How to “Doctor” Your Firm’s Brand.
September 29, 2008
When it comes to marketing, you can learn a lot by watching how others do it. One of the more competitive industries right now is healthcare. Most specifically I’ve noticed the way hospitals are posturing themselves as the best place to take care of patients with heart issues.
In Indianapolis where my office is, there are three or so major hospitals marketing their heart care services, and each are doing it differently. This gives us a great example of the different ways to apply these philosophies to your firm. You see, in my opinion there are three types of brands found in professional services firms. Let’s use this healthcare business case to illustrate. (more…)
What’s wrong with “defensive marketing?”
September 11, 2008
I think I’ve heard it enough.
For the past few months I have been meeting regularly with partners at various accounting firms, discussing how Catalyst can help them with their marketing efforts. As we discuss things they are doing (and not having success with), I always ask “why are you doing it if you don’t see any value from it?” (more…)
How important is your website?
September 8, 2008
Seems like a straightforward question, but unfortunately it’s one that most accounting firms don’t ask themselves often enough. Taking a cross section of accounting firm websites recently shows me that I’m right. Most firms have a website, which I guess you could say is good. Many of the websites I see though in my opinion, could potentially hurt business instead of help business. They look antiquated, or don’t function properly, or even have information that is out of date. (more…)
How to waste money with your marketing efforts.
September 3, 2008
Don’t have an email list of your clients, do you? Didn’t think so.
Seems pretty simple when you step back and think about it, but actually it tends to be quite hard to put into practice. Your firm probably DOES have an email address for every client deep in the dark caverns of someone’s contact list in Outlook, but does the marketing department have it? My guess is that it is not very likely. (more…)
Is there a place for social media in the accounting world?
August 28, 2008
There certainly is a craze that’s sweeping the tech community and that is social media. Blogs, podcasts, You Tube, Facebook, My Space, and other websites are helping to facilitate social interaction with others. Communication has reached a whole new level in a personal way, but has it made it to the business world yet - most specifically, the accounting industry? (more…)