The ProMarketer Podcast (Christian Jones)

Back in the early 2000's, Nate Hagerty was the Marketing Director of a tax firm that grew from one little tax and accounting office ... into a multi-office tax empire that employed over 400 people in 15 different market areas and served over 27,000 clients.

Building a business empire like this required many small acts of decision along the way.

One of the primary ones -- can I build this without sacrificing everything else in my life?

In this podcast, Nate interviews the then-president of this tax business, who managed to build and lead this team ... all while he had plenty of time to spend with his 4 kids under 10 years old AND a maintain a thriving marriage at the same time. (Nate knows this because he spent plenty of time with them at their house at the time, and has remained close friends even as their professional paths took them to different places.)

On this webinar interview, Chauncey Hutter, Jr. shares what he discovered in asking himself these three critical questions:

• How can I cut my workload, but still keep growing the business?

• How can I reduce payroll costs and rapidly increase profits?

• How can I add extra passive income streams without hurting operations?

Christian Jones (TPM Vice President), Ben Greutman (Director of Innovation), and Troy Lakey (TPM COO) coming at you with the six most notorious mistakes they’ve seen tax pros make with their marketing (and how to avoid making them).

See, not utilizing the tools that are already at your fingertips to reach prospective clients or retain existing ones is ensuring that your business stalls out, crashes, and burns.

Failing to make the most of email marketing and texting tools, failing to ask for reviews, failing to follow up on good leads — these all spell disaster for growth in the tax and accounting services industry (as does nitpicking over minute details on a website and delaying putting it out on the web as soon as possible).

If you want to see new leads and real growth you’ve got to make sure you’re taking advantage of the marketing tools that foster connection with prospective clients and get your business true online visibility.

While the culture war rages on (and yes, it's pretty hot today) ... there is an entirely different kind of storm on the horizon.

And tax professionals are perfectly primed for it ... maybe.

And we’re seeing good things RIGHT NOW in the advertising data ... and we’ve got some thoughts on what is coming for tax resolution services.

Hint: it's going to be a BIG deal.

The head of Tax Resolution Academy (and longtime TaxProMarketer agency client) Dan Henn, CPA, offers his 10,000-foot perspective and how your practice can ride this rocketship -- EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT AN EA or CPA.

As you must know ... the expiration of the PPP, and the EIDL programs (and various sundry pandemic credits) will expose many zombie companies for what they are -- and will inevitably create some 941 "issues".

Not to mention the very likely recession to come.

But as you must know -- this translates into an opportunity to be of great service. There will be thousands and thousands of taxpayers in distress with the IRS.

And they need YOU -- the caring local professional ... NOT the hyperdrive national sales outfits who are just looking for the next tally on their whiteboards.

The very good news is that we have been hitting upon some campaigns that are driving MAJOR leadflow for these services -- right now.

We share all of that in this session as well as how you can set up your own campaigns for maximum conversions.

As we turn ourselves towards 2023, lead quality is king.

There are things you can do to *attract* the right kinds of prospective clients to your practice that absolutely are worth your time investment.

Often, that involves using social media. But if we’re honest…  

Facebook is full of geriatrics. Twitter is a dumpster fire. TikTok is famously full of BAD tax advice. Instagram doesn’t easily lend itself to accounting and tax practices… 

Yet LinkedIn is full of business owners (high-income earners) looking for sound solutions (and trusted advisors) RIGHT NOW. When the other social media platforms fail, LinkedIn can be an exception — if you do it right.

For this episode, we brought two friends — national LinkedIn expert Anthony Simonie and sales coaching aficionado Donald Stojack — to do a live masterclass session with TPM CEO Nate Hagerty on how to optimize your profile and use it the way it really should be used. You’ll walk away with tons of practical tips for using LinkedIn plus the chance to further connect with Anthony and Donald. 

Anthony’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonysimonie?trk=author_mini-profile_title

Donald’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldstojack

Click here to book free session focused on optimizing your LinkedIn profile: www.CEsession.com/book-now 

A quick Google search shows that accounting firms have data breaches every day. And, it’s easy to think, “Oh, that won’t happen to my business. I’m too small for cyber thieves to care about” OR “I’ve got password security on lock.” But, with no dedicated cybersecurity or IT person monitoring (OR detecting) possible breaches, the most valuable data is vulnerable and at risk. And, worse, so is your reputation if it does happen.

And this is why Hossein Dadkhah (Advantage IT) got into cybersecurity for accounting firms: to help protect client data, detect intrusions, and help these companies build an informed response strategy for when trouble comes knocking.

In this episode, Hossein and ProMarketer Podcast host Nate Hagerty discuss the importance of cybersecurity for accounting firms and tax practices as well as ways to mitigate this issue for practitioners.

That starts with an assessment of your firm’s security: https://calendly.com/advantageit/acctra

As an accountant, do you feel stuck trying to grow your firm? Making more money requires taking on more clients or working more hours – which you likely don’t have capacity to do. The solution to getting your firm unstuck? Start offering CFO services. They need a business advisor they can trust. Be that for them. Because people are willing to pay more if you can help them have a better future. Adam Lean (Founder of the CFO Project) shares with host Christian Jones (TaxProMarketer CEO) how offering CFO services will make your accounting firm stand out from the pack.

Former accountant, now entrepreneur, Adam is the founder of his own CFO Advisory Firm. His experiences there mean he knows that business owners make decisions based on gut feeling. That’s why he shows them how to read between the lines of their financial reports — so they can make informed decisions that keep them in the black and move the profit needle higher. He now runs a mentorship program called the CFO Project, to show accountants how to grow their practices with business advisory services.

Resources

https://thecfoproject.com/192000-training

https://thecfoproject.com

As you’re probably aware, the tax and accounting world isn’t known for being the most cutting edge industry. Some practices still operate the exact same as they did decades ago, because… these approaches have stood the test of time – right?

Not necessarily. 

In 2013, Ryan Lazanis, CPA founded Xen Accounting, one of the first 100% cloud-based accounting firms. Following its acquisition in 2018, he pooled together his experience and entrepreneurial skill to birth Future Firm. Through Future Firm, Ryan provides education, community, and coaching to help accountants develop a strong business model and create a scalable, systematic firm – all while improving their lifestyle. 

Listen in to hear Ryan talk with Nate Hagerty (TaxProMarketer CEO) about pricing your services, preparing for a successful acquisition, the future of accounting, and building your firm so it is set for success today instead of stuck in autopilot.

Ryan currently educates over 7,000 firm leaders globally via his free weekly newsletter and coaches hundreds of successful accounting firms through his Future Firm Accelerate online coaching membership. Click here to learn more about the future of accounting:

https://futurefirm.co/

https://futurefirm.co/newsletter/

https://futurefirmaccelerate.com/

Join us for the next in our Spotlight Series as Nate Hagerty interviews Teri Suddard, a lifetime Delaware tax firm owner about how she’s pivoted to changing market conditions over the years, including the quick fixes she implemented to make this 2020 pandemic-impacted tax season successful despite its limitations. She’s enjoying the benefits that email marketing and local listings optimization have provided her in recent years and is already making some specific adjustments for next tax season.

The last three tax seasons have shifted a lot of tax and accounting professionals’ priorities. Some are considering shifting their pricing models. Others are trying to implement new marketing strategies to get better, more ideal clients. And there is a whole contingency looking for an exit plan to leave it all behind. 

Wherever you’re finding yourself on that spectrum, Michael Gordon (Not Your Basic Bean Counter) drops decades-worth of truth nuggets in this episode of the ProMarketer Podcast. Retired now, Micheal built a thriving CPA practice over many years and learned a thing or two about growing a business using strategies like “Take Mikey to Lunch”  and his own unique version of value billing.

Michael jumps into discussing the origins of Not Your Basic Bean Counter and how he gained a foothold into the realtor and renter’s association groups in his city becoming their go-to tax guy. In his practice, he built a culture that valued his workers and put relational connect as a top priority in their weekly meetings – something he thinks everyone should do in their business (big or small). 

When he began to approach retirement, he found that it wasn’t one big event or moment that brought on the shift, but rather taking baby steps. Now, he spends time advocating for fraud prevention in businesses, avidly reading the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) Report to the Nations. He even shares some juicy fraud stories with host Nate Hagerty (CEO TaxProMarketer) that’ll have you researching fraud prevention strategies. Michael is happy to share more – just shoot him an email (mike@mikegordoncpa.net).

Don’t get stuck in the sole proprietor trap as the owner of your tax/accounting business. Instead focus on hiring the right people who you could see filling your place and making your business grow. 

But hiring can feel like a hit or miss process. Sometimes you don’t know what kind of employee you have until you put work in front of them.

So, what kind of guidelines do you put in place for hiring the right employees? A few of them…

• Have a vision for what you want your business to be

• Fill your gaps, find your complements

• Hire for traits, not just skills

• Think about team fit

TaxProMarkter Founders Nate Hagerty and Troy Lakey talk about the specifics that guided them in the hiring process and helped them replace themselves and grow the agency.

After what some are calling the Worst Tax Season In a Generation — but during which many other practitioners THRIVED— what is coming for the 2023 tax season?

Based on our conversations with tax professionals, other accountants, industry leaders, and more ... we have some ideas.

Join Pronto Tax School founder, Andy Frye, and TaxProMarketer CEO, Nate Hagerty, as they rub their 2023 Tax Season Crystal Ball and share with you the picture that is taking shape.

You'll hear about...

* How tax business owners can get ahead of their competitors NOW to offload their terrible clients and prepare themselves to onboard BETTER clients than they've previously dealt with

* What we're hearing about IRS staffing levels, potential (radical) tax code changes, and industry-wide speculation about what's coming down the pike

* The BEST ways to prepare over the following months for what is to come in the tax season.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of it, but every year, 5 and a half MILLION parents get ready to send their kids off to college.

And … most of them completely overpay for the privilege.

They simply don’t understand the FAFSA system, and what the universities are looking for in their aid.

And who can blame them? It's a little like ... the tax code. (Ahem.)

Or, they are one of the 78% of all parents that make one or more critical errors on their financial aid paperwork that costs them tens of thousands of dollars.

(Almost like ... the self-prepared tax return crowd.)

Why is this important to you?

Because we recently hosted a webinar to show you exactly how to help these families AND make more money after tax busy season -- without killing yourself.

And, it can set you up to create revenue year-round, not just during tax season.

This system works for families regardless of how much money they make, or how good of a student they have.

This is not a sales pitch, in fact, this is a Q&A style training where the leading authority on this topic, Ron Caruthers, CPA (who is a longtime friend) answered questions regarding the college planning practice.

Ron started as a tax preparer, but years ago got involved in helping families plan and pay for college.

Not parents with babies, but parents of high school-aged kids who were desperate to figure out how to afford college without going deeply into debt. And he knows exactly how to help families—no matter how much money they make, how much they have or haven’t saved for college, or even how good of a student they have—get grant money for college and pay their share in the least intrusive way possible.

He has previously helped several of my members get a college planning practice started in addition to their tax business; and in many cases, the income from the college business is more than what they make from compliance work. AND the income is year-round, instead of just a few months out of the year.

On this call, he showed exactly how big the problem is that America faces, and several different ways to incorporate this into your existing business ... from making it a source of a few thousand dollars a month of consulting income to using it to attract new clients to your office—to making it the primary income source for you. He’ll even show you how to get a junior partner in to bring in new business while you run the rest of your office.

This is NOT a sales pitch (I'm sooo tired of those). In fact, think of it as a training session.

This is a great way to help your existing clients as well as other families in the community while growing and stabilizing your own income.

You’ll really enjoy it (and the families in your community that are stressed out over how to pay for college will thank you).

You will NOT be disappointed. Ron is one of my favorite people in the financial world and is super entertaining -- and eye-opening.

Every small business owner will experience business growth—at least they should.

With growth comes new opportunities, and new challenges to overcome, with very real growing pains.

• Hiring qualified staff members

• Client loyalty

• Maintaining your culture and values

• Your ever-evolving role as a business owner

• Leveraging new technologies

The list goes on and on.

In this episode, TPM CEO Christian Jones and long-time TPM client Anthony Mauriello, who grew from one office to six on the East Coast, explore the opportunities and challenges of business growth.

Listen in as Anthony details his transition from hands-on preparer to strategic CEO, offering valuable lessons for tax and accounting pros. Discover how determination, innovative strategies, and a focus on client value can drive business growth while keeping your passion alive.

Resources 

https://www.mytaxfella.com/tools-and-resources/

https://www.mytaxfella.com/blog

http://www.mytaxfella.com/

Connect with Anthony Mauriello: AnthonyMauriello@MyTaxFella.Com

It's very frustrating when a business owner uses different marketing techniques in an effort to promote and grow their business, but these efforts bear no fruit. It is even more frustrating when business owners take it upon themselves to do the marketing instead of concentrating on their core business.

In addition, many people think that having a nice looking website is enough for online marketing purposes, but in reality that is not the case. Online marketing is so much more than having a website. Therefore, it would be more economical for business owners to bring in professional marketers with more experience and who know what works best in a particular industry.

Nate Hagerty is the CEO of TaxProMarketer, a leading marketing agency serving CPA & tax firms. He started the company in 2007 and has served thousands of firms. His team handles all kinds of services so the CPAs just take care of their clients without worrying about marketing, SEO, web conversion, Google advertising, etc. Nate is a member of Mensa and is a multi-year honoree of the CPA Practice Advisor "40 under 40".

In this episode, Nate Hagerty, host of the ProMarketer’s podcast, gets interviewed by Dr. Jeremy Weisz about common mistakes CPA and tax accountants make in their marketing efforts. Nate explains why having a website is not enough, why there’s a need to nurture relationships through marketing, and talks about the main components of a converting website.

Anyone can slap up a Facebook page or a website and proclaim themselves an expert these days, even when it comes to tax marketing ideas.

And we're getting to the point at which we're all getting expert fatigue.

So instead of bringing you some flashy new guru in the space, I'm launching a new ongoing series in which we peek behind the curtains together at real experts.

George Bernard Shaw once said: those who can't do, teach.

And our TaxProMarketer client, Andy Frye ... he walks the walk. He leads his family's multi-location tax practice, and has been a member of our agency client family now for a few tax seasons.

We've seen his traffic, revenue, and profits SURGE over that time as we have implemented our tax marketing ideas on his behalf ... and we interviewed him recently to talk about exactly what he and his family do that makes their tax practice so special.

He's a real expert because he's doing the thing, and not trying to pump up his platform and build a following.

But he's building one, because he has a heart to serve, and he's actually a great teacher.

This won't just be "story time".

On this podcast, you'll discover …

+ What Andy and his team are working on RIGHT NOW to prepare for the upcoming tax season (yes, even now)

+ How he and his family built a decades-long practice with a reputation for serving, and phenomenal growth

+ What specific tax marketing ideas and leadership strategies Andy has used to build his practice to a multi-location, thriving enterprise, with healthy revenue and profits ... while still being able to take all the time off he needs

There are a lot of reasons people trust tax pros and accountants to manage their tax situations, but probably the biggest one is they need someone they trust who can confidently tackle the complicated details of tax compliance and dealing with the IRS.

But who’s looking out for tax pros and accountants when the IRS makes sudden requirement changes?

See, in 2019, the IRS added a question 11 to the W-12 PTIN application and renewal form, which read:

“As a paid tax return preparer, I am aware of my legal obligation to have a data security plan and to provide data and system security protections for all taxpayer information. Check the box to confirm you are aware of this responsibility.”

An innocuous question? Maybe not. 

After investing hours upon hours of research into creating a data security plan for a client, Andrew Lassise, founder and CEO of Tech4Accountants, discovered that this tiny little question had much larger implications. That’s when he knew he and his team could help.

Lassise's company is one of the leaders in the industry for establishing ACTUALLY IRS-compliant practices and building rock-solid fortresses of optimization and speed in their tech. As Andrew says, they take the "SH" out of IT for accountants and tax professionals.

Listen in as TPM’s Nate Hagerty and Andrew Lassise discuss data security plans, server backups, and the vulnerability of small firms in the hacking world. 

And get access to that detailed data security plan template mentioned in the podcast here:

Tech4accountants.net/taxpromarketer-wisp

Ever put selling and fun in the same sentence? 

If you’re like a lot of tax professionals and accountants, you shudder every time you have to think about sales. Sales feels like a slimy part of business… and it’s difficult to express your value and convince others of it too.

But…Selling doesn’t have to be hard. 

And it shouldn’t be about gimmicks. Selling is about offering solutions to solve people’s problems. More importantly, it’s a key part of turning the leads coming through your doors into actual paying clients. 

“But what if I’m not good at it?”  

Michelle Weinstein shares with host Christian Jones her easy (and surprising) selling formula, and the 3 P’s of selling that will help tax and accounting business owners convert leads and boost their bottom line.

Michelle Weinstein (founder of The Abundant Accountant) has helped numerous accountants grow their firms to seven figures and beyond by making selling FUN. 

She has successfully trained accountants, CPAs, EAs, bookkeepers, and other financial professionals how to charge higher fees and double their firm revenue, and…

She can help you too: https://theabundantcall.com.

Every CPA or tax firm wants to get more clients and grow. Now that things are continually moving towards the cloud or online space with mobile phone dominance everywhere, these professionals know they need to have an online presence that actually brings them ROI and not just paying for some cheap website service that doesn't bring in business. 

CPA & tax firms need someone to take them by the hand and do these things for them. Which is what Nate does.

Nate Hagerty is the CEO of TaxProMarketer, a leading marketing agency serving CPA & tax firms. He started the company in 2007 and has served thousands of firms. His team handles all kinds of services so the CPAs just take care of their clients without worrying about marketing, SEO, web conversion, Google advertising, etc. Nate is a member of Mensa and is a multi-year honoree of the CPA Practice Advisor "40 under 40".

Dr. Jeremy Weisz flips the script in this first episode to interview Nate Hagerty about the reasons for starting his company, CPA/tax firms’ biggest pain points, and how to onboard new customers seamlessly.

One of the primary ways people mess up their business is by larding it with unnecessary layers of complexity.

Whether that's by org charts, sales processes, weird staff incentive structures, or (especially) online marketing.

We slavishly imitate these corporate structures because we don't have the internal confidence to build something elegant and simple.

But you can build an elegantly simple marketing plan for your practice.

Don’t get tempted to drink the kool-aid of those tactically sound but strategically-dumb "gurus" who’ve "shortcutted" their way to seeming success and want to offer you a sweet drink of what they’re offering (for three easy payments).

Build a marketing plan RIGHT -- from the ground up.

Instead of the latest "hack," take a look at the fundamentals of marketing, AND how they should apply to your practice (in a very simple format).

We'll also keep you from the opposite trap in the doing: throwing up your hands and settling for the brochure-style, box-checking exercise that so many CPAs and accounting/tax practitioners enter into with the "cheap" templatized pabulum that is so rampant in our industry.

It's a very powerful, simple framework ... and one for which there are many effective online options.

AND (key part) ... it works.

Though the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) was designed to help businesses like yours during the COVID era, it’s turned out to be a big problem for the IRS. And they’re cracking down on wrongful claims. So, what happens if you submit a bad claim and the IRS comes at you with an audit? How will you fix it and avoid paying the serious consequences of improper filing?

Join ProMarketer Podcast host, Christian Jones, and special guest, Catherine Tindall*, CPA, founder of Dominion Enterprise Services (DES) as they discuss the essential due diligence needed to keep your clients compliant and avoid potential pitfalls with the ERC. 

*Catherine Tindall, CPA, saw the issues with the ERC from the get-go, and has worked to develop tools for tax professionals to help their clients get back into compliant positions with the IRS. Her expertise has been featured by Intuit and the Journal of Accountancy, and she has had over 16,000 professionals attend her continuing education seminars.

PPP Questions? Bring them on.

Because how often do you get the opportunity to pick the brain of the CEO of the nation's leading non-bank SBA lender? On this webinar, you can.

Join TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty as he interviews Chris Hurn, CEO of Fountainhead, the nation's leading non-bank SBA lender. Hurn and his executive team have collectively closed over $24.09 billion worth of projects -- including 8,200 PPP loans, totaling more than $767.05 million as of August 2020. They are specialists in the SBA 504 loan, as well as SBA 7(a) and low LTV conventional loan programs.

Because of a longstanding relationship with CEO, Nate Hagerty, Chris has generously offered TaxProMarketer clients and contacts the opportunity to ask him questions, hypotheticals, and get his insight on the PPP forgiveness process -- as well as help them discover other SBA programs that can ensure that they are a hero to their SMB clients (and optionally get paid brokerage fees in the process via the SBA).

Workflow troubles in your accounting firm? Deadlines piling up and keeping you up at night? Or worse –- falling through the cracks? 

When momentum picks up in your business, the stress of increased projects and due dates can take its toll… especially when things get missed. And because the accounting world literally RUNS on deadlines, managing them and your team well is critical if you want to scale your business.

Enter David Cristello, founder and CEO of Jetpack Workflow, an Inc 5000 company. Five years ago, David saw a big need for workflow improvement in accounting firms across the board. So, from his spare bedroom, he set out to develop simple systems for improving task management and creating visibility for better team oversight. 

Since then, he and the Jetpack Workflow team have helped 6,000+ firms complete over 3 million jobs on time, saving 10 or more hours in every work week. 

Here David shares with TPM CEO Nate Hagerty the two biggest productivity mistakes he sees accountants and bookkeepers make, the need for deadline automation and task triggers, and the financial benefit of creating customizable workflows.

Does your firm need a workflow boost? Head over to www.jetpackworkflow.com to get your 14-day free trial and access 32 free workflow templates and the Double Your Accounting Firm book. 

One common problem that arises when working with web designers is that they get paid to create a website and once that work is complete, they're done. They don't create content for the website. So if a company engages them, it would need a lot of time to create content. They also don't do online/email marketing, yet this is an important aspect of promoting a business.

The solution, therefore, would be for a business to find someone to walk them by the hand and do all that work on their behalf. Which is what Nate & Christian do.

Christian Jones is the Director of Search Marketing at TaxProMarketer and has been with the company for about four years. He oversees custom website production on behalf of clients as well as the implementation of TaxProMarketer’s search marketing strategy for client firms. Christian has established TaxProMarketer’s web presence strategy as the gold standard for the industry and is constantly making tweaks and updates to it on behalf of clients in order for them to stay ahead of the curve. 

Nate Hagerty is joined by Christian Jones and Dr. Jeremy Weisz to talk about the most common questions people tend to have when it comes to online marketing, why cookie-cutter websites don’t work, and how TaxProMarketer is different from other marketing companies.

Raising prices is becoming standard practice in businesses across America as inflation strikes and supply chains dry up. Couple that with the growing pressure on tax and advisory professionals all around the industry in the wake of 2020. It means now, more than ever, business owners and taxpayers are turning to you for help, even as the glaring issues at the IRS make the job harder than ever.

And that means you're doing more and working harder -- and your pricing structure needs to reflect that (for the sake of your longevity in the business). That’s right. It’s time to start raising prices.

In this new ProMarketer podcast, TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty and Vice President Christian Jones join Michelle Weinstein of The Abundant Accountant (aka The Pitch Queen) to talk about the why behind raising prices in your firm and exactly how to do it. 

Michelle and The Abundant Accountant team are dedicated to helping those in the tax and accounting industry grow their firms by making key shifts in pricing models to reduce stress and bring in quality clientele. You can schedule a call with them (https://theabundantaccountant.com/book-a-call/) to talk the current state of affairs in your firm and the exact next steps to take to increase revenue THIS tax season.

Take an hour out of your schedule to get practical tips and insights into the why behind raising prices and the importance of placing real value on what you bring to the table for your clients.

Many CPA/tax firms make the mistake of not focusing on using a relationship-oriented approach in their marketing efforts, throwing money blindly at online advertising, or setting very low prices. However, what they need is good strategies for advertising to prospects, new and existing clients, and cross-selling additional services without being too salesy. 

Nate Hagerty, the host of this show, is the CEO of TaxProMarketer, a leading marketing agency serving CPA & tax firms. He started the company in 2007 and has served thousands of firms. His team handles all kinds of services so the CPAs just take care of their clients without worrying about marketing, SEO, web conversion, Google advertising, etc. Nate is a member of Mensa and is a multi-year honoree of the CPA Practice Advisor "40 under 40".

Dr. Jeremy Weisz flips the script in this episode to interview Nate Hagerty about some common advertising mistakes accounting & tax firms make, the importance of nurturing lists, and when to make a pitch during advertising.

In this brand new podcast, our CEO’s Tax and Accounting Firm Marketing State of the Union for 2021, we give the five big shifts happening in the tax and accounting marketing space right now and tools to build a practice of lasting significance.

When we speak with accounting and tax pros one on one about their marketing, this is what we often hear:

• I have an outdated website. 
• My local SEO is flopping.
• How do I prevent dead-on-arrival paid ads?
• Traffic to my website is slumping.

There are plenty more, obviously. These are merely the most common — all of which lead to the wrong leads and not enough of the right kinds of clients being attracted to your accounting and tax practice.

To stand out from others in YOUR market area, you need a clear, informed marketing plan for 2023.

In today’s episode, TaxProMarketer VP Christian Jones and CEO Nate Hagerty cover how to reach the goals you need for busy season (and beyond). They’ll help you sharpen a simple plan for all of your marketing (online and offline) and bring you through a brief exercise to help you build that plan.

As a small business owner, you're constantly thinking about the future. You see the challenges and opportunities ahead, and you know you need to be prepared to face them in order to scale and grow your business.

But let's be real: Without the right tools and resources, it's going to be tough. That's why it's important to use the tools and resources becoming more and more available to you, especially when planning for the future of your firm.

In today’s episode, TPM CEO Christian Jones is joined by Dave Hartley, CPA and lifelong technologist. Dave Hartley spearheads growth and innovation efforts at Anders CPAs + Advisors and has a lot of insight on what’s available to the accountants right now.

Join Christian and Dave as they share their insights on the future of the CPA profession, including the impact of AI in accounting, how to scale your business, and why now is a great time to be a young CPA.

Nowadays, anyone can create a social media page and broadcast opinions on how to structure your tax and accounting business (and believe us, we’ve seen plenty of that).

But how many of them have actually walked the walk and seen success? And are they skilled in a niche market, or are they just a jack of all trades and master of none?

Meet Brandon Hall, founder and managing partner at Hall CPA PLLC – a modern, seven-figure accounting firm servicing real estate owners with a growth rate of 40-50% per year. In this episode, Brandon shares with Nate Hagerty (TaxProMarketer CEO) how he built his way to success by discovering his niche market and sticking with it. You’ll also hear Brandon’s groundbreaking (and proven) approach to pricing his services and hiring employees. 

More places you can find Brandon:

https://twitter.com/bhallcpa

https://mailchi.mp/439971dedec2/bmf

Accounting opportunities are exploding right now. 

Many long-time accountants are on the verge of retirement. Others are jumping ship to new careers. AI is revolutionizing the role of the accountant. It all adds up to wide open doors and a plethora of tax and accounting opportunities.

And if you’re one of these…

• New to the industry and looking to make a career in accounting but not wanting to slog through a 4-year degree

• A tax preparer with years of experience behind you, wanting to expand into year-round planning services to grow your business

• A successful CPA that’s ready to transition your client base and build a premiere firm

You’ll want to carve out the next 30 minutes to listen to this episode of The ProMarketer Podcast as host Christian Jones (TaxProMarkter) asks Roger Knecht (President of Universal Accounting Center [UAC]) to offer up pro tips for harnessing the accounting opportunities springing up from the shifting tide in the tax and accounting industry. 

After you listen, hop on over to LinkedIn for some one-to-one with Roger.

OR… 

If you want some in-person face-to-face, go register for this year’s GrowCon event hosted by UAC. Enjoy beautiful Utah and get the benefit of connecting with your industry peers for some spontaneous collaboration and camaraderie.

Free resources: https://universalaccounting.com/free-resources/

Training at Universal Accounting Center: 

Want the training, certifications, coaching, and support needed to excel in your accounting career and get paid what you’re worth? Sign up for The Perfect Solution.

Red to Black - The small business accountant's guide to quick turnarounds

In the Black - Nine principles to make your business profitable 

The Turnkey Business Plan for Accounting Professionals

In the accounting and tax world, it’s easy to trudge through the daily workflow without building relationship with clients and marketing your services. The reason: You can be an expert in your field – the best accounting and tax pro – without doing all of that.

But will all of your expertise amount to anything if clients don’t like you and new leads can’t find you?

Today’s guest, Carlos Samaniego, is an author and speaker who got into tax resolution work after experiencing first-hand the terror of owing the IRS. (He spent over eight years not filing taxes – imagine the penalties and interest due!) He has since turned his life around and now helps others do the same. Carlos’s firm has saved tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes by negotiating settlements with the IRS instead of letting them bombard his clients’ lives with aggressive collection tactics (like levies or wage garnishments). His book, How to Make the IRS an Offer They Can’t Refuse, has been featured on Fox News, CBS, and NBC TV and on radio stations throughout the U.S.

Listen in as Carlos shares with Nate Hagerty (TaxProMarketer CEO) not only how he fell into doing tax resolution work, but the power he’s discovering in being authentic with his clients and how to practically implement this in accounting and tax firms. 

CarlosSamaniego.com

TaxDebtConsultant.com

Carlos’s free book: TaxDebtBook.com

You might have someone on your team with an incredible knack for tax and accounting services. 

They love engaging with clients, are a whiz with numbers, and pick up new projects faster than you can lay them down. (If a name came to mind, read on…)

How can you make space for them to fly?

In this episode, Caleb Jenkins from RLJ Financial Services and Nate Hagerty (TaxProMarketer CEO) share how to give your employees the freedom to grow. At age 16, Caleb became the youngest certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. He has been listed as Top 100 ProAdvisor and 40 Under 40 in the Accounting Profession for several consecutive years. Caleb also serves on the Intuit ProConnect Customer Tax Council, on the ADP Accountants Advisory Board, and as an Educator and QuickBooks Consultant with the SALT Microfinance Program, which works with those in chronic poverty in developing countries. 

Caleb’s passion is championing what we are really doing in the industry – which is not only providing trustworthy accounting services that help people overcome financial obstacles but also doing that better every day.

Places you’ll find Caleb:

https://www.rljfinancial.com/who-we-are/caleb-jenkins

https://twitter.com/CalebLJenkins

https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebjenkins1994/

With so much confusion surrounding the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting, many business owners are struggling to navigate the process and avoid potential penalties. 

And if you as an accountant are one of those feeling lost, you're not alone.

That’s why Christian Jones, CEO of TaxProMarketer, recently sat down with returning podcast guest and long-time TPM friend Mike Gordon, with over three decades of experience running a successful CPA practice, to discuss the CTA and BOI reporting. Mike has dedicated the better part of the last 3 years to understanding the CTA and BOI reporting to greater serve his clients, and guide other business owners to succeed. 

In this podcast with Mike, you’ll learn…

• Non-Compliance Penalties: Why you should stay informed and take action regularly to avoid potential penalties.

• Safeguards for your business: Strategies to implement a monthly compliance checklist to stay on top of regulatory changes.

• Client Communication: Why you should be proactive with communicating with clients regarding their BOI.

Looking ahead to where the world is going, as tax and accounting professionals, you MUST equip yourself with the tools you need to stay compliant while also helping your clients thrive. 

Listen in as Mike shares strategies and tools that he has developed to better position yourself to be protected while ALSO serving your clients well with CTA and BOI reporting requirements.

Listen here.

Want non-local clients? If so, then this episode on PPC advertising is for you.

Of course, there are MANY reasons to invest in advertising-fueled growth.

And it doesn’t just mean Facebook ads because here’s the thing about those (or any kind of social advertising):

You’re interrupting your prospective client. Like many forms of PPC, you are relying upon DEMOGRAPHIC data and hoping that your messaging is strong enough that they will pause their baby-pic-browsing and be immediately compelled by your accounting or tax information.

ON THE OTHER HAND:

Joe/Jane Prospect is actively searching for solutions related to accounting or tax-related issues, and they do some basic google searches ... and they find YOU.

Joe/Jane is already inclined to engage ... and the fact that they "found you" (even if via PPC), puts YOU in the power position. Contrast that with you interrupting their social browsing ... you have to "justify" your interruption. The positioning is entirely different.

But here's the big problem with search advertising: The house always wins.

In other words, if you're going to play with the back end of the Google advertising dashboard, you need to know what you're doing.

Which is what this episode is all about -- equipping you with the tools you need to win with PPC advertising.

Listen in as TaxProMarkter’s Vice President, Christian Jones, and Director of Advertising and Innovation, Ben Greutman, share why you should spend money on PPC advertising, a list of questions you need to IMMEDIATELY ask your advertising provider, and stories from clients crushing it with PPC ads.

… And though ads are important to building an online presence, they’re not the only solution for bringing in leads. Here’s a little bonus from TPM VP Christian Jones on the right time to do ads: https://youtu.be/2c9azO9Id70 

CEO Nate Hagerty sat down recently to talk with long-time client Dean Owen, a CPA based in Kentucky who has successfully grown his practice to 13 employees with over $170M assets in fee-based management.

Dean’s story is interesting -- from his origin story to the way he uses his tax services to grow the more lucrative financial planning side of his practice.

One success point he noted was the integration of TaxProMarketer’s email marketing services into his practice. He pointed out that his clients knew more about the PPP last year earlier than the bankers did, thanks to the weekly emails. 

Tune in to listen to the rest of Dean’s success story...

Right now, business owners are desperately searching for people they can lean into for real guidance on business matters. There’s a goldmine of prospects out there, but tapping into them means offering more than just the once-a-year tax preparation service. It means becoming that back-pocket person for many aspects of their business including CFO services, accounting, tax planning, and bookkeeping. 

Enter Kate Josephine Johnson: MBA from the Yale School of Management, a BA in Economics from Baylor University, and recognized as a Top 50 Women in Accounting in 2020. She is the owner of Heritage Business Services, LLC, a virtual bookkeeping firm serving small business clients all over the United States. Three years ago, she saw an opportunity to help accountants and tax professionals who were burned out on the traditional accounting practice method and were looking to build a virtual accounting career instead. As questions began to flood her inbox, she responded by creating the Bookkeeping Side Hustle community, a group with over 18,000 members dedicated to helping others in the accounting world shift or grow their accounting business virtually.

On this episode of the ProMarketer Podcast, she and Nate Hagerty, CEO of TaxProMarketer, discuss the opportunities available to tax professionals in providing a full service practice that includes advisory and bookkeeping services. They emphasize finding the pain points for business owners and helping them sort through them. Often that begins with bookkeeping. Because the financial data tells a story - a truthful one. 

If you want to take advantage of adding advisory and bookkeeping services to your practice, start by learning the software (Quickbooks, Xero, Freshbooks, Wave, etc.) and be good at daily accounting. This will be the foundation on which you can help any small business build their financial dreams. Build that kind of solid dependability and you’ll have a client for life, one that you won’t need to nickel and dime because they’ll see the value you offer their business.

Want more practical insight on accounting and bookkeeping services from Kate Josephine Johnson? Check her out on any of these platforms:

LinkedIn 

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Bookkeeping Side Hustle Facebook Group

With a tax code that keeps morphing and clients who demand tax return happiness at a going-out-of-business price, it’s no wonder tax practitioners are burning out and running full-speed away from the industry. 

So, how do you navigate the rough seas of tax world, scale your business, and find joy in what you do?

That’s exactly what Nate Hagerty (CEO of TaxProMarketer) and Joe Woodard (CEO of Woodard) discuss in this episode of the ProMarketer Podcast. 

Woodard has helped over 125,000 accounting and business professionals successfully grow their practices by providing education, coaching, and a variety of resources including weekly articles, podcasts, reality TV show episodes, and a monthly free webinar. 

Joe is also the proprietor of Scaling New Heights, which, since its start in 2009, has become one of the premiere events in the accounting industry, bringing tools and practical insights on scaling up accounting practices (and lives). 

For a long time, accountants and tax professionals have lived in a survival framework. Your industry is commoditized and your profession is threatened with displacement by newer and more pervasive software programs (many of them “free”). 

But there is hope for the future. 

It begins with a paradigm shift especially in the areas of pricing and value. Joe Woodard recommends introducing subscription model pricing, including advising value add-ons that go beyond once-a-year tax filing, and learning how to market your firm and sell that value. When practitioners like you begin to see the value of what you offer, others will see it too. 

Here you’ll learn that scaling requires a combination of new technology and process standardization… and getting the right people in the right seats at your company. 

Struggling to hire employees? Here’s a one hour on demand training (a special offer to ProMarketer Podcast listeners), which focuses on the staffing crisis and how to combat it: Battling the Staffing Crisis.

For more free resources, be sure to head on over to www.woodard.com and register for this year’s Scaling New Heights conference in Orlando, Florida, June 19-22 – a great resource and an opportunity to build community that will help you weather the economic storms on the horizon.

You don’t just want more clients this tax season – you want better clients. And to find them, you need a targeted approach that goes beyond your basic digital marketing. You need an optimized digital ad campaign. An ad campaign on Facebook or Google, coupled with a strong marketing system, drives more of the right kind of leads to your sales pipeline (and fast).

Or maybe, you’re looking to expand your market reach. Digital ads are key here too – they can show that market that YOU can give them the tax help they need. But to avoid wasting your money, you’ll need to know how NOT to run an ad campaign. In this new ProMarketer podcast, TaxProMarketer CEO Christian Jones and Ads Manager Vlad Antonoski show the power of digital advertising for your firm, and how to avoid the mistakes that could cost you.

There's a shift that occurs in the lifespan of a business -- universal to EVERY industry -- in which "success" by most metrics is assured.

You can put a revenue number on it, perhaps around $250K annually (depending on margins, obviously), and the business evolves into something you know is going to "make it." It's a going concern, as they used to say.

When you make this shift, new habits are essential. New problems arise. There's a different set of goals, a different mix of tactics you need to master.

This is the shift from "startup" to "growth mode."

And I have seen so many companies NOT make this tactical shift -- thereby consigning themself to stay in "growth mode" for years.

Except what it really means for these tax and accounting businesses is that it's just "stagnant mode." No actual growth ... just higher revenue than during the startup phase.

They haven't yet made the necessary tactical shift.

So, how do you break these patterns to reach the next stage of development? Well, one surefire path is that you find out what OTHER businesses, like yours, have done and model their success.

And I created an opportunity for you to do just that. 

I recently hosted an "all-star panel" of your fellow tax and accounting practitioners who’ve made that shift, who are staying in growth mode despite the challenges of the past year and a half. 

This wasn’t your Daddy’s CPE snoozefest, either. It was a blast. 

Because these guys (and gal) are some of the "best of the best" of your colleagues, on a variety of fronts. They’re not only fun, but they also come with a spirit of generosity and excellence. 

What’s important to know about them is that they’ve moved past the striving to build something great. 

And in this panel, you get to hear five very distinct practice models for keeping a business in growth mode, as well as insights on preparing for what promises to be a wild 2022 tax season. 

Even if you do NO COMPLIANCE WORK ... the lessons offered in this panel might very well be what pushes you over the top and into the next stage of your business growth.

Listen in.

Tax pros and accountants alike… you know you’ve felt it. 

Exhaustion and burnout are all too real in the industry. Practitioners and CPAs are jumping ship in droves. You probably know some… or you’re on the verge of following suit. 

But, if you’ll take a step back, you’ll see that you have an opportunity right now to be a gift to so many people who are looking for some guidance in this tax world storm. 

And finding a way forward starts with asking hard questions about your work/life balance and business structure. And that’s where Jackie Meyer, CPA, comes in, offering hard-won insights to accountants everywhere on those very topics. 

Owner of her own CPA firm, creator of the Certified Concierge Accountant Mastermind group, and 3-time 40 under 40 CPA Advisor winner, Jackie has become a voice of reason in the swirl of the accounting industry. 

Here she talks to host Nate Hagerty about self-evaluation, workaholic tendencies, creating boundaries with clients, and capitalizing on practice value-adds to move an accounting firm from surviving to thriving. 

Connect with Jackie Meyer:

• www.jackiemeyercpa.com
• www.certifiedconciergeaccountant.com
• Accounting Firm Influencers Facebook group
• cpa@meyertax.com

We’re sure you’ve been flummoxed by some tax and accounting firms’ failure to reach new potential client pools while simultaneously others experience a gushing influx of new clients. 

And that has got to make you wonder… what’s their secret? 

The truth is, in today’s world, your competition is global. 

Everyone has a camera and a microphone. You can reach any audience anywhere in the world. And if you can do it… your competition can too.

So, what’s the secret formula you need so your business stands out from the thousands of other accounting firms vying for people’s attention? What do you need to do to garner trust from your clients?

The answer is CREDIBILITY.

Join the founder of Credibility Nation – Mitchell Levy – and TaxProMarketer CEO – Nate Hagerty – as they dive into this client-winning (and client-keeping) core value and how to implement it.

And don’t forget to take advantage of the Ultimate Credibility Bootcamp at a discount for ProMarketer podcast listeners. You’ll learn how to improve the way you show up in person and online, and you’ll also experience life-changing paradigm shifts that’ll help your tax/accounting practice continue to blossom.

Over my past 17+ years helping tax professionals like you, I’ve heard many people say that they "didn't want to market themselves" or that "salesmanship is manipulative and evil."

But marketing AND selling are really about building relationships.

And those are vital to our existence.

Try this: Take a breath and hold it. Keep holding it until you feel the discomfort. Then hold it a little more.

(DON’T PASS OUT :) )

When I hear people say that marketing and selling are "evil", I think about oxygen.

If you’re gasping for air, you’re not getting enough oxygen.

And if you’re gasping for more business,

you have a marketing or sales problem.

That's point number one.

Here's point number two: the biggest marketing and selling job we perform is to OURSELVES.

If we tell ourselves the story that these things are evil, then problems will follow, just as surely as if we hold our breath for too long.

But when we remember that marketing and selling are the very fuel for the growth of our business, well ... things get more lively.

So it follows:

You HAVE to implement effective marketing and selling. It's not optional. Key word is "effective".

If you don't, nobody will know you and they'll get their services from someone else (who is probably not as good at taxes and accounting as you).

So the choices are:

A: Market your business and sell (effectively)

B: Lose money

Inconvenient ...but it’s the truth.

Awhile back, I held a complimentary web-class with my good friend Anthony Simonie, who shared some simple, but powerful ways to MARKET and SELL so that you have business clients reaching out to you on a consistent and predictable basis.

The feedback was amazing.

There was nothing for sale but people actually got results by implementing what he taught (for free) on the class.

Here’s what one person said…

“The webinar was fantastic. I took two of the simple strategies that you taught and implemented them right away. Took me less than 10 mins and two of my ideal prospects reached out to book appointments with me that day. I’m blown away.”

-Dan

Because of all the positive feedback, I’ve brought Anthony back to share his strategies again.

Only this time, he’s agreed to include an additional strategy -- one you can leverage to do the majority of your selling on autopilot, PRIOR to them booking an appointment with you.

And this is one of his secret weapons.

You’ll find out what this is and how you can effectively use it in your practice too.

This "weapon" will educate, engage, and inspire your prospects to reach out to you wanting to become your client.

Additionally, Anthony and I are going to share the simple 4-part proven process that generates high-paying business clients in short fashion…

… including one under-utilized strategy he’ll be doing a live demo on, that requires $ zero in paid advertising.

On this web class, you’ll learn…

• How to sell your services for premium rates to business prospects who will be happy to pay them.

• Where your (higher-paying) business prospects really are and how to reach them fast, without paying a dime in advertising.

• How to dominate your market and create an unfair advantage over your competitors using my DD method.

• How to do ALL of this while working less and staying true to your mission, yourself, and getting amazing outcomes for your clients.

…And more.

If you want to increase your profitability by working with clients who are grateful, see your value and are happy to pay you premium rates -- while at the same time gaining more freedom away from work -- you’ll want to get your hands on this information.

We hate to break it to you, but… 

The internet is not special. It’s just one of many marketing principles to lay hold of (albeit - a necessary one in this time).

At least, that’s what our guest Jassen Bowman, EA, asserts in this episode of the ProMarketer Podcast. He says it’s no different from any other offline marketing medium. 

Of course, tax and accounting firms still need a strong online presence and a plan for marketing to new and existing clientele. 

But despite all the fancy tips and tricks for how to market online, a lot of the tried-and-true marketing principles still apply to the internet. After all, why reinvent the wheel when it’s rolling just fine?

In this episode, Jassen Bowman joins TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty to discuss how fundamental marketing principles are more applicable than ever for both your online and offline marketing. As an Enrolled Agent, Jassen has presented over 500 live seminars and webinars to CPAs, EAs, and attorneys on the subjects of tax firm marketing, practice management, ethics, real estate, and taxpayer representation. He has authored over a dozen books for tax professionals and written for NSA's Main Street Practitioner, NAEA's EA Journal, AccountingWeb, and CPA Trendlines. 

Check out Jassen’s latest book, Profit Optimizers: 12 Big Ideas for a More Profitable Tax Firm, here: https://jassenbowman.com/books/

Sleepless nights… 

Marketing blunders… 

Terror clients… 

Business demands…

Running your accounting business doesn’t have to look like this. There is a better way to build your firm, and Ryan Lazanis, owner and CEO of Future Firm, can show you how.

Future Firm helps accountants like you restructure and grow their businesses into something that’s profitable… and enjoyable to run.

Here Ryan shares with ProMarketer Podcast host, Christian Jones, his strategies for packaging and pricing in a progressive way that is comfortable for you, the firm owner, and attractive to your client base. He also talks hiring strategies to get A-player people on your team.

If you want to get unstuck from where your business is at, listen in.

And don’t forget to come back for Part 2…

Spend a lot of money on a beautiful website but still can’t seem to get leads? 

Struggling to get on page 1 of the search results? 

If you have a great looking website and some type of follow-up system, but no one can find you on Google, that’s a problem. Looks don’t equal performance. Getting on the first page of the results comes from building an organic foundation from the beginning. And building a good website isn’t hard. All it takes is a little optimization – filling in that metadata on the back end. 

And optimization doesn’t stop at your website. It also means filling in every form of your Google Business Profile, posting regular content, and not neglecting your backyard. 

Beyond optimization, you need to consider that Google focuses on local results. Even if you serve clients nationwide, Google will view your practice as a local business. 

Listen in as TaxProMarketer Vice-President Christian Jones talks best SEO practices and local listings strategies to get you ranked in the search results.

Episode highlights:

- Google wants to see that you’re optimizing the experience of the user.

- Uniqueness is something Google factors in –  60% of the internet is duplicate content.

- Google measures clicks, scrolls, and time on site...  so optimize for engagement.

- Google Business Profile is all about frequency, recency, star rating, and content. 

- 99 times out of 100, if marketing tactics aren’t working to get leads, it’s because you don’t have Google reviews.

The modern workforce is changing RAPIDLY, and it’s taking the tax and accounting industry by storm.

Accountants like Blake Oliver have their eyes on the future of the industry, and bring an innovative flare to traditional practices. Blake is the CEO of Earmark, a revolutionary platform that offers NASBA-approved CPE for listening to your favorite accounting and tax podcasts. He’s cracked the code for modernizing accounting practices, specifically when it comes to hot topics like work-life balance and strategic use of technology.

And he’s here to share his secrets.

In this conversation with Christian Jones of TaxProMarketer, Blake draws a roadmap for innovating the tax and accounting industry, covering everything from his journey with Earmark’s CPE offerings to some of the broader trends and challenges faced by the accounting profession today. 

Their conversation is packed with actionable tips and insights for all accounting professionals, from those just starting out to seasoned firm owners. Things like…

• How to build a sustainable practice that doesn't rely on you working long hours.

• Strategies for transitioning clients to more profitable service packages.

• The benefits of leveraging technology like offshore talent and AI to streamline operations.

• Why the future of accounting lies in a client-centered approach with a focus on quality and value.

If you want the secrets to building a thriving accounting practice while achieving a healthy work-life balance, listen to this. 

Though the last three tax seasons have brought tax pros like you to your knees pleading for relief, to make it through, you’ve got to remember it’s not about you. This is about your customers. 

And to serve them well in future tax seasons (and beyond), you need to find passion for what you do, something Roger Knecht of the Buiding the Premiere Accounting Firm podcast says is an imperative for moving forward in this industry. As president of the Universal Accounting Center (a multimillion accountant advising firm ranked in Inc’s top 500 list for growth rate) with 20 years in the industry, he knows a thing or two about burnout and getting past it. Listen in as he shares with TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty about adding advising in tax practices, creating workplace boundaries, gaining proficiency, broadening services, and more. 

Because if you find your passion, you’ll help your clients legally avoid tax liabilities they are (or could be) facing, and you’ll find ways to offer them value beyond simply filing their taxes in regular tax seasons. 

Looking for support and some practical coaching? Head on over to www.universalaccounting.com for free resources or take in some episodes of the Building the Premier Accounting Firm podcast.

COO Troy Lakey and Director of Client Support Katherine Hershberger join CEO Nate Hagerty and Vice President Christian Jones for an important conversation about the demand of a packed schedule: the best productivity hacks for increased output… while keeping your sanity.

We cannot emphasize enough just how nerdy (and skilled) the TPM team is at ways to “hack” workflow, and how truly beneficial this session will be — if you apply what’s shared.

See, we’ve been VERY busy here at TPM/APM (like you, probably). And because of the demands of that busyness, one thing we’ve been doing is devoting special portions of our weekly full company meetings to talking about productivity hacks with Troy and Katherine in particular at the helm. They both have years of findings backing them when it comes to optimizing their workflows, and we know what they’ve gleaned from their experience will be VERY valuable to tax and accounting practice owners who want more out of their time.

Are you ready for 2023?

Ooh nelly, what we all thought would be a pretty "easy" tax season (in relative terms to the nightmarish last three busy seasons) is going to be much more ... interesting, in light of the economic disruptions now and to come.

Not only that, but the fact of the matter is: The traditional website is dead.

So ... if you want to grow your practice, you need more than a "nice website." You need a full marketing plan that includes an optimized Google business profile, email strategy, social strategy, traffic strategy, and more.

Yes, you can do the "funnel" thing ... but until you have these other components well and truly nailed, you're chasing from behind instead of working ahead. The most ideal online marketing plan naturally brings quality leads through the marketing journey — without you having to become a carnival barker in the process.

In this episode, CEO Nate Hagerty and Vice President Christian Jones take you through a crash course on marketing your practice in 2023 — covering all the essentials plus addressing what has changed this year in the world of online marketing. 

If you want continued growth, this episode is for you.

We were reviewing some marketing data in our office recently, and my oh my, was it fun.

We're seeing massive increases across the board in traffic, CTR, engagement and effectiveness in our marketing for accountants and tax pro clients ... so much so that our Director of Search, Christian Jones, suggested we put on a "snap podcast" and tell you what we have been cooking in our kitchen that has worked so well in our marketing for accountants and tax pros.

One of our clients sent us a note the other day, and offhandedly, he said (this wasn't the point of his note):

"With your assistance, we built a juggernaut. 4 locations. 3500 clients. Handsome billing. We THRIVE always." (Anthony M.)

Want to build a juggernaut?

Join us…

One of our clients, in a very large metro (heavy competition), is getting leads at $0.79 per click.

These are unreal numbers.

And "how" they are happening is just one of the things we talk about.

We share live data, and a variety of other "behind the curtain" marketing for accountants tricks we've been using to help our clients get to the top of organic AND paid listings for top keywords ... plus what's working in converting that traffic into good clients.

Such as how to:

* run ads that work

* show up at the top of search and maps listings

* generate reviews that BRING IN BUSINESS

* nurture your existing clients and prospects on your list to generate more revenue -- even without having to add new clients

If you want to build THROUGH this cultural insanity, you should tune in.

When figuring out how to grow your business, where can you find training tuned into your specific needs as a tax professional? How much do you prioritize continually investing in your education in the accounting world? How do you build a network of other tax professionals whose knowledge you can draw from?

Today, we’re welcoming good friend Andy Frye back to the ProMarketer Podcast to give his take on continual education for tax pros and how to grow your business… all while still enjoying more pricing power for your accounting services. 

Andy is a third-generation tax business entrepreneur who has personally prepared over 10,000 tax returns. He regularly interacts with and trains 20,000+ tax pros and happens to be the Founder & CEO of Pronto Tax School, Inc. Since 2011, their training system has provided 100,000+ courses teaching tax pros to easily find the tax changes that are most relevant to particular client groups, in order to optimize their service and benefit their clients.

If you don’t want to have to go at it alone in the tax industry, you’ll want to check this out:

https://prontotaxschool.com/

Small businesses truly are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. And behind those businesses are accountants, bookkeepers, and tax practitioners, guiding them through the muck that is the current state of things. 

But that also means burnout… so many longstanding industry professionals shouting into the ether, “I’m done.” How then shall the industry (and it’s workers) find a way to get past the chaos? What tips and tools are going to help professionals like you navigate the turmoil?

That’s where Accounting Web and Managing Editor Seth Fineberg come in. AccountingWeb’s online content machine is all about giving accountants practical tools and industry knowledge to get the job done better. 

And that begins, as Seth shares with host Nate Hagerty, with remembering what makes you happy… along with a good dose of “NO” to the things that hinder the joy of serving your clients. 

Ask yourself:

What kind of work do you want to be doing? 

What kind of clients do you want to be serving? 

What matters to you in this industry? 

How do you want to spend your time? 

Finding the answers to these questions means charting a path to rediscovered joy even in the midst of a stormy tax and accounting industry.

And… there’s always networking and getting fresh fuel at the AccountingWeb Live Summit next year under the San Diego sun, May 15-18. In the meantime, listen in and visit AccountingWeb.com to get more of what Seth and his team are offering up.

There are some basic assumptions to be familiar with when starting any marketing conversation related to your tax or accounting firm.

1. You need more than a website.

2. You need to be conversion-oriented in your marketing.

3. Email is your hidden weapon.

4. Tactics are constantly changing.

5. There is a specific relationship journey to follow in order to convert a lead into a client.

With that foundation, we can jump into the specific elements of how to make marketing effective.

And that’s what we delve into in this webinar: website, advertising, SEO, follow-up tactics, and more. We’ll explain why most PPC campaigns fail and how to structure your PPC campaigns to avoid that outcome.

Join us … and start to dominate.

Yep, you heard that right.

It's a new, under-the-radar shift (that Google didn't announce) that provides a "newsfeed" of sorts of content from friends and nearby businesses.

Which has definite implications for how you operate your GMB profile.

I love nerding out about this stuff.

Perhaps like you do with the tax code (and I am increasingly nerdy about that as well) ... and it's why I am drawn to people who have similar nerdy intentions.

There is a subtle (but vast) difference between working with companies and people for whom you are a notch on their business bedpost -- and those who are really in it to serve.

Jassen Bowman is one of those who is in it to serve. (He's also a big nerd, and I mean that with great respect and affection.)

So when he reached out after some recent emails of mine that he wanted to host a regular webinar series with me about the mechanics of online marketing, I knew it would be a gas.

We’re discussing the new, subtle developments about the REAL drivers of online marketing success. My Director of Search, Christian will be with us too.

No hype, no pre-planned sales pitch ... just pure, nerdy marketing fun.

Jassen is a particular expert in the resolution space, and has a large following among those who serve those clients -- so he'd be a good one to connect with if you want to discover better ways to operate within those cases.

In this webinar we have a particular focus on local listings, GMB, and SEO nerdiness. You will WANT to hear what we talk about ... some of this stuff is barreling at you fast, and you'll want to be in the loop.

With inflation in the air, it seems only natural to talk about PRICING with you. Specifically, yours.

Regardless of the inflationary realities you and your clients are facing, how you price your services is one of the best things that you can be looking at right now.

Recently Nate Hagerty, CEO of TaxProMarketer, hosted Michelle Weinstein (aka "The Pitch Queen") for one of his agency-clients-only office hours sessions, and she brought the house down as she coached up a few TPM clients LIVE on how they priced within their practice and the shifts that are possible when that shift is made.

And the ProMarketer Podcast has been planning to have her back even before the recent surges in price pressure across the economy.

Looking ahead to where the tax and accounting world is going, practitioners MUST realize that commodification of the simple return and the falling away of pandemic-related SBA and IRS weirdness will result in pressure on practices that haven't figured out how to serve a higher-level client.

And raising your fees is only part of the recipe.

So, to get through burnout, you’ll need to commit to some positive changes in how you operate within your practice.

Listen in as host Nate Hagerty and guest Michelle Weinstein discuss how to properly and effectively change your pricing structure and set up your practice for the future world.

For more great resources from Michelle Weinstein:

- Abundant Accountant Website

- Abundant Accountant Podcast

- Abundant Accountant YouTube Show 

When you’re juggling soccer schedules, project deadlines, meal prep, responding to timely emails, and so on, it can be pretty overwhelming, and navigating the demands of both home and workplace can take its toll. 

That’s why in this Office Hours we’re focusing on productivity strategies for working moms (from working moms) -- and how best to support them in the workplace. Because working moms face unique challenges in the office, we want to acknowledge and discuss their struggles and provide resources to set them up for success.

One way we want to do that is to provide a platform for real working moms to share their experiences and the strategies they adopted that have helped (or not helped) to navigate these roles in the workplace and at home.

A few of TaxProMarketer's very own working moms were ready and available to lead this discussion: Bekah Greutman (Client Success Coach), Eugenia Brock (Director of Operations), and Jodi Schipper (Content Marketing Director).

Whether you’re a working mom looking to see how others are doing it or you’re a boss looking to create a more supportive environment, this session will be invaluable for implementing your own strategies.

There are stages to a business, and very soon you realize that once you've hit six figures in revenue, you can stay in that desert for a LONG time… unless you build with a team.

But hiring great people for tax and accounting practices is a monstrous pain in the you-know-what.

Some market areas are flooded with overpriced talent, poor work ethic, and a me-first mentality. Other markets for talent are full of people with a strong work ethic but little of the education or ceiling for knowledge work or handling higher-end clientele. 

With the ever-increasing complexity of the tax code (hello K2, K3) and the demographic changes within the profession, CPAs and tax professionals find themselves fighting over scraps when it comes to getting great staff… and then wondering how to retain those employees over time.

But what if it were much simpler?

In this ProMarketer Podcast episode, host Nate Hagerty (CEO of TaxProMarketer, an Inc. 5000 company with 5-star ratings on GlassDoor) and TPM client and friend Argel Sabillo, CPA (HeyApril CEO) bring to you an exciting new methodology for building a team of experts who can care for your existing clients ... and free you up to go out and get higher-paying new ones. 

Find more about Argel’s work here: www.taxprohiring.com

Podcast bullet points (for TPM post)

• Attract talent by being clear on your company goals, spreading your natural net wide, and implementing an employee referral program.
• When hiring, focus on culture fit and work ethic – and train the rest. Experience and character (NOT resumes) is ALL.
• The biggest key to retaining employees with talent in your practice? CULTURE.
• Retain employees by creating a safe zone for them to critique their experience (and yes, even you).
• Offshore employees are an incredibly untapped resource that can bring warmth, skill, and professionalism to your team at a significantly lower cost.

Yes, the IRS makes your job hard. But knowing the ins and outs of IRS processes can actually make your firm more profitable AND sustainable. Business owners and taxpayers need help with tax representation. If you don’t know how to resolve their case, you’re leaving money on the table. Because what you’re really resolving is STRESS – and your clients are willing to pay big for that. 

In this episode, Dan Henn of Tax Resolution Academy joins ProMarketer Podcast host Christian Jones to talk about why tax representation services are key to growing your firm (without being chained to a desk). 

Dan Henn teaches tax firm owners how to confidently take on IRS Exam and IRS Collection cases, with over three decades of expertise as an entrepreneur, tax education speaker, and author. His Fast Start Bootcamp offers 16 hours of CPE with the tools and resources you need to make tax resolution a powerful revenue generator for your firm.

Resources

https://taxresolutionacademy.com/

Fast Start Bootcamp: https://www.faststartbootcamp.com/fsbc-2025

We love hearing successful business stories.

Ann Hartz, CPA from Des Moines, Iowa, worked to grow from a solo practitioner practice with 100 clients to a thriving firm with five full-time employees and 2,000 clients. 

“We all go into business for what we love to do, and I love to do taxes. I really do. But I have to be the president of this business and run the business, too,” Ann said about her decision to work with TaxProMarketer in the early years to help build her online presence.

So how did that growth come?

“At least 50-75% of my new business has been from people looking us up and online reviews and that sort of thing.”

Ann liked the fact that TaxProMarketer focuses on tax preparers and CPA firms, even when she kept getting solicitations from other marketing companies saying they could do it better. "They say, 'There’s too many words. People don’t want to read all those words.'

But when I have clients come in to meet with me, a lot of them will say to me that it was the website that brought them in. The proof is in the pudding. That website represents me, and you’re able to put the information on there that I want. In my business, it’s important to be able to be trusted, and that’s what I want to portray. It’s been a great thing.”

Most tax or accounting firm owners know that they can genuinely help taxpayers and business owners keep more money in their pocket, and once they get in front of those folks, they’re able to explain exactly how they can do that.

But the problem many firm owners face is how to get in front of the people they can help.

How do you get the attention of new tax leads?

The “old way” of drumming up new accounting or tax leads has become all but obsolete in our internet age. 

Tax firm owner Steve Padgett “took a gamble” on internet marketing with TaxProMarketer in 2016, after he realized his faithful attendance at local Chamber meetings failed to produce reliable new business for his firm. The phone wasn’t ringing.

In this interview with TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty, Padgett shares about his firm’s progression from a small firm with 1 new tax lead per month to a secure firm fielding 3-5 new tax leads per week.

Tune in to hear a pair of successful accounting professionals who have niched their services to a specific clientele and made significant inroads into that community in their area (and beyond).

Lynn and Janet Behm work with 170 real estate professionals in Utah and abroad. Their clients are desperate for bookkeeping services that meet their unique needs and provide them with the financials they need to deal with their other partners, so they’ve tailored their services to meet those needs.

The Behms share about their subscription model and the specific methods they’ve used to gain visibility and grow relationships in their clients’ industry -- both in-person and online.

Some of their key marketing and business values:

• Offer strategies, not just compliance and numbers. Bring additional value to the table.

• Weekly emails provide a consistent voice of authority and relevance to clients.

• SEO is critical. “When people search for real estate accountants, they find us.”

The Behms are some of our favorite clients -- they represent the level of integrity, service, and professionalism that business owners and taxpayers really need.

Want to know the secret sauce to a thriving workplace and loyal employees? It isn’t necessarily compensation or benefits. It’s something known as employee care which Eugenia Brock (TPM COO) and Katherine Hershberger (TPM Chief of Staff) emphasize is a lot more about intangibles and workplace culture. And employee care doesn’t happen by chance. Creating a work culture where people can thrive takes serious intention.

Episode resources:

Setting your company’s vision, values, & culture with Troy Lakey

When you signed up with TaxProMarketer, you were looking to build a marketing framework that would get your business visibility and get you lead generation traction. And we work hard over here at TaxProMarketer to do just that.

But as Christian Jones (TPM VP), Ben Greutman (Director of Innovation), Troy Lakey (TPM COO), and Nate Hagerty (TPM CEO) share here, you’ve got a part to play in building that machine — and only you can do your part.

So, what little things do you need to do to build that marketing framework exactly?

To start, you’ve got to utilize the tools we’ve created for you to connect with and understand your clients. That looks like sending custom email broadcasts, thank you sequences, asking for and responding to reviews, doing case studies, adding personal touches to social posts and emails, and handling incoming phone calls well, among other things.

If you’re not doing these things, you’re missing out on opportunities to engage leads, even improve your Google ranking. And what’s more, you’re failing to take advantage of tried and true methods for building rapport and trust with your clients. 

So, do the work. Get your marketing framework optimized. Build something that will stand the test of rising trends … and bring you lasting results.

With the 2023 tax season upon us… do you find yourself appreciating working in accounting & tax services or is it more like the onset of dread as you’re faced with the possibility of 12+ hour work days?

Somewhere over the years, tax and accounting pros fell into this bad habit of discussing our work like it was those horrible fraternity or sorority hazings back in college: “If I have to suffer every tax season, so will you!”

But wait — aren’t a lot of us our own bosses? Small business owners operating our own practices? 

Surely there’s a better way to structure our accounting and tax services — one that involves giving superior care and attention to amazing clients WITHOUT the headache of being stretched thin serving clients who complain all the time…?

In this episode, Nate Hagerty interviews Andrea MacDonald, CPA: a mom, wife, and accounting nerd who founded Pro Tax & Accounting LLC. Through accounting services, tax planning, and tax return preparation, Andrea and her team help small business owners resolve cash flow issues, A/R issues, A/P issues, and a whole lot more. Andrea specializes in supporting other small business owners during their entrepreneurial journey.

If you’re unhappy with your current workflow (or you’re building your own practice), you’ll want to hear how Andrea has gone from being overworked and underpaid to doing meaningful work with fewer clients AND — get this — being paid what she’s worth.

You can find Andrea here: 

www.protaxllcva.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-macdonald-cpa-4704042b/

Twitter: @andreamacdcpa