• Cheaper. Yellow page advertising can cost thousands of dollars per month. With online advertising through Bing or Google, you can yield more results with $600/month. The cost of printing and distributing direct mail can outweigh the benefits of a response.
• Faster.  You don’t have to wait for printing or for an issue to be released. You can instantly publish, revise, and pause your online marketing at will.
• Measurable. Offline marketing can be measured as robustly as online marketing. For example, programs like Mouseflow and Lucky Orange allow you to actually summarize every mouse movement on every page of your website. Google Analytics allows you track countless metrics including where your visitors came from, what pages they visited, the order in which they visited pages, and the number of responses (sales leads) you got from which page. Unbounce Pages and Google Optimizer allow you to test 2 advertisements against each other to determine which one performed better. Ion Interactive allows you do complex “multivariate” testing.
• Changeable. You cannot change a book, advertisement, or piece of paper once it’s been printed. Online marketing can be quickly changed when you find errors or simply want to make a switch.
Advantages of online marketing from Dekker Fraser
• Customizable. You can decide what visitors see what through segmentation. This is more difficult to do with offline marketing because you’d have to mail out an entire catalogue of information.
• Easier to target niche markets. There are plenty of niche magazines out there, but there are far more niche blogs. You can hand-pick which sites you want to advertise on.
• Involves fewer people (and hence, fewer problems). With offline marketing, you generally require different people for printing, distribution, and marketing strategy/design. With offline marketing, there is no distribution or printing.
• Looks better. Design usually looks much better on screen than it does in print.
• More creativity options. Online marketing can involve animations and interactive elements that engage users. Users can segment themselves and participate in the marketing.
• Easier testing/prototyping. It’s far easier to conduct experiments with prototypes using online promotion than with physical distribution.
• Printing quality assurance isn’t necessary.
• Pay-for-performance rather than for placement.
• Automated. For example, you can make it so visitors to your site continue to see ads for your product/service as they browse the Internet. You can also set a budget per day and have an Adwords campaign run itself.

A lot of service-providers think that the key to getting new clients is being on the 1st page of Google or a newspaper. While 1st-page placement certainly helps, it is not the key to getting new clients. The secret is having a simple, multi-step process:

1. That process begins with giving away something for free. The easiest thing to give away is a 1-page guide on “choosing a law firm/accounting firm/web designer/lawn care company/whatever your service company is.” You might also give away an offer such as a 50% off coupon. A “Free consultation” is often perceived as having zero value because it’s seen as a sales pitch. You could try giving away a video, article, ebook, demonstration, etc.

2. Give away your valuable, free item in exchange for an email address or other contact information. So technically your item isn’t free…you’re exchanging it for contact information. The easiest way to give away this item is through what’s called a “lead-capture page” or “landing page.” These are simple, 1-page websites designed to promote the free offer.

3. Once you collect the contact information, you can follow-up with more useful, valuable, and educational information. You’re doing this to build trust, credibility, and familiarity. Prospects don’t like the idea of buying services from a stranger. The easiest way to provide this information is through sending emails with the program MailChimp. You can also include the content on your blog, on Slideshare, and on social media. Reuse the same information over and over. For example, a blog article can be made into a slideshow, a slideshow can be made into a YouTube video, and a YouTube video can be made into an inforgraphic that you post on Pinterest.

4. If possible, provide more free offers intermixed with the educational content.

5. Once you’ve had a few interactions with the client, you can start asking them to book a free consultation. The easiest way to do this it to send out an e-mail with a link to a “landing page” that asks the prospect to book an appointment.

6. Keep sending more useful information and include links to book a free consultation or to book an appointment.

So you’re thinking about getting your accounting firm’s website developed. Where do you go from here? Well the first thing you’ll want to do is ignore 99% of the accounting websites out there. Why? Because most accounting websites are narcissistic: they talk so much about themselves while ignoring the needs of their prospective clients. Your website should be about 90% client-centered:

• Prospective clients want to see success stories — the results you got for your clients. This should probably be the focus of your website homepage.
• Describe problems your prospects face and the solutions you offer.
• Include images that your clients can relate to.
• Talk a lot less about your firm.

How can your website development capture new clients? Many website development companies focus too much on technical expertise or design expertise. But the real value of a website comes with its ability to perform. And for most firms, that means bringing in new business. The key to attracting new clients is giving away something for free. This might be a 1-page guide to choosing an accounting firm or a 25-page ebook on improving profitability. In fact, if all you want is new clients, you may not need a new website at all. “Lead-capture pages” or “landing pages” can be 300% better at getting new clients than websites. And they’re a lot cheaper and faster to produce as well.

What to look for in an accounting website developer

• They give you ability to update the website yourself
• They offer good customer service
• They have specialized knowledge on marketing professional services like accounting
• They understand the needs of your clients
• They understand sales funnels and how to generate sales leads
• They are up-to-date with technology like WordPress
• They are familiar with advertising methods like Google Adwords
• They cater your website to your specific needs

Contact me if you would like to discuss your new website: dfraser@flamedesign.ca | 1-604-801-5585

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One-of-a-kind accounting website!
Best accounting web design I’ve seen so far

Identify the primary concern of your roofing customers

Make contact information prominent and offer free estimates

Website focus should be on generating sales leads  — getting roofing clients

Outline competitive advantages

List your main roofing services

Prove your credibility as a roofing company

Include testimonials from your customers

Show past projects that were successful

Promote your website through Google advertising to get more business

Treehouse (teamtreehouse.com) exemplifies modern, friendly web design.

Large, bright, 3D button tells the user what to do. The call-to-action button looks very pressable and changes colour when you put your mouse over it.

Homepage is designed like a lead-generation landing page

The main navigation is basically non-existent because the homepage is designed to get people to click the green button.

Website is full of educational content

Providing educational content is the epitome of modern web marketing. When you provide useful information that solves people’s problems, they are far more likely to link to your site. Educational content  improves both your sales/conversions and your ranking on search engines.

Funny guy peaking around the corner

This goofiness makes the brand friendly, goofy, approachable.

Consistent use of brand colours – even in the video player!

Customer logos are greyed out

Design elements that “break out of the box”

Alternating vector images with photography

Avoiding pure black on pure white

Pure black on white is irritating to the eyes on back-lit monitors.

Relating to the customer via success stories – not just through testimonials

Readers are more likely to believe case studies than testimonials.

Submission form text is inside the entry fields. Text is large and friendly.

Almost all links change colour, opacity, or colour when you put your mouse over them. These hover states can be subtle or strong.

Light blue used to section-off content

Vector icons make the site friendlier / cartoon-like

Lots of free previewing to motivate purchase

Logo operates as the “home” button

Very large fonts

Disqus comments

Blog designed to get conversions rather than just reads

Blog organized by categories rather than archive date

Circular photograph frames

Emphasis on content rather than navigational hierarchy. Notice the lack of a sub-navigation on this page.

Limited purchase options can improve sales. Too many choices can deter purchase.

Do you really need more accounting clients?

Before you go seeking new accounting clients, focus a bit more on the clients you already have. Chances are you could be selling them a lot more services that they aren’t even aware you provide. The truth is, most accounting clients don’t know the full extent of the services their accountants provide. Research has found that service providers significantly overestimate how much their clients know about them. One of the biggest complaints clients have of their accountants is lack of communication. I suggest you send out an email to your existing clients asking if they could use help with anything. Also include a list of the services you provide.

Ask for referrals: sounds easy, but not enough accountants do it

The #1 reason clients don’t refer you to others is simple: you never asked them to! Simply put the word out there that you’re looking for referrals and you’ll get them. It’s far easy to get referrals if you specialize in some industry or service. Keep in mind that even a strong referral won’t guarantee you a new client. The prospect is most likely going to search for you on the Internet beforehand to confirm your legitimacy. So make sure your website communicates your competitive advantages; i.e., why someone should choose your accounting firm over the hundreds of other ones in your city. A strong referral can also be negated if your prospect finds someone else who know is a specialist in his/her industry.

The miracle worker: Google advertising, done correctly, is the easiest way to get new clients

Google advertising is usually done incorrectly. The first big mistake advertisers do is send traffic directly to your homepage. This can be a complete waste of money because homepages aren’t usually designed to generate leads. What you need to do is hire a lead-generation company like Flame Design to create for you what’s called a “lead-generation page” or “landing page.” These are simple, one-page websites completely focused on one goal: generating new leads. If you send traffic to a properly-crafted landing page, you’ll get a collection of potential new customers. The way you capture those accounting leads is by offering some sort of free offer like a brochure, video, or article. I can explain in detail what this entails if you contact me at dfraser@flamedesign.ca.

The second big mistake accountants and advertisers make is advertising for keywords that aren’t relevant. By default, Google uses what’s called “broad search.” This means if you advertise for the word “accountant”, you’ll also be paying for ads for “accountant jobs.” This is a waste of money because you want more clients, not necessarily wannabe accountants. Your web design / Internet marketing company needs to identity the EXACT keywords to advertise for, such as “accounting consultant.”

Note: Bing advertising can be more effective than Google in markets where there is a lot of competition among accounting firms.

Blog about things your clients care about

You need to blog about things that are relevant to your clients and their industries. Don’t spout news about your firm that nobody cares about. Distribute these blog articles through LinkedIn Groups. For example, if you wrote an article called “Improving profitability in construction companies” post that on all the construction industry groups on LinkedIn.

The #1 mistake people make with blogging is not having an offer on their blogs. Traffic to your blog is useless if you don’t convert those visitors into prospective clients. You need to give away something like a brochure or video in exchange for the visitor’s e-mail address.

Get to the 1st page of Google: search engine optimization for accounting firms

A lot of professional service providers think their problems would be solved if they could just be on the 1st of Google. This isn’t true. I ranked on the 1st page of Google for several of the most competitive keywords in my city and my sales leads did not improve whatsoever. You need to make sure you have some sort of sales funnel for when potential clients come to your website. So this means you need to have a free offer you give away in exchange for the prospect’s email address. Then you need to follow up with educational accounting information. After several interactions, that prospect will become your accounting client.

Getting to the 1st page of Google will lately take 3+ months to achieve for reasonably competitive keywords. Some things you can do to improve your ranking:

• Write an article for a website that has a higher page rank than yours (such as money.com, the Globe and Mail, New York Times, etc.) and have it link back to yours.
• Hire an online marketing company like Flame Design to help you
• Write lots of long and high-quality blog articles
• Produce Slideshare slideshows on accounting topics
• Produce videos on how to improve profitability, cash flow, and other accounting topics

Make sure your accounting website looks nothing like other accounting websites

Most accounting websites are completely focused on the firm itself. This is the wrong approach. If you want more accounting clients, your website needs to be client-oriented. This means structuring your site around the needs of the specific industries and types of clients you serve. For help with this, contact a web design agency that has expert knowledge on professional service marketing such as Flame Design.

The key to marketing your accounting firm online is success stories. Talk about how you improved profits, reduced debt, and helped grow your clients’ businesses. Use specific cases with specific numbers. Testimonials are easy to dismiss, but the specific results you attained are less easy to dispute.

Have a package to sell

Most accountants try to sell time to their clients. Try bundling your services into value-added packages and you’ll find sales will improve.

Give speeches

If you want to get a lot more clients in the construction industry, then try giving a speech on “Top 10 profit-hindering practices in the construction industry.” Or for a broader approach to obtaining clients, speak at your Rotary Club meetings or Chamber of Commerce luncheons.

Write “how to” articles

Every potential clients wants to know how to do something. Chances are it has something to do with improving profits and lowering taxes. Try to tailor your articles to specific audiences and you’ll find it easier to get published. Consider niche magazines and industry publications.

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Positivemoney.org was revamped with one of the most modern interfaces I’ve seen on the web.

Vertical navigation with icons. We’re seeing more icons in navigation menus as web design is influenced by app design.

Brand mark repeated in background “wallpaper” to reinforce the brand

Large navigation buttons

Large social media buttons

Large, grey text. Grey text is more appropriate on a pure white background than black.

Text field text is actually inside the text field rather than on top of it

Information condensed into digestible chunks

Subtle grey/blue to differentiate sections

Disqus commenting

Alternating (zigzaging) text and images

3rd level navigation is directly below the 2nd level navigation, but not indented. This is an interesting approach…

 Big buttons tell the user what to do

Easy tabbing system puts information into short chunks without overwhelming the reader

Animations that aren’t created using Flash

PayPal payments

by Dekker Fraser
Dekker helps accountants get more clients
dfraser@flamedesign.ca

Mazuma has one hell of a unique accounting website.

Web design oriented around the client rather than the accounting firm

Powerful brand colours make the company memorable

Mascot makes the firm more approachable and memorable. Mascots are becoming increasingly more important among large companies trying to capture market share.

Multiple “call-to-action” drive sales for the firm. This accounting firm does an excellent job plastering their site with many different buttons that ask the user to take action.

It’s easier to sell your services when you package them into purchasable packages. Selling gets even easier when you’ve branded those packages well with a unique brand name. This helps differentiate your services from your competitors. Clients feel happy buying clear-cut packages.

Visual demonstration of value

Brand voice differentiates the firm from the competition. Having one is a competitive advantage.

Phone # easy to find

Some areas for improvement

Text is a little too close to the left and right edges

Brochure PDF download doesn’t work

Contact page should probably have a submission form

Adding a blog would help tremendously with getting more clients. Especially if each article includes some call-to-action such as “download this brochure.”

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by Dekker Fraser
Dekker helps accountants get more clients
dfraser@flamedesign.ca

CPA.com has released a whitepaper on trends in the accounting profession. It’s based on research from Dr. Geoffrey Moore and is summarized below.

Major trends in client accounting services

1. Digitization: Going from paper documents to digital.
2. Virtualization: Business affairs are being conducted online rather in person. Forward-thinking clientele see meetings in real life as “imposing an unwarranted inconvenience upon them.”
3. Transformation: Organizations are no longer doing everything internally. Specialized tasks are outsourced, providing a low barrier to entry to small business entrepreneurs and medium-sized businesses. This explosion in the number businesses presents a huge opportunity for accountants to serve as trusted business advisors.

“Never was there a better time for the accounting profession to play a value-adding trusted advisor role.”

Recommendations

1. “Streamline your workflow processes to be location-independent – all online, all digital.”
2. “Reengineer your internal communications and collaboration practices to support a virtual organization.”
3. “Extend your target market’s geographical boundaries while maintaining your focuson target industry and core differentiation.”
4. “Migrate the focus of your client dialogs from compliance to business improvement.”
5. “Enlighten your clients as tothe status and the trends in their business.”
6. “Participate in the industry forums of your target market, establishing yourself and your colleagues as trusted advisors.”

Key areas to invest in

1. Migrate small business systems from your computer to the cloud.
2. Conduct your business interactions online.
3.  “Adapt enterprise Business Intelligence approaches to address SMB client needs.”

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