by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
the big change in lead generation for accountants is that there are many more methods out there today to get clients’ attention. the problem — or the opportunity! – is most accountants are still only using the old methods. read more →
evolving from running a practice to leading a business.
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
technology has allowed just about everyone to start their own businesses. we can do something part time, full time or in between. we can start and stop our businesses. we can be successful at lots of different business models. and we can go through stages of our business.
if you want to grow exponentially, or even linearly, you’ll need to progress. and before you can do that, it makes sense to figure out where you are now. here are five stages of business so you can see where you are now and where you want to go. read more →
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
how you welcome your new client can set the tone for a relationship that could last for years or in the worst of cases, just days. start out on the right foot by looking super-organized (because that’s part of why we get hired anyway) and making it super-easy for a client to get on board with you. the best vehicle for this is a welcome kit. here are eight things that should be in your kit at a minimum: read more →
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
when i look through accounting today’s top 100 leaders list and the comments they have made about what they perceive to be the challenges in our profession, many of the answers are the same: change, talent and relevance are a few you’ll see. and they are all right to some extent, but there is a deeper systemic problem that i think could fix quite a few of these in one swipe. i’m not saying it will be easy, but it is a fairly straightforward problem once diagnosed.
the most interesting part is that the smallest firms are getting better at solving this than the larger firms. read more →
update: see the rebuttal, “the 3 most unused marketing methods for accountants“
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
there are a couple of dozen different marketing methods that you can use to build your practice, but they are definitely not created equally. in fact, some are so ineffective and costly that we really try to steer people away from them. here are five of the worst for building your practice. read more →
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
when you are working out of your home and have reached the point where you want to hire someone, you have many options, but one of them may not be having employees come to your home to work. and although i have had employees working out of my home when i was single, it was not an option in 2010 when i was ready to hire an assistant. so i hired a virtual one.
today you might be surprised to know that my employees work from home two days a week each, and i only see them in person once a month. how do we do it? we keep our heads in the clouds. here are five tools that keep us seconds away while we’re miles apart. read more →
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
for some of you, summer can be a slow time in your business. if you do taxes, all the action is during busy season and in september if you have a lot of extensions. if you’re a bookkeeper, your busiest month is january. and if you do software consulting or training, it slows down in july and august. read more →
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
social media is all the rage, and there’s lots of pressure on small business owners – from friends, coaches and especially social media vendors – to get you to use social media in your marketing.
in most cases, we like to talk accounting practice owners out of social media marketing (and we’re one of those vendors who will set up and maintain your social media accounts for you, so we turn down an awful lot of business).
here’s why, and here are the five biggest social media mistakes accountants make:
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
the amazing change the internet has set in motion for the world still blows me away when i think about it. but an organization called ted and the impact it’s had on the world blows me away just as much. you’re in for a jaw-dropping experience if you’ve never heard of ted. read more →
by sandi smith leyva
author, “10 keys to doubling your revenues”
your linkedin profile is just as important as your website these days. it’s not uncommon at all for small business owners to check out your profile before contacting you. if your profile doesn’t measure up, then you might not get the lead. here are five ideas to get the most out of your linkedin profile. read more →
accountants are just beginning to understand the untapped opportunities in their clients and referral sources.
by sandi smith leyva
author, “10 keys to doubling your revenues”
one of the most valuable assets i have is my list of clients. i wouldn’t be in business if it weren’t for my clients, and i am grateful for each of you every day.
keeping a formal list of clients and subscribers in a list management system is often overlooked and frequently underutilized, especially in our industry. there are a couple of reasons for this. one is that some accountants are just beginning to understand the five big revenue-building reasons to understand the power of email marketing.
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
imagine that a new client comes to you with “the dreaded shoebox” of bank reconciliations, receipts and bills. the client is a year or so behind, and you are hired to get them caught up. do you take that client, knowing you’ll be swamped doing data entry for weeks at a low hourly rate?
the good news is it doesn’t have to take weeks anymore. and even better, you don’t have to charge a low rate for data entry. your “shoebox” client is now a profitable client who would be worth adding to any accounting firm’s book of business. what’s the secret? read more →
by sandi smith leyva
with so much to do as business owners, we can get pretty overwhelmed at times. we can start believing that we have a “time” problem, but since all of us have 24/7, there really is no such thing as a time problem. read more →