Building Your Clientele on a Budget:

5 Quick and Inexpensive Marketing Tips (Part I of a four-part series on Getting and Keeping Clients)

If you’re like most small business owners, marketing doesn’t come easily.  Your talents reside in providing accounting and bookkeeping services, and trying to figure out how to better market your services may be giving you a headache.  Here are 5 quick, inexpensive, and effective marketing strategies that will help you increase your client base while still getting a good-night’s rest.

1.     Network
This powerful marketing strategy shouldn’t be ignored.  Anyone is a potential client; at the same time, anyone can refer your services to friends and family.  Develop and take advantage of the meetings and happenings going on around you each day. Anywhere you go, including the grocery store and the local daycare, can be a networking location.

Develop a program where you promote the idea of your clients referring those in their inner circle. You may be familiar with the ";Six Degrees"; concept, that any one person is connected to any other person within six degrees of another. A recent Internet study has shown, with the advent of the Web and the latest innovations stemming from that, we are more like three degrees connected rather than the farther six. Make your social and professional networks work for you. Just don’t be too pushy and remember to return the favor when possible.  And always carry plenty of business cards.

2.     Build a website
If you’re a technical guru, than this should be easy.  If you’re not, it should still be easy.  There are plenty of reasonably-priced website builders out there that can help you create a professional website that will drive potential clients your way.  Remember to get everything in your name - or your company's name - and with your contact information (Domain name registration especially). Once you have a website you can advertise promotional offers, events, and an ezine, all of which can promote more business for you.  Just be sure whoever creates your site knows how build in the key words that will enable web browsers to display your site when internet users are searching for accounting help.

3.     Become the main event
Consider presenting at conferences, creating a booth for local events, or teaching community classes in accounting or bookkeeping.  All will give you great exposure, circulate your business card, and give people an idea of the kind of business person you are.  Be sure to have a pamphlet or brochure on hand that describes your services and provides free and useful accounting and bookkeeping tips. 

4.     Write a newsletter
We wouldn’t encourage you to do something that we’re not willing to do ourselves.  Everyone appreciates free and useful information.  A newsletter or ezine is a great way to maintain consistent contact with potential and current clients while providing them with useful accounting and bookkeeping tips.  When appropriate, you can promote your services or have them contact you for more information.  Just be sure that everyone who receives your newsletter actually requested it; you don’t want your ezines to look like spam.

Something to consider is in connection with an ezine is a business blog or web log. Where those you work with and those you come in contact with can get more related information about what you do. Keep the focus of what you discuss narrowed to the purpose of the ";blog"; and allow those you influence to be more influenced by your weekly insights.

5.     Warm Call the Cold Call
Cold Calling? Argh!!!  That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?  And for many it can be an exercise in futility. There are ways, and many books written on this subject (i.e. In The Black by Allen Bostrom) that could do better and a more comprehensive job addressing this here. However, there are certain tasks that, if done before you walk in the door, will increase your chances of at least getting the appointment, and at most the account.

One tactic, is to do your research. Identify those YOU want to work with. By Industry, by profession, by name - target those you feel would be best for you to gain business from. Find out all you can about them, what they do and how they do it. Look up their web site. Get the name of the decision-maker of the company. Get the knowledge of their operation and then you will be better equipped to walk in their door and talk business. Once you’ve generated 5 to 10 leads you can actually visit businesses with that pamphlet or brochure that describes your services.  Don’t be pushy; only give potential clients as much information as they’re willing to receive. 

UAC Can Help You Better Market Your Services
This is the portion of the newsletter where we model what you can do with your own newsletter.  If you ever provide your reader with information that relates to services you offer, you can plug those services at the end of your newsletter.  For example, Universal Accounting Center (UAC) offers the Universal Practice Builder, a two-day workshop guaranteed to teach you the art and science of generating clients.  So those of you who would appreciate more specific marketing tips and guaranteed strategies that will build your client base just might be interested in this program. Give us 2 days and we guarantee $30,000 to $100,000 in new annual billings. Get our risk-free guarantee and up to $500 in discounts when you Register Now!  If you want to generate more clients and build your business, visit Universal Accounting Center today.