Professional Service Firm Marketing Tips & Strategies

Client Surveys - Effectiveness vs. Efficiency

Julie Littlechild’s recent article in Practical Accountant, A Tactical Approach to Client Feedback,  explains the power of using client feedback to improve your practice. She provides some great tips for designing your client survey and maximizing participation from your clients.

I always like to encourage business owners to talk to their customers, either in person or over the phone, when conducting these surveys. It is tempting to conduct these surveys via e-mail or snail mail – it makes us feel efficient. But I think you lose out on too much information if you don’t actually talk to your customer.

We do similar customer surveys as part of developing a marketing plan. In my experience, the real insights hardly ever come from the direct answer to a survey question. They come from the answer to the second, third, or fourth follow up question. They come from the uncomfortable weight shift, pregnant pause, or eye roll before the answer.

So, get out from behind your desk and go talk to your customers.

My Presentation for Intuit's Webinar Wednesday

Yesterday, I had a lot of fun participating in Intuit’s Webinar Wednesday. The topic of our discussion was “Getting through the challenging economic downturn” – we talked about some marketing fundamentals along with some things you can do to make sure you are getting the most out of the marketing dollars you have already invested.

I believe there will soon be a recording available on the webinar and podcast archive page, but in the meantime, here is a copy of  my presentation slides with notes (pdf 3756.4K) from the webinar.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the webinar. If you have any questions about what we discussed, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Happy Global Entrepreneurship Week

Global Entrepreneurship week begins today.

If you haven’t done so already, check out the Unleashing Ideas web site where you will lots of information, resources, videos, and a schedule of events going on in your area. Here is a link to the US specific page.

If you live in the Kansas City area, don’t forget to stop by the Small Business Expo on Wednesday. They have a great lineup of speakers scheduled, so come out and network with other local business owners.

I’ll be hanging out there most of the day, so stop by and tell me about your business – whether it’s still just an idea or you’ve been working on it for 10 years.

Have an inspiring week!

Does Online Social Networking Really Work?

I’m often asked if social networking tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., really work. Since I work with small business owners, “really work” means “do you get business from it”.

In my experience, the answer is yes. Rather than rant about what these tools can do for you, I thought I would share some personal examples.

In the last two weeks I’ve had several opportunities including:

• I received two business inquiries from people who contacted me after reading my profile on LinkedIn. One inquiry has led to a job. The other one looks promising but hasn’t closed yet.
• I was able to help out a friend by providing him a connection to local accountant.
• I received a book to review from a publisher who originally found my blog through Facebook.
• I have been invited to speak to a group of insurance professionals about using LinkedIn and other tools to increase referrals.

These opportunities didn’t magically happen just because I have an online account. The basics of networking still apply when using these new tools. You still have to work on nurturing relationships, “give to get”, and help other connect to the people they need to know.

I’d love to hear about your success stories using social media – leave me a comment and tell me your story.

Business Planning - Back To The Fundamentals

Global Entrepreneurship week begins next week and if you are in the Kansas City area, you don’t want to miss the SHBC Entrepreneurial Expo on Wednesday, November 19th.

Here is another great event associated with Global Entrepreneurship week that anyone can attend. Tim Berry of Palo Alto software will be conducting a free webinar about the fundamentals of business planning. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts (here is one about Tim’s latest book), I happen to think that Tim and the folks at Palo Alto have exactly the right approach to business planning. I usually summarize this approach in two main points:

1. The planning process is more important than the plan document.
2. The plan is never right, so you must continue to plan, evaluate, and adjust.

During this webinar Tim will discuss good, practical business planning - watching cash flow, carefully planning the future, staying on the alert, focusing better, and minding the basics.

I’ve had the opportunity to hear Tim speak both in person and in webinars and I always come away with a page of notes on how to improve my business.

The webinar is this coming Monday, November 17, 2008 at
9:00 am, Pacific Standard Time.

Learn more about the Back To The Fundamentals webinar and sign-up today.

You're No Einstein - Or Are You?

I like Entrepreneur.com’s article 10 Traits Entrepreneurs and Einstein Share. According to the article -

“Entrepreneurs have more in common with Einstein than they think.”

How many of these traits do you share with Einstein?

1. Imagination
2. Always questioning
3. Old problems, new ways of thinking
4. Intuition
5. Strong positive attitude
6. Naps
7. Rise above the mundane details
8. Willingness to try new things--and fail
9. Maintaining balance
10. Stay on top of tech

I identify with 5,6,8, and 10 (I really like 6<g>).

Read the full article and then let me know how many traits you share with ole Albert.

Add Your Blog To Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn recently added several applications that allow you to collaborate and share information with members of your network. Two of those applications, BlogLink and WordPress, help you connect your blog to your LinkedIn profile.

I am using the BlogLink application. BlogLink supports TypePad, Movable Type, Vox, Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org, Blogger, LiveJournal, and many more.

BlogLink not only adds your blog posts to your profile, but it also collects blog posts from other bloggers in your LinkedIn network. Here is my profile page – you can see the BlogLink application immediately after the Summary section.

When you install the BlogLink application, you have the option to include it on your profile (for others to see) and on your LinkedIn homepage.

To find BlogLink and other available applications , look for the Applications menu in the white box on the left hand side of your homepage, right below the link for your Inbox.

Kauffman Foundation Launches Redesigned Web Site

Kansas City’s Kauffman Foundation is the world's largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship. The foundation is a wonderful source of information and resources for small business owners. Recently, the Kauffman Foundation redesigned their web site to make it easier to find these resources and to add new ones.

One of the changes you will notice is that addition of a lot more videos. Their multimedia section contains interviews, on-the-scene footage. The Speaker Series contains recordings of speeches, roundtables discussions, and other presentations.

The new Stay Connected page, provides one convenient location to sign up for the different newsletters and other publications available from the foundation.

The new Events page is the place to go to find Kauffman related events taking place all over the globe.

If you own a small business or are thinking of starting one, you owe it to yourself to check out the resources available through The Kauffman Foundation.

Small Business Resources In Kansas City

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to participate in a class put on by the K-State Extension Office titled “Thinking About Starting a Small Business”. This class reminded me of all of the great resources we as small business owners have in the Kansas City area for starting and growing our business. Here are the local resources that were highlighted during the class:

Small Business Development Center – once you have an idea for a business, the SBDC is the place to go to get help researching your idea, determining if it is feasible, and creating your business plan.

Small Home and Business Connection – The SHBC focuses on providing education to small business owners to help them grow their business. They also provide many opportunities to network with other Kansas City area businesses.

Johnson County Library – the Johnson County library has an extensive collection of business databases that small business owners can use for research and marketing. These databases can be accessed from your home or office via the internet. All you need is a library card to access the same databases that large companies pay hundred of thousands of dollars.

KCSourceLink - KCSourceLink’s mission is to help small businesses in the 18-county Kansas City region - from Warrensburg to Topeka, from St. Joseph to Osawatomie - grow and succeed. They provide small business with free, easy access to the help you need - when you need it.

Johnson County/K-State Research and Extension – in addition to sponsoring classes like this, the K-State Research and Extension office is also a great resource if you are considering starting (or have) an agriculture or food related business.

Double Up On Free Backup Space

I’ve posted a couple of times (here and here) about Mozy, which I think is the easiest way to back up your computer files. One of the nice things about Mozy is that you can earn additional backup space by referring your friends to their service.

Well, they just made this sweet deal even sweeter. During November, you receive double the amount of free backup space for sending them referrals.

That means 512 MB vs. the normal 256 MB. For every 2 people you that you refer (and they sign up) you earn 1 Gig of free space.

If you haven’t already signed up for Mozy, click here to get your free account and give me 512 MB of more space – thanks, I need it.