Clients and friends often ask me, “What makes good PR?” My answer is, “It depends; what do you think you have that’s unique?” There are hidden gem all around your business that make for good public relations – shiny objects that will resonate with your stakeholders, clients/customers and prospects. Often, business owners only see the… Continue Reading
I recently posted two blogs, “Why Selling Skills are Important for Accounting Professionals” and “How Accounting Professionals Can Become Better at Selling Their Services” that were the basis for a podcast I presented to the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs. The moderator, Bill Hayes, asked me to discuss three steps firms should take to encourage their… Continue Reading
In my last article, I talked about why selling skills were important to accounting professionals. No one doubts the importance of selling in the professional services space, but can you actually learn “how to sell?” Sure, anything can be learned. You can try and take courses on sales skills, but most of what you need to… Continue Reading
Based on an article I put together several years ago for the AICPA Young Professional Network, I was asked by Bill Hayes at the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs to record a podcast in late May for “CPA Conversations” on sales for CPAs and accounting professionals. I thought this topic would be good for a multi-part… Continue Reading
We recently retooled our website with all-new content and design, so I thought it was also a good time to reprint business cards. However, before going through design and printing, I stopped for a few minutes to think. Once everyone’s email and contact applications integrated without to0 many gaps, I certainly did not give out… Continue Reading
Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Mountain View, CA, to work with Intuit on various projects. At its headquarters, Intuit has a number of buildings for employees, some of which are 15-20+ years old. The company’s newest facility, “Building 20” opened last fall – and was I ever wowed by the design and… Continue Reading
It’s cliche to say, but you should never burn a bridge. About three years ago, I had a long-term client leave me because it hired in-house talent to do what we were providing: marketing and PR services. I don’t want to name the client, but it is a prominent software reseller in the accounting space.… Continue Reading
Last week, I was reminded of the Dr Pepper method to keep up with daily email and phone calls. In short, this is the 10-2-4 method. Where did this come from? Anyone old enough to remember Dr Pepper’s older ads knows the slogan was to drink a soda at 10 am, 2 pm and 4… Continue Reading
My friend, Tom Dennis, gave me this idea; he knew someone who wrote a blog about the messages he found in his fortune cookies. I thought I’d do the same, with a little twist. At our office, we come up with famous (and not-so-famous) quotes that reflect the way we feel. This week’s quote is… Continue Reading
I have to admit that when I was in my ‘30s and ‘40s, I never thought I’d write about age discrimination, but now that I’m in my ‘50s and seen it first-hand, I wanted to share my thoughts on this topic. Coincidently, there was a syndicated article in yesterday’s Dallas Morning News, “Age Discrimination in… Continue Reading
