Accounting & Bookkeeping & Small Business Forum

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I was wondering if someone could help me. I am in the process of expanding my busines since I am a mom now and be able to make my business bigger. I needed some tips how to approach going after a job listing and converting it into a freelance job instead. When I do my resume, should I put on there about my company information as experience? How should I set up the cover leter to them. Please advise.

[David]

In the Professional Bookkeeper program Module 4 Chapter 3 you are taught how to address getting a job, cover letters and how to interview. Applying for PT positions is one of the easiest ways I have been able to get in the door and then during the interview, bring up the fact that you have a business and can help them through freelance. You know, better , faster, cheaper \etc etc. If you are a UAC graduate, contact your coach or me and we can help you with how to approach it and what to say.

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Audubon wrote: I was wondering if someone could help me. I am in the process of expanding my busines since I am a mom now and be able to make my business bigger. I needed some tips how to approach going after a job listing and converting it into a freelance job instead. When I do my resume, should I put on there about my company information as experience? How should I set up the cover leter to them. Please advise.

I got most of my initial clients through the classified's looking for bookkeepers. (Now it is mostly through referrals). I simply sent my flyer listing my services and my resume for reference of my experience. I didn't want to explain too much with a cover letter. I wanted them to contact me with questions, which they did. My resume and brochure was very successful...people were impressed. That is how I quick-started my bookkkeeeping business.

P.S. I listed my bookeepping business as my last job on my resume.

[Andrea Thompson]

I have also applied to bookkeeping job listings in the local papers. I have gotten an interview for one which did not work out but it was still a response. I send my resume, which also lists my most recent job as my accounting business (like bottomline), a brochure, business card and a cover letter explaining my qualifications and experience. Midway through the cover letter I ask if they would consider outsourcing their bookkeeping functions as opposed to hiring and employee and I list the advantages and cost savings of doing so. I personally have not gotten any clients this way but I look at like this - I am getting my name out there and if in the future the bookkeeper they hire did not work out, they have my information and may (or may not) remember me. Lately I have finally been getting a few new clients and those were people I made contact with months ago. They remembered me and called me when they needed help. So the moral of my story is this - even if you do not get clients from answering ads in the paper, you are still getting your name out there in the public.

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Andrea Thompson wrote: I have also applied to bookkeeping job listings in the local papers. I have gotten an interview for one which did not work out but it was still a response. I send my resume, which also lists my most recent job as my accounting business (like bottomline), a brochure, business card and a cover letter explaining my qualifications and experience. Midway through the cover letter I ask if they would consider outsourcing their bookkeeping functions as opposed to hiring and employee and I list the advantages and cost savings of doing so. I personally have not gotten any clients this way but I look at like this - I am getting my name out there and if in the future the bookkeeper they hire did not work out, they have my information and may (or may not) remember me. Lately I have finally been getting a few new clients and those were people I made contact with months ago. They remembered me and called me when they needed help. So the moral of my story is this - even if you do not get clients from answering ads in the paper, you are still getting your name out there in the public.

That is why I don't directly address the issue that I am an independent contractor. It is indicated in my flyer and terminology that I use, but I don't address it specifically. As Andrea admitted, she hasn't gotten any clients by specifically stating she does freelance work. I found that by giving them just enough information to arouse their curiosity, they call. And when they call, I have an opportunity to convince them to give outsourcing a try...and I get a new client.

If you are going to respond to classified ads for bookkkeepers you are going to get your name out there anyway. Why not get a client at the same time by giving just enough information that they are curious and call you, instead of turning them off immediately by a cover letter that tells them you are a freelance bookkeeper.

A prospective client may not know how much better a freelance bookkeeper could be and you can't explain it in a cover letter because everyone's needs are different. Giving general reasons why outsourcing is better doesn't work because it is not a personalized response.

You need to talk to the person, ask questions, and determine why your services would be better than an in-house person for this particular client. It is better to address their personal needs rather than give generic responses. If you don't find a way to get them to call you, you won't have the opportunity to address their individual needs.

I found one reason people try to get clients without personal interaction (trying to explain too much in a letter vs. trying to get a phone conversation going) is that they don't want to deal with the rejections when someone doesn't ultimately agree outsourcing is a good solution for them. But isn't the real goal to get clients? If I have to go through 10 rejections to get one client, it's better than getting no clients because of not wanting to go through the sales "process".

Something else I found...even though there are those that decide not to outsource at that time after speaking with me, my name is much more "known" to them since the conversation. At a later time, they will remember me and our conversation vs. a letter someone else sent. I have gotten projects later from people who didn't want to outsource their bookkeeping. After our conversation, they new what I could do and what I could offer becuase in the course of our conversation I found out their needs as was able to offer possible other solutions for the future.