What Is It About Bookkeepers And Their Work?

I know about trade secrets but accountants ?take the buscuit? as my friend in Forres, Scotland would say. You see, I meet all kinds and sorts of business people and they ask for help with search engine optimization (SEO).

I am not one of your High Street agencies that charge a blanket fee for everything and do not disclose what they do for you in the fear that some methods are so simple the client may make a decision to do them DIY and cut them out. I like to tell people what we are doing and teach them how to do it as well. They understand it better and can judge their results better. The whole philosophy of my business is that you know your own business best (If I knew more than you, I?d probably be your biggest competitor!) but since I?m not, my services are designed to be part by me and part by you, using my expert instructions. This naturally involves the business-owner coming up with a certain to-do list.

Briefly, for search engine optimization we look at things like (among other things):

?Keywords
?Link popularity
?Competition
As part of my link building strategies I am an avid fan of articles. These serve a few purposes some of which are:

1.You get to demonstrate your knowledge upfront. Unless you are selling to your mother and a few people in your backyard, the average prospect does not know you from a can of paint! So it is imperative that they get an idea of your expertise. You already are an expert, that?s why your business has survived offline for 20-odd years! Simply show it to the world.

2.As a direct-sales fan, I like articles because they give you the added advantage of selling your business while you sleep, to people that are directly interested in your chosen topic. There is no better prospecting method than that! Cost-wise anyway.

3.Google loves people like this! You see Google want to give information from legit people that will benefit Google?s customers. They want more of this. There is also some sort of mental trigger associated to Google Page 1 no. 1. People assume you must be worth your salt, if they see your name at that address; G1 P1. No that?s not some mis-spelt Glasgow post code but Google Page 1 Position 1 for your keyword.

4.I have seen countless people that get their business on the web and totally forget the usual business fundamentals,like the old ?feed the market what they are hungry for? or the sensible ?make a presentation, get some interest and make a call to action?. Instead they turn into the even older ?once you build it they will come? mentality. I may forgive a few chancers that start a business on the net from scratch but the entrepreneur that?s been in business on the High Street for 18years should surely know better! You see whether you are online or offline never forget who your customer is and who you are talking to, your audience. Feed them what they want, something useful and something that will get your name in their minds and hopefully get you some sales while you are at it. Use your articles to communicate useful information not just a mere ?I?m just happy to be here? attitude or the much much worse ?I am rich you are not and therefore stupid? attitude. Use your articles wisely and attract people to your business in an above board and respectful kinda way. Despite all kinds of gizmos and i-this and i-that instruments, research has shown that people are even busier that ever before in the history of mankind ! So, please respect that 3 minute timeslot they afford you.

Now, back to the book-keepers . It first happened almost two years ago now, I sat across from a very well known book-keeper and we were talking about getting articles out and enhancing his expertise and knowledge to his market online. He sat there and nodded like the Churchill bulldog and looked like he understood the reasons and what he would get from it. Now, flip that picture in your mind like they do in those old movies and you now see me sitting in the same position a whole six (6!) months later asking why I had not received anything yet! You see I understand busy, but he had some of this info already on his brochures and had assistants upon assistants that could churn a dozen of these out everyday! No excuse in my mind.

A while later I got another tax accountant and? you guessed it, same story! I wont bore you with the details here but you get the picture.

Just this morning I got an email in my mailbox from a tax return specialists, no joke people, but the heading was ?WHAT I GAVE YOU LAST WEEK WAS ENOUGH !!!? It came with capitals and exclamation points no less. I wont get into what is good online etiquette or not but? really? What did they give me you ask? They gave me a list of their services such as VAT returns and company formations and all the other boring stuff that made me major in Corporate Finance (Stocks and Bonds) and not Financial Accounting (Bean Counting) in university at CMU.

You see, people have seen your brochure, they know what you sell but all they see is really one of many middle-aged men (probably balding, no offense to baldies out there, I happen to be one and proud of it!) that probably had a hand in the credit-crunch and is now desperate to make something back from THEM. The extra step required to beat everybody else is a reasonable carpet bombing of articles to your market (OR primetime advertising at the FA Cup Final or the Superbowl if you have a spare

Tags: small business accounting