As readers know, the holy grail of a firm’s success is the professional stream and practices that sustain the referral stream. In the author’s view “it does not have to be an endless stream, just a manageable one.” The author shares his views on how to make this happen. As you know, the holy grail of your successful professional practices is a stream of referrals. But it does not have to be an endless strea ...

Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success This article is based on the presentation given by Andreas Creutzmann at the NACVA and the CTI’s BVFL Super Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on December 14, 2023, and on his book, Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry: Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success, published by Wiley. It aims to present the principles, tasks, and tools that are essential fo ...

Steps to Immediately Take Before Focusing on Marketing In this month’s article, Rod Burkert details six positioning and marketing blunders too many appraisers are making with respect to building and growing a BVFLS practice. I just passed the seven-year milestone of launching my coaching career. And I have to say (as someone else has previously said), “I know a thing or two because I have seen a thing or tw ...

Answer These Five Questions How do you know if social networking will work for you? If you are using social media and not getting results, are you wasting precious time? If you are not using social media, are you missing out on a gaping opportunity? The author of this article has invested about 16 years on LinkedIn and about five years on YouTube. Based on what he has done and the results he has achieved in ...

No matter what marketing strategies we use, we must be committed to them—and be consistent with them—if we want to see results. Intuitively, we know this is true. But it’s not what many practitioners do in real life. The author shares two strategies that are needed to successfully market services. No matter what marketing strategies we use, we must be committed to them—and be consistent with them—if we want ...

Investors are more skeptical today than ever before about the financial advice they’re getting—and of the professionals offering that advice. Of course, it’s not just the financial services industry that has people wary. The government, the news media and corporations are viewed these days with rising suspicion and distrust by a significant number of Americans. To read the full article in Financial Planning ...

To Market When You’re Busy Marketing requires a continuous effort and presence. In this article, the author shares a marketing alternative that appraisal practitioners should pursue when they are unable to network in person. ...

In Closing New Business Deals Client education can have a huge impact in accounting and professional service firms’ content marketing efforts. By providing prospects with increasingly valuable pieces of educational content, you can not only attract them to your firm, but also nurture them as they move into and through your sales funnel. ...

Creativity is a very 21st century virtue.  Relying on your skills as a technician does not seem like a very good idea in the nascent age of AI, regardless of your field.  But being able to generate innovative and imaginative ideas can mark you out as a star, a shining goose laying golden eggs. To read the full article in Management Today, click: Four Ways to Generate Ideas Fast. ...

Creating Visibility and Personal Brand Recognition In this article, Dr. Frederiksen provides seven branding tips for aspiring experts. ...

and How Can You Make it Work for You? In this article, Dr. Frederiksen discusses branding and the value and importance of maintaining and creating a brand. ...

Time to Evaluate Your Marketing Plans to Address Those Avoidable Mistakes In this article, Dr. Frederiksen describes five mistakes to avoid marketing a professional service organization. ...

Marketing in the New Year In this article, Dr. Frederiksen discusses the importance of thought leadership marketing and how that differs from content marketing. ...

Upgrade Your Website to Develop a Measurable Market Advantage What strategies should professional service firms adopt to market their expertise? What impact do online leads have on the bottom line? Where should a firm place premium content? What can a firm do to minimize overt marketing? In this article, Dr. Lee Frederiksen of Hinge Marketing shares six strategies to improve your website, drive traffic, and ...

How do Sponsorships Rank as a Strategy for Business Development? How effective are sponsorships developing business leads? Sponsorships provide visibility to a captive audience and ideally convey the firm’s commitment to the cause or event. In this article, Dr. Frederiksen shares his findings on this subject, as well as discusses findings involving the pay to play sponsorships and the community sponsorship ...

Shift Your Investment Effort How much should a high-growth firm invest in marketing? What techniques or investments pay off more—traditional or social marketing? What should a high-growth marketing firm expect from these investments? How do results differ from firms that are not growing? How do high-growth firms differ from other firms? In this article, Dr. Frederiksen answers these and other questions. ...

Articulate Your Value to Business Clients Seeking Startup Financing Share this brochure and accompanying checklist, “Guide to Acquiring Startup Financing” with your clients as they explore options for securing capital, and help them understand how a CPA can assist.  These tools plus a PowerPoint presentation, part of the CPA Marketing Toolkit for Small Business, outline the required steps small businesses m ...

Help Your Small-Business Clients Create a System for Record Keeping Good record-keeping preparation and planning can give clients a better handle on their overall financial position, make tax preparation easier, and create operational efficiencies throughout their businesses.  A helpful record-keeping brochure and PowerPoint presentation can help you educate your small-business clients. To download the broc ...

Not all Social Networks Are Created Equal Has your firm embraced social media? Be ready! The days of ignoring social media are long gone. Professional services firms looking to accelerate their growth need to embrace social media and dedicate the resources needed to create a strategy, implement it, and track it. In this article, the author presents research on the impact and value of social media to profess ...

For those of us who spent much of our careers in the old professional services marketplace, it’s all too easy to think of our firm websites as an afterthought–something you have to have in today’s world, but not a priority. A growing body of research demonstrates, however, that this couldn’t be further from the truth. This article looks at recent research on the matter and suggests that a website may well b ...