The Myth About Bookkeeper Credentials and Education

There’s something I’ve been wanting to alert you to for quite some time. And today, I just had to say it.

“There’s a myth that so many freelance bookkeepers believe that I want to dispel right now.

And that is, if you have more and more credentials, and more and more education, that you will automatically attract more and more clients.

This is simply not true!

But it is commonly believed in the accounting field.

In fact, at a high level seminar I attended a few years ago, I heard the keynote speaker say that if you get more education, more credentials, you will grow your business.

What?

That’s just not true.

What we need to do is communicate the skills that we have because clients will not come to us unless they know that we exist.

Now, it is true if you provide high quality services that your existing clients might talk to other clients and then you might get referrals. That can happen, and does happen often.

But to effectively growing your business, more important than the number of letters after your name, is your marketing ability. You need to have good marketing in order to attract the kind of clients that need the skills that you have.

So, marketing and education are two vital tools to grow your business. But you need to focus more on marketing, especially in the beginning.

So now you know the truth.”

If you’ve already got the bookkeeping skills you need, but have been struggling to find more clients, then it’s time to learn how to improve your marketing communication skills. That’s the kind of education that can REALLY grow your freelance bookkeeping business.

My Freelance Bookkeeper Marketing webinar is popular, because many have said that they just don’t know where to start when it comes to marketing.

But I’d be interested to hear what you seasoned bookkeepers have been doing and what YOUR best sources for learning how to market your services has been.

Please share your experiences in the comments below!

Tagged As: credentials, education, Marketing, more clients

Should You Specialize Your Bookkeeping Services? (And Why It Matters)

An important question facing you as freelance bookkeeper is…

Are you going to specialize or will you remain a generalist?

As a freelance bookkeeper, do you offer specialty services? Or do you offer any kind of bookkeeping to anyone who’s willing to pay you to do the work?

Here’s three reasons why I strongly recommend you go the specialization route:

Specialists are viewed as experts and can charge higher fees

When you specialize in a specific type of service or industry, it helps set you apart from your competition. You have a lot more credibility, too. When a potential client is looking for a independent bookkeeper, chances are they’d much rather hire someone who already “knows” their business or the specific type of services they need.

If you provide that service or specialize in their industry, then you’re going to make it to the top of their list very quickly. And they will be more willing to pay a higher fee for your expertise.

Not specializing means lower quality service and slows you down

Choosing a specialty means you don’t have to constantly be researching how to handle new situations accurately, or worse yet, winging it and *hoping* you didn’t miss a step.

Let’s be real here. It’s challenging enough to own and grow your own professional bookkeeping business. The last thing you want to do is spend a ton of time that you can’t bill out trying to figure how to deliver the services your client is paying you for. They won’t want to pay you to learn new skills either.

But when you specialize in a particular industry or service, you are much more in control of your time, since you already know the ropes. It allows you to focus on being the best in your niche and provide high-quality services efficiently and profitably. It’s a win-win scenario.

Specializing helps you market your services more effectively

It’s tough to get the word out about your services when you’re not quite sure who your potential clients are exactly. But that’s what happens if you offer general bookkeeping services to any and all small businesses.

However, if you offer QuickBooks training and set up for online retailers, for example, then it’s much easier to market your services to those who specifically need your help. You know exactly who you’re potential clients are and the specific benefit you can provide them.

So, how do you choose a specialty?

There are a few considerations when making your choice.

• An industry: Such as, your specialty might be with staffing firms.
• A specific service: Such as, your specialty might be complete payroll services.
• An industry and a specific service: such as, complete payroll services for staffing firms.

You may be thinking that this degree of specialization limits you. However, consider this: How many staffing firm clients who need payroll services would you really need to take on before your schedule would be completely maxed out?

Additionally, if you provide your services on a virtual basis, you vastly expand the geographical reach of your service area. The reality is, there’s plenty of work to go around. Specialization simply makes your business easier to manage and grow… and easier for your Ideal Clients to find you!

Which specialty is right for you?

Specialize in what you know. If you are skilled at teaching others how to use software, then specialize in QuickBooks training. If you’re an expert at troubleshooting and taxes then specialize in QuickBooks clean up for taxes and partner with accountants that specialize in year-round tax preparation. (HINT: Don’t try to compete with CPAs for the tax work – you will do much better if you partner with them instead, since they will send you referrals once they trust you)

If you know the ins and outs of payroll for time & billing based companies, then specialize in payroll for law firms or consultants.

Specialize in what you enjoy, whether that’s the service itself or the industry. If you love gardening and flowers, for instance, consider specializing in bookkeeping for garden & flower shops. You’ll be much happier and productive if you’re doing something you really like.

Specialize in something that’s in demand. Take a look at the job boards. What jobs are commonly posted for bookkeeping positions, and from what types of companies? Chances are, there are some clues there for what’s in demand in which industry. If it’s also in an area you enjoy and are skilled in, then your chances at success are very high.

Nothing is written in stone

You might still be worried about limiting yourself if you specialize. However, remember – you are the boss! You can do whatever you want!

In reality, your business will naturally grow and change. You can always experiment with new service offerings. It’s perfectly acceptable to change your services (and clients) as you grow. Specializing simply helps you establish and grow your business so you can reach your financial goals more quickly.

So what’s your specialty?

Tagged As: freelance bookkeeping, specialized services, specialty bookkeeping, virtual bookkeeping

Virtual Bookkeeper Tips: When Clients Resist Going Paperless

Have you hit resistance to transitioning your bookkeeping service business from in-person and on-site to working virtually from your office and through the Internet?

You’re not alone, especially if your clients are primarily small, traditional mom & pop type businesses. In fact, one of the questions I hear most often from freelance bookkeepers who are thinking about taking their business online is…

“How do I deal with clients who are hesitant to start scanning paper documents so they can send me their information electronically?”

Going paperless is not so much a question of technology anymore. To do it successfully, the bigger hurdle is often the human mindset.

The fact is, smaller businesses are usually slower to embrace new technology. They fear change, loss of control and security. It’s just plain uncomfortable to move away from routines that have become familiar.

That’s just human nature.

But as with anything new, the willingness to change usually comes from one of two things:

1. The promise of relief from pain

2. The possibility of gaining of pleasure

We are generally hired to relieve our clients of the “pain” of keeping their financial records up to date, often out of necessity for tax reporting requirements. The more savvy clients also recognize the pleasure of building a more profitable business when they have key financial data available to manage the destiny of their company.

Clients will more readily accept the changes involved in working virtually when they see the benefits of doing so. In other words, much of their acceptance will come from HOW you present the concept of working remotely, especially if it is far different from how they are used to running their own business (i.e., they’re rather low-tech)

With existing clients, a gradual approach will likely be easier for them to swallow. Highlight how it will benefit THEM (time savings, cost savings, and/or other benefits, depending on the technology solutions and methods you use). Come up with a specific transition plan and implementation date. You also want them to step up and participate in the success of the new strategy.

You are always in partnership for mutual success with your clients. So the rewards should be shared for best results.

Your clients will also need your reassurance and guidance until the new procedures feel comfortable and they start to actually see the benefits for themselves. You may want to document and report back to your client on the progress of the transition. Show them “before” and “after” results, especially if you expect a dramatic change in efficiency (i.e., how quickly they receive reports, or the savings that is passed onto them because you are able to do the work in less time)

An easy first step toward transitioning from paper to electronic documents is to suggest that your clients start faxing their information to you. Even clients who are not the most tech saavy usually have a fax machine. This is a gentle way to help them move in the right direction with something they already use.

Of course, for best results on your end, you will want to be using an email fax service yourself (if you’re not already). They are inexpensive and instantly convert faxed documents into PDF files. I switched to an email fax system for this reason several years ago, and it has worked perfectly.

If you’re still using a phone/paper-based fax, you’ll love that using an email fax service immediately eliminates spam faxes too! (It also saves the cost of paper and supplies, so it is cost-effective to make the switch.)

Ultimately, the transition from on-site services to virtual bookkeeping should be a win-win proposition. So if you have clients or prospects who just refuse to embrace online technology, then you have to decide whether they are the kind of client you want to be serving.

There is no right or wrong answer here. Some freelance professional bookkeepers will go 100% virtual (like I have since 2003). Some will choose a mix of on-site and virtual clients. And some will dig in their heels and stick with clients who require on-site services.

Any of these choices are viable. There are still plenty of clients for all of these bookkeeping business models, too. The question is, which fits your business goals? If a client’s needs and yours differ, simply refer them to a colleague who is a better fit. When mutual benefit is a requirement, everyone wins.

Recommended Tools I Use:

MyFax

SmartVault

You Send It Express

If you’re in the process of transitioning to virtual bookkeeping, what’s your biggest challenge in making the change?

How to Get New Clients Using QuickBooks

If your business has slowed down due to the rocky economy, or just because we’re in the dog days of summer, your thoughts may be turning to how you can bring in more business quickly, or rev things up as we head into the fall.

Either way, if you know QuickBooks well, here’s an easy way to not only get the word out about your bookkeeping services, but expand the services you offer to a wider audience at the same time. All without any hard selling.

The Plan in a Nutshell

Offer to do a health check-up of QuickBooks data files

While this doesn’t sound sexy, it’s something that 95% of all small businesses using QuickBooks really need, whether they know it or not. The fact is, the vast majority of small businesses are NOT using QuickBooks correctly. Some of them have SERIOUS problems with their books that may cause a HUGE problem for their bottom line.

But you can save them from this peril!

Bookkeepers and Dentists

I’ve often compared keeping bookkeeping records up to date like going to the dentist. We all know we SHOULD do it to avoid BIG problems later, but many of us do not eagerly anticipate our next dental checkup.

In this simple comparison, however, we, as bookkeeping experts can take a cue from our dentist friends. They are pretty savvy about overcoming this hurdle and keep a flow of return patients… and revenue… coming into their office!

Yes, they take in patients with toothaches and broken teeth and make big money from those emergency services. But the foundation of their STEADY income is from the patients who are coming back for regular checkups every six months or so.

Why?

Because that’s how they uncover additional work that needs to be done. And their patients appreciate it because it takes care of problems while they are still small.

How do we apply this to bookkeeping and QuickBooks?

Not only can we help clients who have neglected their books and are in trouble because they have a tax deadline looming or some other “urgent” need to get their books straight…

But we can also help clients who have been attempting to handle their books themselves (and will ultimately get themselves into trouble).

How?

Through education, regular check ups and “repair” services.

How to Put This Simple Concept Into Action

1. Offer a free or low-cost “class.”

It could be on something like, “The Most Common QuickBooks Errors that Could Be Costing You a Bundle”

You could teach this at your local business networking groups, to past clients, or even offer it free to clients of local CPA firms who do not specialize in QuickBooks. (That gets you good exposure from two angles!)

2. Present a simple but educational session that lasts 30-60 minutes.

Brainstorm your class content by thinking about all the problems you see whenever new clients come in and their books are a mess. Show them the tell-tale signs of the most common problems as they show up on their financial reports.

If you’re part of the QuickBooks ProAdvisor program, there are also plenty of free QuickBooks training materials you could use for this and other types of QuickBooks-based classes that could serve the same basic purpose.

You want to make them aware of problems that could be draining them of profits that they need to address within their bookkeeping records.

3. At the end of the class, offer a free 30-minute QuickBooks data file check-up.

This should be by appointment and can be done at the client’s site, in your office, or via online meeting. Whatever works best for you is the way to go. The point is to get them to raise their hand and say that they want more information from you, and give you their contact information so you can follow up.

To conduct the check-up, use the Client Data Review tool available in QuickBooks Accountant Edition 2009 and newer. Or create your own diagnostic checklist.

IMPORTANT: The purpose of this “check up” is NOT to FIX problems with the client’s books! You are simply identifying issues found and providing an overall report (I suggest a written report) on how “healthy” their bookkeeping records are.

Discuss your findings with the client and then come up with a mutually agreeable action plan for…

• Prioritizing and addressing any important problems found, including your suggested solutions
• Decide whether or not the client will engage your consulting or bookkeeping services, will need guidance in fixing problems themselves, or require training to avoid repeating the same problems again
• Offer ongoing maintenance with regular check-ups to keep the books in a “healthy” condition (just like dental cleaning & checkups every 6 months!)

This process naturally leads to new client prospects, referrals and more billable work both in the short term, and over a long period of time. You will be remembered for providing this valuable, professional  service!

Even if you’re not a QuickBooks specialist, you can use these same principles to help small businesses assess the overall accuracy of their bookkeeping records, even if they’re using a pencil and paper system.

Using this simple strategy, or some variation of it, will position you as a top-notch expert in your community AND attract high quality clients at the same time.

If you’d like to learn more soft-sell, high-value ways of attracting new clients, then you’ll want to take a look at my NEW Freelance Bookkeeper Marketing course.

It’s the easy way to fill your business with more clients than you can handle, using simple, but powerful relationship-based strategies!

Get more information HERE

QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit, Inc.

Tagged As: bookkeeper marketing, bookkeeping business, freelance bookkeeping, QuickBooks, soft-sell marketing

The #1 Marketing Strategy for Freelance Bookkeepers

“How can I find new clients?”

This is the question that, far and away, both new and seasoned bookkeepers consistently ask me. They are looking for effective ways to market their bookkeeping services, especially in this choppy economy.

How about you?

In reality, ALL of us need a steady stream of new prospects, whether you run a large multi-bookkeeper business, or you’re a home-based solo freelancer. That’s because you’ll occasionally have existing clients outgrow your services (hire dedicated staff), or even leave you entirely because of circumstances beyond your control.

When that happens (and it will) you need new clients waiting in the wings to replace the lost income.

Even when you have “enough” clients, it does not mean you’re set for life. No business is static; it’s constantly either growing or dying. Choose to grow by making consistent marketing a priority, no matter how busy you get!

And of course, if you’re just starting out, or are ready to take your business to the next level, you may need more than a few new clients right now.

So…what IS the BEST way to market bookkeeping services?

It’s word of mouth, of course!

It’s powerful. It’s free. And referred clients are usually ready to engage your services right away.

In fact, most successful independent bookkeepers get a majority of their new clients from referrals. Once you’re established, referrals are like an engine that just keeps sending you more business.

Even in the beginning, the vast majority of new freelance bookkeepers get their very first client by simply letting their existing friends and professional contacts know that they are starting their own bookkeeping business. It’s the easiest first step to getting the wheels moving on your word-of-mouth marketing program.

Did you catch that?

If you’re just getting started (or you’ve hit a dry spell), brainstorm a list of everyone you can talk to about what you’re doing. Share the good news about your bookkeeping services with friends, family and any other contacts you have.  Let them know you are taking on new clients and ask for their help in your search. If you can describe the exact type of clients you like working with best, that will make it easier for them to find someone to refer your way.

And by the way, don’t assume that everyone in your life already knows what you do for a living. They probably don’t. And the truth is, you never know who they know that may need your services!

The Downside to Word-of-Mouth Marketing

There is, however, a problem with this marketing strategy.

It’s really a shot-gun approach. While it’s quite possible that you will get quick results from your initial awareness campaign, you need to focus your ongoing word-of-mouth message more specifically on those closer to your Ideal Clients (aka a specific segment of the small business market).

The easiest way to do that is to go where your potential clients gather. By doing so, you will not only have more opportunities to strike up conversations with those who may wish to hire you directly, but also with those who regularly have contact with your potential clients.

Where might that be? The basic answer is at networking events or any other location (online or offline) where your best clients might gather to talk shop or socialize (such as at Chamber of Commerce meetings, a golf club, LinkedIn Groups, charity events, industry-specific conferences, etc.)

A Key Source of Targeted Referrals

Referrals work because they are built on relationships. And in this economic and technological climate, social interaction is extremely powerful.

That being said, the best source of high quality client referrals will come from those who are already working with the clients you want to snag. Therefore, building strategic relationships with professionals whom you can complement is the #1 way for freelance bookkeepers to build a solid referral engine.

For most of us, that means building strategic alliances with CPAs and accountants. (You may also consider strategic relationships with lawyers, insurance agents and any other small business service professionals who focus on serving the same clients you do).

Yet, as powerful as these relationships are, I’ve heard time and again how frustrating it can be to “crack the code” on getting referrals from accountants.

If you’ve run into that roadblock too, you’ll be glad to know that I’m holding a FREE teleseminar specifically for freelance bookkeepers and QuickBooks consultants on how to build mutually beneficial relationships with CPAs and accounting firms.

Together with CPA networking expert Val Barschaw, we’ll reveal the simple strategies that you can use immediately to connect with CPA firms and accountants to kick YOUR referrals and word-of-mouth marketing into high gear.

If you want to listen in on this exclusive 1-hour FREE training call, mark your calendar now for next Wednesday, July 27 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
Then click here to claim your spot on the call.

So whether you’re looking for just one or two new clients, or you’re ready to ramp up your business with a whole slew of new clients as quickly as possible, what are YOU going to do right now to get your word-of-mouth marketing going?

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Resources

FREE Teleseminar:

“Effective Methods for Building Strategic Alliances with CPAs and Accountants”

Recommended Book:

The Referral Engine by John Jantsch

Tagged As: bookkeeper marketing, find clients, networking, new clients, referral, referrals