THE SMALL FIRM AND SOLO PRACTICE

Five Business Development Mistakes to Avoid

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Businessman working on laptop with wall of symbols scribbled behind him

Don’t have a skill? Hire someone who does.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

If you’re a sole practitioner or small-firm operator, you’re probably very good at what you do – or you wouldn’t be in business today. But when it comes to marketing and selling yourself, well, many of us didn’t voluntarily sign up for that part.

MORE: Twelve Ways Your Business Card Can Hurt You | How to Use ChatGPT to Create Images | How to Leverage ChatGPT During This Crazy Tax Season | Got FOMO When It Comes to AI and ChatGPT? You Should: Here’s What You’re Missing | Create a Bad Website in Ten Easy Steps | Eight Steps to Getting Started with AI: A Guide for Tax Professionals | How to Weather Any Economic Storm | Leverage Your Strengths to Beat Stress
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As a matter of fact, some of us are resisting – kicking and screaming – marketing ourselves. So no wonder, for some of us, business is slow or not growing at the rate we’d like.
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Twelve Ways Your Business Card Can Hurt You

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Confident businesswoman handing man a business card in networking session

Does your card tell your prospect what to do next?

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

The lowly business card: We don’t give it a second thought before we get the thing printed up, and we just do what everyone else does.

MORE: How to Use ChatGPT to Create Images | How to Leverage ChatGPT During This Crazy Tax Season | Eight Steps to Getting Started with AI: A Guide for Tax Professionals | You Don’t Have a Time Problem | Three Money Leaks and How to Plug Them | Eleven Ways to Serve Clients Even Better | Make Your Prospect Kit Stand Out | Six Ways to Beat the Competition | Grow Your Revenue with Three Marketing Strategies
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Many people, new in business, get the business cards printed before they’re really ready to, which causes many of the mistakes I list below. Experienced or new, you’re missing huge opportunities to let your business card take some of the work off your shoulders. We may take it for granted, but I feel that your business card is one of your most important pieces of marketing collateral – and the most underutilized.
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Create a Bad Website in Ten Easy Steps

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You have eight seconds to make a first impression. What kind do you want it to be?

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

You can indeed get more business, more clients and more profits from your website. But not if you make these common mistakes!

MORE: Eight Steps to Getting Started with AI: A Guide for Tax Professionals | How to Weather Any Economic Storm | Ten Ways to Have More Energy This Tax Season | Seven Steps to Keeping Your Clients Forever | Give to Receive, and Eight More Ways to Boost Sales | Five Things That Clients Don’t Know about Accountants | Five Ways to Wow Your Clients | You’re Missing 60% of Your Revenue | Make the Most of CPE Conferences | Beyond Compliance: Six Tips for Adding Value
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Whether creating a new site or updating your existing site, here are some common pitfalls to avoid.

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How to Weather Any Economic Storm

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Woman pulls pack storm page and reveals sunset.

Four strategies to use … and six to avoid.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

According to an article published in Harvard Business Review, three scientists, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, and Franz Wohlgezogen, conducted a study to discover the strategies that generated the most – and the least – profits in lean times.

MORE: Leverage Your Strengths to Beat Stress | You Don’t Have a Time Problem | Three Money Leaks and How to Plug Them | Eleven Ways to Serve Clients Even Better | Eight Ways to Build Busy-Season Stamina | Make Your Prospect Kit Stand Out | Six Ways to Beat the Competition | Grow Your Revenue with Three Marketing Strategies | What Can ChatGPT Do for Accounting Professionals?
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First, here’s a list of surefire ways to kill your business:

  • Slash headcount with huge layoffs.
  • Have solely a short-term focus.
  • Employ executives who take a loss-minimizing approach.

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Leverage Your Strengths to Beat Stress

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Woman tossing exclamation points into air

24 ways you may be better than you think.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

How many times a day do we tell ourselves with the little voice in our head that we’re falling short of the ideal we have for ourselves? “I forgot to add the salt, so I ruined the recipe.” “I’m not good enough.” “I was mistaken.” “I’m not smart enough.” “I didn’t get picked for the finals.” “Nobody likes me.” And so on.

MORE: You Don’t Have a Time Problem | Ten Ways to Have More Energy This Tax Season | Seven Steps to Keeping Your Clients Forever | Give to Receive, and Eight More Ways to Boost Sales | Five Things That Clients Don’t Know about Accountants | Five Ways to Wow Your Clients | How to Fight Feeling Overwhelmed | You’re Missing 60% of Your Revenue | Make the Most of CPE Conferences | Beyond Compliance: Six Tips for Adding Value | Track Six Figures to Test Your Marketing | When You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
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Instead, why don’t we focus on our strengths? A University of Michigan psychology professor undertook an extensive research project to discover 24 positive character strengths that each person has to varying degrees.
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You Don’t Have a Time Problem

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Businessman running after clock in silhouette

Three ways to fix what’s actually going on.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

I know it’s a bold statement and a lot of you will disagree. But please have an open mind and hear me out.

MORE: Ten Ways to Have More Energy This Tax Season | Are You Crossing Off Your Business Bucket List? | Ten Ways to Make Your Business Irresistible | Five Ways to Target the Low-Hanging Fruit | Are Your Revenue Projections Realistic? | Six Strategies to Make More without Working More | The Art of Prompt Engineering for Accountants | Calculate Your Business Relationship Ratios
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Time is the great equalizer. We all have the same number of hours in a day, yet some entrepreneurs, many of them self-made, become wildly successful, while others languish. Only one in 20 business owners in the U.S. make it past $1 million in annual revenues. I believe the way they use their time is a big factor in their success or failure.
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Ten Ways to Have More Energy This Tax Season

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Young businessman sleeping on the keyboard in the office

Pssst … feel free to keep these habits going afterward, too.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

Is keeping a high energy level a challenge for you? Here are a few tips to revitalize your personal energy. Some of these are very simple, so simple you may think they won’t do anything for you.

MORE: Are You Crossing Off Your Business Bucket List? | Three Money Leaks and How to Plug Them | Eleven Ways to Serve Clients Even Better | Eight Ways to Build Busy-Season Stamina | Make Your Prospect Kit Stand Out | Six Ways to Beat the Competition Grow Your Revenue with Three Marketing Strategies |What Can ChatGPT Do for Accounting Professionals? | Generative AI: Should You Avoid It or Adopt It? | Want Better Clients? Here’s How | Get Your Name in the News | Four Ways Small Firms Can Beat Large Ones
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As you read, check to see which ones have slipped from your current daily routine. In that way, you’ll discover how to change your routine to gain more energy.

1. Drink plenty of water. A large amount of the aches, pains and low energy we have these days is because we are not fully hydrated. Keep a glass of water on your desk at all times and drink up.
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Are You Crossing Off Your Business Bucket List?

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A vintage wooden bucket with metal ring supports and a handle and a aged paper attached to the front that reads "bucket list"If you don’t dream big, who will?

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

Do you have a business bucket list?

MORE: Three Money Leaks and How to Plug Them | Seven Steps to Keeping Your Clients Forever | Give to Receive, and Eight More Ways to Boost Sales | Five Things That Clients Don’t Know about Accountants | Five Ways to Wow Your Clients | How to Fight Feeling Overwhelmed | You’re Missing 60% of Your Revenue | Beyond Compliance: Six Tips for Adding Value | Another Year, Another Chance
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Did you see the movie “The Bucket List”? Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson played men who didn’t have too long to live. They each wrote up a bucket list, a list of things they wanted to do or accomplish before they kicked the bucket (as we say in the South).
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