I mentioned them, along with another newsletter service provider, in my recent AICPA/ASA speech. 

To refresh your memory, I believe in sending useful content to your target market on a consistent basis.  One of the best ways to do that is via a newsletter.  Newsletters aren't a new idea. They are not "sexy" or cutting edge.  What they are is effective.  I'll take that any day.

For business valuation firms or business valuation divisions of larger CPA firms, there is good news.  According to the recent BVResources 2009 Business Valuation Firm Economics & Best Practices Survey, only about a 3rd of their respondents published a newsletter (36.8%).  Approximately 20% reported publishing an e-mail newsletter or blog, yet I suspect there is not much cross over with those who publish a print newsletter.  That means that there is an opportunity to begin a newsletter program and gain ground sooner rather than later because the market is not crowded with newsletters.

Here are the two service providers you should consider.  Note: I have no financial interest in recommending either of these service providers.  This is for your information only.