The Freelance Bookkeeper

In December we discussed committing to paper (or computer file) your plans for your freelance bookkeeping business. It included the income you want to achieve, the schedule you desire, and the services you are offering. You even guessed at which services would pull which proportions of your revenue.

Now it’s time to put some action plans in place. Nothing happens until you take action! What will it take for you to find your first client and start logging some billable hours?

Ponder that for a moment.

Based on the services you plan to offer, do you already have the skills you need, or do you need more training?

Are you ready to take on a few clients right now to get the revenue flowing?

These two questions will show you what actions you need to take next to really get your business moving.

Bootstrap Training Resources:

If you feel you need more training with bookkeeping itself, or with QuickBooks software, here are some resources that are low-cost or free that give you what you need in a relatively short time. I’ve added my own comments based on my experiences with each of them:

http://www.aipb.org/continuing_education.html – The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB) offers many self-paced inexpensive training courses in good old fashioned, traditional double-entry bookkeeping. You can even get their certification, which is the industry standard (though there are other certification programs around). Highly recommended if you are starting from scratch in the bookkeeping world, or need a good brush-up.

http://www.nationalba.org/training.cfm – The National Bookkeeping Association (NBA) also offers quite a few low-cost training options. But a word of caution here. Though I think they have the right spirit and will eventually improve, this is a relatively new organization and I have NOT been impressed with the quality of their online trainings or publications.

http://www.quickbooksgroup.com/ – This is QuickBooks Community site. It is loaded with many small business resources and some free training with QuickBooks.

http://accountant.intuit.com/training_cpe/quickbooks/index.aspx?lid=body1 – Intuit offers webinars and self-paced training classes, mostly surrounding the benefits of their software to accounting professionals. Some of these are free, but the meatier ones are for a fee. It’s worth it to stay in touch with what they offer, especially if you plan to become a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor (which I highly recommend).

http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/training/certified_user_program.jhtml – If you have some experience with QuickBooks and want to be sure you have “enough” to gain some confidence, but can’t yet afford to join the ProAdvisor Program, this new program by Intuit is quite inexpensive for the training you will receive.

http://www.bookkeepingdirect.com/newuser/ – If you’re new to QuickBooks, you may want to attend this, the latest class I am presenting to the public. It is geared toward business owners who are doing their own books, but you will get a good functional knowledge of QuickBooks with this live, online class…but of course, I’m partial.

Bootstrap Marketing Resources:

If you are ready to start accepting clients, the first and most effective step you can take is to tell everyone you know. It doesn’t have to be a “hard sell.” Everyone hates that. Just mention with enthusiasm what’s been going on in your life – starting your freelance bookkeeping business. Then simply ask them to mention you to anyone they know who might need your services.

This very basic method usually results in almost instant business. You just can’t beat word-of-mouth marketing. Here are a few more suggestions for getting the word out quickly and inexpensively.

Social Networking Sites – I’m talking about FaceBook, LinkedIn, Squidoo and many other popular sites where people share profiles and connections. You can build a following on an informal level, and that will, over time, turn into clients. Always remember: People do business with people they know and like.

Social networking is the type of marketing you should be doing all the time, even before you’re ready to hang out your shingle officially. But when you are ready, try some or all of these methods to attract clients.

www.ezinearticles.com  - If you can write short 300-500 word articles about the benefits of hiring a bookkeeper, or other helpful, bookkeeping-related topics that will position you as the person in-the-know, you should publish them on this website. This site not only sends these articles to subscribers all over the web. It also makes your articles available for other online publications to pick up and publish. Publisher must include your author bio, which serves as your soft-sell ad. Done consistently, this is an extremely effective marketing method.

www.Ebay.com – Did you know you can now advertise your services on EBay? It’s true. I’m just starting to experiment with it myself, so I can’t yet comment on its effectiveness, but it is an inexpensive way to get exposure to a HUGE audience who are already looking to buy.

http://listings.local.yahoo.com/ – List your business for free in Yahoo’s version of the yellow pages. It is based on your local area, making it easy for clients to find you. This is quickly replacing the hard copy of the yellow pages.

www.craigslist.org – Another great local and free place to list your services. Make your ad targeted at exactly the type of clients you want to serve (not everyone who has a business) and you’ll get the best response.

Make a Plan And Stick To It!

Now you need to make a list of all the ACTIONS you are going to take over the next 30 days. Yes, I want you to write them down and put them on your calendar! Then after one month, assess what worked best, and schedule more of that onto your next month’s calendar.

This is a very simple, but consistent way to keep you moving with your business and really get it off the ground this year.

Do let us hear about your results and comments below. This blog is for all of us, and by sharing our ideas and experiences, we will all benefit.

To your success in 2008!

~Gabrielle

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That’s a question we all get asked at least occassionally. But how you choose to answer it can have a significant effect on your bottom line.

I’m very pleased to announce that that’s why I’ll be hosting a brand new teleseminar, “Effective Networking Made Easy” next week on January 8th with my special guest, Networking Expert Karen Frank.

I’m making this live training class available to you at no charge because I know that having a simple yet effective way to introduce yourself and master the art of networking will help you jump into 2008 with one of the most powerful marketing tools known to man – word of mouth.

To register for this special event, or to learn more about the class, go to: www.bookkeepingdirect.com/networking/

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