Oxygen… So Does Your Business
The rapture of the deep. That’s what Jacques Cousteau called it. Technically it’s called nitrogen narcosis.Divers breath compressed air. Usually it’s oxygen, but some commercial and technical divers breath other mixtures of compressed gasses. Beginning with the work of a French scientist named T. Junod in 1835, scientists observe altered behavior in divers breathing compressed gasses.”I am personally quite receptive to nitrogen rapture. I like it and fear it like doom… “the rapture of the deep” has one salient advantage over alcohol: no hangover. If one is able to escape from it’s zone, the brain clears instantly and there are no horrors in the morning. I cannot read accounts of a record dive without wanting to ask the champion how drunk he was.”-Jacques Cousteau, in The Silent WorldYour brain has about 100 million brain cells. Did you know that the brain requires 10x the amount of oxygen that the rest of your body does to function properly? There are many cases where divers appear to be all right, just a little altered (similar to being drunk), but when they surface, they have no recollection of what happened during their dive at all.Narcosis slows the communication between cells, and therefore, slows down your thinking and reaction times.
What Does Nitrogen Narcosis Have to Do With My Bookkeeping and Tax Practice?
Your business needs oxygen too. Without a “marketing mind set” your business will falter and eventually fail, just like a diver with nitrogen narcosis.Over 20 years ago, Jay Conrad Levinson, the author of Guerilla Marketing, changed the way that entrepreneurs thought about marketing. Although written 20 years ago, much of what he said still applies today.
How Do I Find Enough Clients to Support My Tax and Accounting Practice?
As you consider starting your new business and make a list of the top two or three things that would make your business a success today, your marketing effort should top the list.Many small business struggle with their marketing efforts because they don’t know where to start. Putting the pieces together so they make sense can be challenging without the right mind-set.
What is the Guerilla Marketing Mind-Set?
A marketing mind-set starts with you… not the company, not the market and not the clients. Your goal – to become “market ready.”In the spirit of guerilla marketing, marketing is everything you do or say that your prospects and customers see and hear from you. This includes everyone you meet, every vendor contact, every sign, every point of contact and every communication. A guerrilla marketing mind-set requires thinking about marketing at times you normally wouldn’t. According to Mr. Levinson, “The marketing mind-set is dedicated to the idea that each person and every activity in a company or organization should be focused daily on the following question: How am I building awareness with my prospects and clients through our marketing?”
But I’m Not a Marketer… I’m Starting a Tax Practice
You don’t have to be. But Allen Bostrom, author of In the Black: Nine Principles to Make Your Business Profitable flatly states, “Nothing happens until you make the sale.”In other words, you need clients to build your practice. But it’s not difficult… with the right mind-set.
Aren’t You Born with this Mind-Set?
Nope. Just like any other skill, a marketing mind-set must be developed. It’s all about your attitude. Think about marketing the same way you think about your bills. You’ve got to pay your bills every month, don’t you?You might be thinking, “How does having a marketing mind-set do anything to help find and keep clients?”With a marketing mind-set, you become realistically aware of the opportunities to market your business that surround you every day. Have you ever noticed that when you purchase a new car, you see other cars that are the same model and year as yours? Why is that?Because you are more aware. When you have a marketing mind-set, you will naturally become more aware of marketing opportunities for your business that are all around you. You’ll find things fall into place more easily and naturally.Words to Live ByKeep this Guerrilla Marketing Creed where you can see it and refer to it often:
- I am committed to marketing. I will always think of my client’s needs and desires first, and shape my business, products and services around them.
- I will approach my thinking creatively, using my talents and all available resources to develop the best solutions for clients and customers.
- I will always strive to improve my marketing knowledge, seeking new and innovative ways to develop products and services and ways to communicate with customers and prospects.
- I will give all my customers and prospects the proper attention all the time. This will be done in a proactive manner, not a reactive one.
- I will continue to seek out new business opportunities. These include strategic alliances, fusion marketing, joint ventures, cooperation and other partnerships.
- I will “think marketing” all the time.
The Professional Tax Preparer Certification Will Teach You How to Market Your Services
A unique feature of the Professional Tax Preparer Certification is thorough training of tried and true marketing techniques and strategies that will help you find and keep clients. You’ll draw upon the expertise of some of the most talented marketing minds in the tax and accounting industry.You’ll learn about powerful marketing methods and enable your guerilla marketing mind-set to amplify your efforts to find and keep more clients.At Universal Accounting, we believe your education isn’t complete unless it enables you to create the lifestyle and income you and your family need and deserve. That’s why our dedicated team of tax and marketing professionals are with you every step of the way. From the finest DVD-based distance learning program available anywhere to skilled and qualified coaches who are waiting to help you with answers to your questions over the phone, we’re there for you.
