So you sell software and/or hardware and that's it?
The small CPA firm doesn't have the TIME to write their own marketing program.
That's what's so good then, about those other providers. It's "all inclusive".
Write the check, and I've got a website. Write the check, and I've got "tax tips on hold". Write the check and I've gotten a pre-written mid-year tax planning newsletter that I can e-mail or print and mail (or both), and/or post to my web site that I just bought and ~they~ set up and maintain.
Web hosting bundled with email marketing services.
Email marketing services
Custom Web applications.
We provide tools that many professionals (e.g., accountants) and small businesses use to help them market.
We make it easier than it would be without these tools. We design your site, set you up with hosting, and help you get started using our email marketing service. We also get you started using Google Adwords.
Is it an elaborate marketing plan that we create for you? No. Is it enough online marketing for many professionals and small business people? Yes.
I am not saying anything against those other services. I am sure they are appropriate in some or even many cases.
My question is how much do they cost? How much do you pay per conversion? That is, how much do you pay for each customer you get? And how much revenue do you get from each customer (as compared for how much you paid)? And, very importantly, do these services have ways to track that information?
If so, and if you are definately getting your money's worth from these marketers then you probably don't need us. If, on the other hand, you could benefit from tools to market online for a very low cost -- then we are worth considering.
Some firms do make the calculation that we benefit them and that is why we are a robustly growing business.
And I can get all that, and more, from the local guy who might also be a client of mine, who might also refer my services to another of his clients. What makes you special?
I'm on pins and needles in anticipation.
Do we know how much a client brings in? Yes, there are plenty of time and billing software out there that provides that info. And while I can't speak for the others, I find it unethical to price my services to a new client based on how much it cost to get them in the door. Don't you?
But you still don't have a clue about marketing for accountants.
Robert. You do not need to continue justifying your company's purpose to a Complete Public Asshole such as Paul Thomas. I think most of the more mature and respectable subscribers to this list understand what you are trying to ask. Your best bet would be to ignore Paul. He obviously needs to grow up before contributing to the conversation.
I think what you're hearing is that accounting and other professional services of similar ilk aren't bulk marketing-type businesses that from your words appear to be the type of market you're currently in.
IWO, I don't think there's a demand for what you're doing in the marketplace for other commercial areas. I'm reminded of the "iceboxes to Eskimos" saw.
I highly doubt that the local guy has a fully developed permission-based email marketing service such as StreamSend. If he does, please post the link here so I can review his services. I would be interested in seeing what he has to offer.
You should be. We have brought in a huge number of clients using Google Adwords. It is a good program. You can be sarcastic all you want but Google Adwords works.
What? You obviously are not (and have not from the beginning of this conversation), listened (read) anything I have been saying to really understand. You are just waiting for your chance to be sarcastic no matter what I say.
I did not say anything about pricing, I merely said that all marketing activities should be tracked to determine how much they cost relative to the business (worth X amount) that it brings in the door. For example, for each service or mix of services, does it cost $2/new customer? $5/new customer, etc.? How much revenue is brought in? What are the costs? And how much did the marketing activity cost you for each client you brought in?
For example, I have a service that costs me about $6.50 (using Google Adwords) per conversion (new customer). The service nets about $100/year on average and the average customer stays on for the long-term. That is, the churn rate is extremely low. Now clearly the marketing investment here is a good one and we keep puting money there. Sure this is a low revenue per customer service but the marketing costs are very low and we are very, very good at providing this service and do it very efficientlyh.
If it cost me $50/customer to get these $100/year level customers, I would be looking at the usefulness of this particular marketing activity very closely.
Thanks I appreciate that. I did not realize at first, that he is just trying to be a reverse troll. That is someone who responds to a post with the express purpose of fighting and not for constructive dialogue.
I am still interested in talking to accountants about some of these matters but perhaps I will focus on buying lunch for individuals and talking rather than Usenet posts.
We have sold our services to professionals and we do so every single day of the week. E-mail newsletters that are sent out to people who want them are not bulk marketing, and good email marketing software can help you segment your customers so it is not bulk.
And we are not in the bulk marketing-type business as you say. We are in Internet technologies such as web hosting, web design, e-commerce, custom web applications, and permission-based email marketing. We believe that you need a mix of services these days to succeed in marketing online.
I am not sure what you mean by this? If you are suggesting there is not demand for our services, we sell them every single day.
But what are your clients selling? Time or products? I am a self-employed individual as well and can't comprehend what you're doing that would help me selling consulting services. I can have a web presence and send mailings but frankly don't believe mass mailings would generate a thing in actual bookings. I suspect that's the case form many accountants as well.
I guess the problem I'm having is that I can't relate the general "buzz words" I'm hearing to a specific action that seems productive in a similar situation.
Tell me more about your business and I will answer where I think our services might be useful. Clearly, these services are not for everyone but it is worth considering.
I might not respond until tomorrow though, as there are some things that need to be done this afternoon...
Well, I sell personal services in engineering design (primarily R&D-related, rarely actual product) primarily to clients in the electric utilities. Includes but isn't restricted to things like instrumentation development for new/unusual applications, control system design/implementation/tuning, boiler performance improvement testing, etc.
I see somewhat of a parallel at least w/ my local accounting firm in that there is only so much of me to go around although they have perhaps slightly more leeway to "hand off" routine work...
So, you just have that one product to sell, am I right?
Absolutely. Yet, a majority of the marketing types I know will tell you that it's a balanced approach, and in most cases it's several contacts the potential client has with you before they even pick up the phone and call. Now, do you want to hinge your career on making that contact through one avenue? Probably you don't, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
Mailings, radio, television, newspapers, word-of-mouth, seminars, trade shows, promotional items, the phone book, and yes, on-line all play some part in presenting the business to the public. "How did the client find out about you?" Hopefully in many differeent ways. You can even ask them, and they'll tell you the ~last~ place they read your name or heard about you, even though they have heard or read your name a dozen times over the past few weeks or even months.
Which is something that can't be measured in any efficient format. I have had new clients come in that I met at a chanber function years before. Do I allocate all my Chamber dues to that one client as an expense?
Yeah, yeah yeah. That's the same crap the phone company tries to pull, by assigning a special number for the yellow page ad and tracking those calls made to that number, regardless of if those people actually became a client or not, regardless of if it was a wrong number, etc.
As would I. But, to get the segregation among the various clients it'd have to be fully integrated with the tax and-or accounting software such that you could pull a listing of Schedule C businesses, or just the bar and restaurant clients, or maybe just the manufacturing clients, or just the "S" corporate clients, or......
The possible combinations of who you want to get this and that e-mail makes for a very bulky and/or time consuming program.
A program as simple as Outlook has the capability to create client groups for specific mailings.
You still have to take the time to write the text, and that takes time, or you just buy it "in the can" or copy and paste news stories.
That's why an off-the-shelf newsletter (either paper or electronic) has various articles, because it's going to a generic client base, and, you never know who will read something in that newsletter and say, "hey, I bet uncle Joe doesn't know about this", and pretty soon uncle Joe is calling you (or at least you hope that happens.)
If there is something "really hot" and "really important", you had better be calling the client and talking to them about it.
You can't trust that an e-mail or even a newsletter will get read.
Actually, after I thought about this a little more there's not as much parallel as I was thinking--accountant spends far less time per client than I do so there's a much larger number of "active" clients than I can handle. So, in that market, a wider exposure if one isn't fully busy all the time might be of some value...
I think one of the things Robert might be trying to say here is that accountants in general might find the permission based email newsletters useful, and for the following reason (Robert correct me if I am wrong):
What if your accountant could send you out an informational email letting you know of important tax changes brought in by any level of government? Would you then not think that this might be something to go over with your accountant to make sure that you are compliant or whether or not there is any tax advantage for you that equals money saved in taxes?
Or how about notifying business owners of pending changes in things like minimum wages for hourly employees? Or warning business owners of tax scams by less than scrupulous "tax advisors" or "management consultants"? A newsletter like that might make a business owner think of something that either their accountant needs them to know, or something they need to tell their accountant they plan to do?
Personally, I think something like that might be useful to keep my clients informed.
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