It’s About Them What is the purpose of marketing? While credentials are helpful, the profession needs to reevaluate the strategies used. In this article, Rod Burkert reminds us of what the profession may consider to market the services effectively. Have you wondered why it’s getting harder to reach the leads and prospects we want to sell to and serve? What if almost everything we’ve considered to be marketing … is wrong? Let me give you a bit of history. We first complained about certain valuation organizations’ very existence. The IBA came first. Then the ASA. Apparently two organizations was all…
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Marketing Tips for Professional Service Professionals Marc Kohler, an estate planning expert, may offer other professional services professionals a template to follow to secure additional engagement. The article describes how Marc Kohler has marketed his services. In the field of tax law and estate planning (where online engagement can be difficult, if not impossible to obtain), Mark J. Kohler (”Kohler”) has built a following that exceeds 500,000 followers; these followers come from various platforms. This reach is something that many in the professional service industries have only dreamed of. As an attorney and CPA, Kohler has taken what could easily…
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Marketing is difficult. Yet, there are ways one can make more effective inroads. In this article, the author makes four suggestions to make your marketing efforts more effective. If the ultimate goal of your marketing effort is to increase the number of leads/prospects in your pipeline, the article includes some metrics one can measure to assess success. Do you know what is working and what is not with your marketing and practice development efforts? For many business valuation practitioners, the honest answer is that they cannot answer that question; not really. They have a “feeling.” What can you do about…
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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 stream, just a manageable one. Let us consider how to calculate the number—literally, the number—of referral sources you need to sustain your BV practice. And as…
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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 for professionals in the digital world. 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,…
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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 two.” Here are six positioning and marketing blunders too many appraisers are making with respect to building and growing a BVFLS practice. Not Differentiating (Branding) Themselves Most consumers of BVFLS services…
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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 those years, here are five questions he raises that can answer if social networking will work for you … and whether you should make…
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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 to see results. Intuitively, we know this is true. But it’s not what many practitioners tell me they do in real life. Many of you tell me that you start marketing…
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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, click: Building Trust in ‘Fake News’ Era.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Creating Visibility and Personal Brand Recognition In this article, Dr. Frederiksen provides seven branding tips for aspiring experts.
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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.
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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.
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Marketing in the New Year In this article, Dr. Frederiksen discusses the importance of thought leadership marketing and how that differs from content marketing.
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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 successfully convert leads.
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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 models.
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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.
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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 must take to obtain additional funding. To read the full article at AICPA, click: CPA Marketing Toolkit for Small Business.