In September, 1996, my CPA firm partnership broke up and I started my solo CPA firm. I was seeking ideas for marketing my practice.
I went to a Success seminar and bought a marketing kit from one of the speakers, named Dan Kennedy. One of the “bonuses” with the kit was a 15-minute telephone consultation call with Dan.
I asked him, “What marketing strategy do you suggest for a CPA firm that’s getting started?”
Dan said, “The one thing that seems to work most consistently for professional firms is a newsletter. Don’t use a commercially-produced newsletter. Everyone has a stack of those. Produce and mail your own newsletter in your own words that shows your own personality.”
I immediately started writing and mailing newsletters.
A friend who is an insurance consultant said, “Your newsletter is the best I’ve seen.” A lawyer friend said, “Mike, I read your newsletter. I read ALL of it!”
Eventually, I wrote three newsletters: one for general tax issues, one for real estate issues, and one relating to employee stock options.
This is the one consistent practice that I think produced the most business for me over the years.
Eventually, we converted to emailing our newsletters, except we mailed them to current clients. Newsletters are archived on our web site. After I sold my tax practice on January 1, 2018, we only continued the general tax newsletter, which incorporates real estate and employee stock option issues.
I still get calls: “I’ve been reading your newsletters for years and need help with this tax problem…” (I refer these people to the successor for my CPA firm.)
Is your business sending a newsletter on a regular basis? I think you should, at least monthly, to remind your customers, clients or patients and your circle of influence that you’re there to serve them and that you’re thinking of them. If you wait a year, they might well have forgotten you. Certainly, you won’t be “top of mind” to refer to their friends.
Maybe you just don’t have time to write a newsletter or you’re not comfortable with writing one.
I’m available to help a few business owners produce this fundamental marketing tool. To discuss this further, please contact me to schedule a call at mgray@profitadvisors.com.