One of your colleagues recently asked:
What do you think are the biggest opportunities when it comes to marketing for accounting firms? Are there any new strategies that I should be aware of as a firm owner?
And this is a tricky question…
Big opportunities come and go, but there’s one strategy that people always seem to overlook.
First I’m going to break down WHAT that strategy is.
Then I’m going to share why most can’t utilize that strategy.
And finally, we’re going to talk about how you CAN utilize this strategy.
Okay, let’s go.
First, what’s the strategy?
Connecting With Others
Connect with others. It sounds simple, right?
But the problem is most of you aren’t connecting with the RIGHT people when you’re thinking about this strategy.
Think of your network. You know business owners. They can be anyone, from a plumbing company owner to a lawyer or a restaurant chain owner.
But 99% of these people aren’t who I’m talking about. 🤔
Don’t Connect With Just Anyone
You need to connect with someone who ticks all of these boxes:
✅Serves your niche
✅Provides value to their audience
✅Someone you trust as a professional
Imagine this for a minute:
You work with law firms and connect with a business coach who helps law firms grow.
You can offer to hold a webinar with this business coach where you teach the business coach’s audience how to leverage the latest tax strategies.
Here everyone wins:
👉 The coach is seen as a resource to their audience.
👉 The coach’s audience learns how to better handle their taxes.
👉 For you, at worst you hone your communication skills and at best (and most likely) you’ll also get new leads.
The same approach can be applied to pitching to be a guest on podcasts or holding a local meetup.
The goal is to find someone who serves your same audience and offer to provide value to their audience.
I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble. But I have bad news.
This strategy doesn’t work for every firm.
Why This Doesn’t Work for Most Firms
Why? 🤔
Two reasons:
1. They haven’t picked a niche.
2. They aren’t creating content for that niche.
And if you’re not producing content, you’ll have little credibility in the eyes of the people you reach out to.
If you want to pitch a business coach to host a webinar or a podcast host to be a guest, you better be able to prove that you can provide value.
Put yourself in their shoes.
If you’re a podcast host who’s pitched, you’ll want to see that the person pitching can add something of value to your audience.
Think of your content as your portfolio or resume.
When you pitch to others, it will serve as proof that you can deliver great content and value.
How to Make This Strategy Work for Your Firm
Here’s the great news: you’re not like other firms.
You can make this strategy work for you. Here’s how:
1️⃣ Pick a niche if you haven’t already.
2️⃣ Start creating great content. If you want to connect with leaders in your niche, you need to demonstrate your expertise. Great content will position you as an authority and give you a chance to share your knowledge.
3️⃣ Scout out professionals in your niche. Reach out and offer to add value to their audience. Work your magic.
The goal is to become so committed to serving your niche, you become the go-to source for questions and advice.
How well does this overrated strategy work?
We helped a firm add over $70k in monthly recurring revenue within a few months of employing this strategy.
However, they were only able to achieve this feat because they had picked a niche and were producing great content regularly.
The people we reached out to on their behalf to collaborate with could tell they were an expert at what they did and who they did it for.
When we reached out to other experts in their niche, it was a slam dunk.
TLDR: Go out and produce great content for a niche. Connect with others who serve the same niche and see if there are ways to collaborate where you can deliver value to their audience.
And, that’s a wrap on this Dear Katie question.
Now I want to hear from you. Do you have a question?
