CPA Trendlines

Five Steps to Turn Linkedin into a Lead-Generating Machine

Start by optimizing your company page.

Becky Livingston

by Becky Livingston
Royal Apple Marketing

So you listed your company on Linkedin, but maybe you have forgotten all about it—until now. Here are a few tidbits on ways to leverage your LinkedIn company page to your benefit, including generating leads. READ MORE →

Sign of the Times? Next Global CEO of Ernst & Young Isn’t an Accountant. He’s a Lawyer.

And a Washington lobbyist.

But is he exactly what E&Y needs as regulators bear down on the Big Four?

Are the Top 100 Firms Past Their Prime?

That’s the question you need to ask when you look at Public Accounting report’s latest top 100 firms survey.

According to PAR, more than half of the firms grew 1% or less and a third actually suffered revenue declines.

(To subscribe to Public Accounting Report for $476 a year, call 800-248-3248, or email cust_serv@cch.com.)

The PAR data roughly match Accounting Today’s findings, here: Revenues Sink 2% at Top 100 Accounting Firms. Rosters shrink 1%.

READ MORE →

Big Four Global Revenues Ride Historic Highs

Rebound led by growth in emerging nations.

The years 2009 and 2010 may have been tough years for the Big Four amid a global financial crisis. But they clearly rebounded in 2011. And, the authors of a new report say, “The outlook for 2012 and beyond is quite optimistic.”

Gale Crosley

Four strategies for focussing on the win.

by Gale Crosley
Crosley + Company

Eighty percent of lost opportunities are due to poorly qualifying a lead. Countless hours and effort are wasted on prospects with odds to win near zero. Firms with a thin pipeline pursue any potential buyer who has a pulse and fogs a mirror. In order to stop this insanity, discipline is necessary in lead qualification.

Click here for more from CPA firm growth consultant Gale Crosley.

Becky Livingston

And how to prove they work.

by Becky Livingston
Royal Apple Marketing

It’s a new day and you’re starting your marketing strategy with a welcome message to new clients. You want to engage them from the start, yet, know they might not remember how you got their name in the first place.

Click here to see more from Becky Livingston on CPA Trendlines .

To help get you started, here are a few staples to include in your welcome message: READ MORE →

PwC Emerges as the Fave Firm for Top Grads

Poll shows what it takes to land the best students.

Public Accounting Report’s 30th annual poll of college accounting professors shows that if their best student had a choice, that student would choose PricewaterhouseCoopers to start their career.

(To subscribe to Public Accounting Report for $476 a year,
call 800-248-3248, or email cust_serv@cch.com.)

What Accountants Are Learning about Marketing

Ultimately, Professional Services Marketing 3.0 is a new kind of partnership.

Bruce W. Marcus

by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

Today’s accountants understand that, unlike most other occupations, they must be active participants in the marketing process, at least as suppliers of grist for the marketing mills, and certainly as part of the ultimate selling process.

What’s more significant is that they begin to see the professionalism in marketing, and particularly the selling aspect of it.

NEW SURVEY FINDINGS: Tech Investments, Better Economy, More Complex Returns Buoy Busy Season Outlook

Four in five expect the same or better than last year’s busy season.

by Rick Telberg

As Busy Season 2012 gets into full gear, tax and accounting professionals are holding steadfast to their confidence that this year’s results could show a marked improvement over last year’s, according to current readings of the profession by CPA Trendlines.

With January 2012 just beginning, 55% of accountants expect 2012 to be overall “somewhat” or “much” better than 2011, which is relatively unchanged from readings in November and December. To be sure, 26% expect no change from last year, and 19% are bracing for “worse.”

In other findings from the CPA Trendlines busy season barometer and related reports:

The CPA Trendlines survey, now in its seventh year, tracks real time busy season results. Participants get an early peek at the results. Click here to join the survey, get the results.

Two Smart Ways to Keep the Marketing Engine Running During Tax Season

Two days of smart marketing that can actually benefit your practice for the rest of the year.

By completing just two marketing tactics in January, you will be able to “touch” clients, prospective clients and referral sources throughout busy season even if your schedule doesn’t permit face-to-face communication. You will have been “seen and heard.”

Marketing consultant Debbie Andrews at Marketri, a Philadelphia-area marketing agency, says:

1. YouTube Video Series: Film 6-10 short video clips that contain (1) Planning advice and /or (2) Tax news / law changes. These videos should be no more than 60-90 seconds in length. When developing the material for your shoot, think about the many questions that you were asked by clients throughout the year.