Advertising

[railtax]

I am sure this has come up before but what are the better choices for advertising . I am also looking for ideas on were to go to get flyers designed and printed. Thanks

[Golden Rocket]

Non-Traditional

Railtax, many of the traditional methods of advertising for other industries don't work for tax practitioners. I believe this forum is a good place to discuss these methods.

First of all, it will take a long time to build a clientele of GOOD customers. Word-of-mouth is the best way for stable clients. When preparing a return, pay particular attention to children, other family members. If you're really good, you will be doing friends and relatives of this client.

Stable clients do not change tax practitioners very often. This means they are hard to get, but later this works in your favor because they will not leave you.

Yellow pages work reasonably well.

In any community, there are always new taxpayers. There are people who move in from other places, and also there are newlyweds who need serious taxes done for the first time. New taxpayers are not clinging to last years' preparer in Cheyenne. Remember, younger people are more often than others to be in need of money, and rapid-refund techniques serve them well.

I have found that distribution techniques are not cost-effective. Direct mailouts, media advertising, newspaper ads, etc. returned very poorly in the days when I used to advertise.

Don't expect 1000 customers in year one. Instead start with a few, and double your clientele every year for the first 5-6 years. Let your first few customers know you will go to the ends of the earth for them, and "word-of-mouth" will pay better dividends than anything else you can do.

Will be interested to hear what others have to say.


Some people endorse direct mailouts, pamphlets, etc. but I have tried this and found this to be a poor

[Jiggers]

Advertising

When I went out on my own, I put a couple of ads in my local paper.

I believe in the referral system.

Perform good service and your clients will tell others.

Join your local service organizations AND be active in them: Lions, Rotary, Pilot, JC's, Elks, and your own church organizations.

If they need speakers, learn to give a short presentation on taxes. Take a speaking course at the local college.

For the first few years you have to learn to have a lean budget, both for the business and your personal.

This year, 2008, is the first year that I am refusing new clients without referrals after February 29th. I have too many cleints to handle and I pick up enough from referrals to make up for those that die off or move.

I lose more clients to the funeral homes than my competitors, yet I am the highest priced in my town.

[dsi]

I went out on my own in 1984, January 1984 to be more precise. That year I grossed Approximately $9,000. WOW. I joined every local organization I possibly could, given the time restraints of my work. I wined and dined many local businessmen, even taught accounting classes at the local community college.

This form of advertising (networking) has been by far the most effective for me. I really never got more than perhaps 5-10 new clients from my ads on the radio, newspaper, tv, direct mailings, etc. since 1984.

If you do good work, they will find you. Of course, your fees have a little to do with it as well. Initially, my fees were on the low end, but after about 3 years I increased them. By the end of my first 3 years, my gross was over $50,000 per year. The type of clients I gained my increasing my fees were with me because the needed good tax services, not a bargain on tax prep fees. They were willing to pay me what I billed them.

To date, I run my office from home, and my gross is now over $100,000. I'm happy.

[railtax]

Thanks

All good advice and I particularly liked the idea of attracting newlyweds and also the local civic groups.

[ED SMITH]

Go to the library and get a copy of "Guerrilla Marketing", by J Conrad Levinson. It is designed for business operating on a shoestring and is full of useful ideas. Even if you don't use any of the methods, the choice of words to use/not use is worth it by itself. BTW, the author created the Marlboro Man and the Fly United commercials, two of the most successful in advertising history.