Any suggestions on advertising

[Poldenacc]

Hi all,
I have recently started up a new accountancy business, working from home. Was hoping to pick people's brains on what would be the most effective form of advertising.

How do you advertise/get new clients? Does anyone pay for advertising online (yell.com, etc), do people do direct mailings?

Any ideas gratefully received.

Thanks
Karen

[Jaykay]

I do try to keep an eye on the advertising.

FWIW I find that people expect me to be in Yellow Pages but I get NO new business from there at all. I have this year cut back from £750 to £150.

I have an ad in the phone book but again, a waste of time.

I have recently been approached by a company who will guarantee to to get me onto page 1 of Google search page when the person types in Accountants in my area. I shall see how that works.

Sounds obvious but word of mouth is best but you need clients to give those words. I get about 2 - 3 new clients this way each week, the paid for advertising gives me nothing at all.

Good luck!

[Spongebob]

I've just had a quick look at your website, and while it looks very nice and professional I think you're missing a trick by making it too 'corporate'. You say that you are just starting up working from home, presumably as a one woman band. Yet your website gives the impression of a bigger firm.

My accountant works by himself from home and one of the main reasons why he is so successful in attracting and keeping clients is because of that. As he has next to no overheads his charges are very reasonable and clients are assured of his personal attention - because there is nobody else!

Many small businesses want exactly this kind of service from an accountant, rather than being lost amongst the hundreds of clients of a larger firm. If I was in your shoes I would emphasise the fact that I was a one-person firm offering a personal service to small companies. I would also trade under my own name rather than 'hiding' behind a corporate banner; it gives the impression of being more trustworthy. Your name is not mentioned once on your website!

If the girl with the headset on is you, then make that clear. If it is just a stock photo then lose it - it's too cheesy for words!

Just my two-pennorth....

[DFL]

In my opinion, others may diagree, advertising is a waste of time unless through very carefully selected media to tie in to your target market.

Stick an ad in Yellow Pages for example and you will be up against countless other firms, with bigger budgets for bigger ads. You may get a few responses but they will usually be selecting purely on price, or be unsuitable for other reasons.

I see that you are a management accountant as well as CTA so you can differentiate yourself by offering firms an annual package to include management reports, pro active tax advice as well as year end compliance. You would get more take up on this type of service by targetting the type of firms that would welcome this pro active service, rather than by advertising to the world at large.

There are many ways to do this and with a little imagination i'm sure you can think of many more. The investment is more of a time cost on your part rather than financial but this investment of time is usually well rewarded.

Some pointers to start with:

1. Speak to your local bank managers and ask for referrals. Banks require up to date management accounts as well as historic financial accounts for lending these days, and are therefore keen for their customers to work with pro active accountants who can provide up to the minute information.

2. Attend networking meetings. You will have good opportunity to promote your business to other local firms and introducers.

3. Speak to Business Link for reasons outline in (1)


Ensure that before you do run a concentrated campaign that you have a defined taregt client and have genuine USP's to entice them to choose you above the competition.

Also, be selective about who you do work for, if the potential client is not suitable for your business then have the courage to turn them away, no matter how hard that is in the early stages. Don't just think of turnover, think profit, suitability, risk and even whether you could get on with the client.

Good luck.

[Spongebob]

Don't just think of turnover, think profit, suitability, risk and even whether you could get on with the client.

Good luck.

That goes for all businesses, not just accountants.

Whether you get on with the client is a very important factor, not only from a business point of view but also to make life pleasant.

If a potential client doesn't pass my 'likeability test' I won't deal with them. Life's too short to be spending time with people you don't get on with.

[transporter7]

can a ltd company trade witout any directors or secratary

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi all,
I have recently started up a new accountancy business, working from home. Was hoping to pick people's brains on what would be the most effective form of advertising.

How do you advertise/get new clients? Does anyone pay for advertising online (yell.com, etc), do people do direct mailings?

Any ideas gratefully received.

Thanks
Karen

Hi Karen

When you start up its a bit of a catch 22 because most of your work will come from referrals but until you get a few good clients you wont get any referrals!

In my experience, having set up 2 practices, advertising is generally a waste of time and money unless you can advertise in a small local publication like a parish newsletter.

You need to get your name known locally and I agree with DFL - bank managers and other professionals, solicitors and IFA's are a great source of new business. Get to meet as many of these people asap - nothing hard sell just get friendly with them and remember its a two way street.

For some immediate work a well written mailshot to your target clients will bring in work. It can take a while to get the format right but it does work. Dont always expect an immediate response though. I still get new clients from letters I wrote over 12 months ago! Do also pop 2 business cards with each letter (a tip I got from the 2020 Group and it does work)

Also always ask new clients for referrals - a happy new client can often be a great source of new clients.

Good luck:)

[MyAccountantOnline]

Just an added thought - dont know if you use AccountingWeb but have a look there too. Do some searches and you'll probably find some other helpful tips.

Nicola

[Poldenacc]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my question - I really appreciate the suggestions, and have already changed my website as a result of spongebob's comments. Will revise further after easter hols as I like the idea of appearing smaller and more personal as that was the angle I was aiming for.

If anyone else has any comments on the website, please let me know.

Thanks again
Karen

[MBS Accountants]

Agree with many of the others that advertising generally doesn't work.

I have though recently had some success with a localised (within 20miles) adwords campaign.

This has attracted around 15 clients since November.

Other than that I've had one from a mail shot, one from a parish magazine, maybe 5 from yellow pages / yell.com and the rest from referrals.

Agree though to point out the pluses of being professional but small and give that impression on your website.

[internetspaceships]

That goes for all businesses, not just accountants.

Whether you get on with the client is a very important factor, not only from a business point of view but also to make life pleasant.

If a potential client doesn't pass my 'likeability test' I won't deal with them. Life's too short to be spending time with people you don't get on with.

I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with you here.

Whether I like a person or not, if they put money in my pocket I'll take it.

Now, if they don't deal fairly then that's a different matter entirely but I have never held with turning business away just because I think someone is a d*ck.

That's just bad business sense.

Kind Regards

Jon

[DFL]

I'd agree with you usually however we are discussing a service industry and as the OP is the one personally providing the service then it does make good business sense to turn away unsuitables or people not liked. I agree entirely with Spongebob.

In this industry, accountants should be looking at obtaining clients for life. This is a long time to work with someone and there is no end date. For these reasons it would not make good business sense to work with someone that you don't feel you could get on with. There are more than enough clients to go round without having to work with people that you don't want to.

If it was a straightforward buy and sell, i'd sell to the devil but this isn't the case here.

[DFL]

If anyone else has any comments on the website, please let me know.

Thanks again
Karen

Karen

The site is clean and easy to navigate. Those are the good points.

Areas to improve?

1. Wording. There is nothing about the business to differentiate from any other firm and does not entice prospective clients to choose you above the competition.

2. SEO. I searched "Bridgwater Accountants" on Google and your site didn't appear. You are missing a trick here. Get the site optimised and you will generate leads from it. Many prospectives find their accountants this way and as someone suggested earlier, the more clients you get the more you will get from referrals. Get on google maps too.