The ProMarketer Podcast

I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but every year, 5 and a half MILLION parents get ready to send their kids off to college.

And … most of them completely overpay for the privilege.

They simply don't understand the FAFSA system, and what the universities are looking for in their aid.

And who can blame them? It's a little like ... the tax code. (Ahem.)

Or, they are one of the 78% of all parents that make one or more critical errors on their financial aid paperwork that costs them tens of thousands of dollars.

(Almost like ... the self-prepared tax return crowd.)

Why is this important to you?

Because we recently hosted a webinar to show you exactly how to help these families AND make more money after tax busy season -- without killing yourself.

And, it can set you up to create revenue year-round, not just during tax season.

This system works for families regardless of how much money they make, or how good of a student they have.

This is not a sales pitch, in fact, this is a Q&A style training where the leading authority on this topic, Ron Caruthers, CPA (who is a longtime friend) answered questions regarding the college planning practice.

Ron started as a tax preparer, but years ago got involved in helping families plan and pay for college.

Not parents with babies, but parents of high school-aged kids who were desperate to figure out how to afford college without going deeply into debt. And he knows exactly how to help families—no matter how much money they make, how much they have or haven't saved for college, or even how good of a student they have—get grant money for college and pay their share in the least intrusive way possible.

He has previously helped several of my members get a college planning practice started in addition to their tax business; and in many cases, the income from the college business is more than what they make from compliance work. AND the income is year-round, instead of just a few months out of the year.

On this call, he showed exactly how big the problem is that America faces, and several different ways to incorporate this into your existing business ... from making it a source of a few thousand dollars a month of consulting income to using it to attract new clients to your office—to making it the primary income source for you. He'll even show you how to get a junior partner in to bring in new business while you run the rest of your office.

This is NOT a sales pitch (I'm sooo tired of those). In fact, think of it as a training session.

This is a great way to help your existing clients as well as other families in the community while growing and stabilizing your own income.

You'll really enjoy it (and the families in your community that are stressed out over how to pay for college will thank you).

You will NOT be disappointed. Ron is one of my favorite people in the financial world and is super entertaining -- and eye-opening.

We love hearing successful business stories.

Ann Hartz, CPA from Des Moines, Iowa, worked to grow from a solo practitioner practice with 100 clients to a thriving firm with five full-time employees and 2,000 clients.

"We all go into business for what we love to do, and I love to do taxes. I really do. But I have to be the president of this business and run the business, too," Ann said about her decision to work with TaxProMarketer in the early years to help build her online presence.

So how did that growth come?

"At least 50-75% of my new business has been from people looking us up and online reviews and that sort of thing."

Ann liked the fact that TaxProMarketer focuses on tax preparers and CPA firms, even when she kept getting solicitations from other marketing companies saying they could do it better. "They say, 'There's too many words. People don't want to read all those words.'

But when I have clients come in to meet with me, a lot of them will say to me that it was the website that brought them in. The proof is in the pudding. That website represents me, and you're able to put the information on there that I want. In my business, it's important to be able to be trusted, and that's what I want to portray. It's been a great thing."

Yep, you heard that right.

It's a new, under-the-radar shift (that Google didn't announce) that provides a "newsfeed" of sorts of content from friends and nearby businesses.

Which has definite implications for how you operate your GMB profile.

I love nerding out about this stuff.

Perhaps like you do with the tax code (and I am increasingly nerdy about that as well) ... and it's why I am drawn to people who have similar nerdy intentions.

There is a subtle (but vast) difference between working with companies and people for whom you are a notch on their business bedpost -- and those who are really in it to serve.

Jassen Bowman is one of those who is in it to serve. (He's also a big nerd, and I mean that with great respect and affection.)

So when he reached out after some recent emails of mine that he wanted to host a regular webinar series with me about the mechanics of online marketing, I knew it would be a gas.

We're discussing the new, subtle developments about the REAL drivers of online marketing success. My Director of Search, Christian will be with us too.

No hype, no pre-planned sales pitch ... just pure, nerdy marketing fun.

Jassen is a particular expert in the resolution space, and has a large following among those who serve those clients -- so he'd be a good one to connect with if you want to discover better ways to operate within those cases.

In this webinar we have a particular focus on local listings, GMB, and SEO nerdiness. You will WANT to hear what we talk about ... some of this stuff is barreling at you fast, and you'll want to be in the loop.

Over my past 17+ years helping tax professionals like you, I've heard many people say that they "didn't want to market themselves" or that "salesmanship is manipulative and evil."

But marketing AND selling are really about building relationships.

And those are vital to our existence.

Try this: Take a breath and hold it. Keep holding it until you feel the discomfort. Then hold it a little more.

(DON'T PASS OUT :) )

When I hear people say that marketing and selling are "evil", I think about oxygen.

If you're gasping for air, you're not getting enough oxygen.

That's point number one.

Here's point number two: the biggest marketing and selling job we perform is to OURSELVES.

If we tell ourselves the story that these things are evil, then problems will follow, just as surely as if we hold our breath for too long.

But when we remember that marketing and selling are the very fuel for the growth of our business, well ... things get more lively.

So it follows:

You HAVE to implement effective marketing and selling. It's not optional. Key word is "effective".

If you don't, nobody will know you and they'll get their services from someone else (who is probably not as good at taxes and accounting as you).

So the choices are:

A: Market your business and sell (effectively)

B: Lose money

Inconvenient ...but it's the truth.

Awhile back, I held a complimentary web-class with my good friend Anthony Simonie, who shared some simple, but powerful ways to MARKET and SELL so that you have business clients reaching out to you on a consistent and predictable basis.

The feedback was amazing.

There was nothing for sale but people actually got results by implementing what he taught (for free) on the class.

Here's what one person said…

"The webinar was fantastic. I took two of the simple strategies that you taught and implemented them right away. Took me less than 10 mins and two of my ideal prospects reached out to book appointments with me that day. I'm blown away."

-Dan

Because of all the positive feedback, I've brought Anthony back to share his strategies again.

Only this time, he's agreed to include an additional strategy -- one you can leverage to do the majority of your selling on autopilot, PRIOR to them booking an appointment with you.

And this is one of his secret weapons.

You'll find out what this is and how you can effectively use it in your practice too.

This "weapon" will educate, engage, and inspire your prospects to reach out to you wanting to become your client.

Additionally, Anthony and I are going to share the simple 4-part proven process that generates high-paying business clients in short fashion…

… including one under-utilized strategy he'll be doing a live demo on, that requires $ zero in paid advertising.

On this web class, you'll learn…

• How to sell your services for premium rates to business prospects who will be happy to pay them.

• Where your (higher-paying) business prospects really are and how to reach them fast, without paying a dime in advertising.

• How to dominate your market and create an unfair advantage over your competitors using my DD method.

• How to do ALL of this while working less and staying true to your mission, yourself, and getting amazing outcomes for your clients.

…And more.

If you want to increase your profitability by working with clients who are grateful, see your value and are happy to pay you premium rates -- while at the same time gaining more freedom away from work -- you'll want to get your hands on this information.

Most tax or accounting firm owners know that they can genuinely help taxpayers and business owners keep more money in their pocket, and once they get in front of those folks, they're able to explain exactly how they can do that.

But the problem many firm owners face is how to get in front of the people they can help.

How do you get the attention of new tax leads?

The "old way" of drumming up new accounting or tax leads has become all but obsolete in our internet age.

Tax firm owner Steve Padgett "took a gamble" on internet marketing with TaxProMarketer in 2016, after he realized his faithful attendance at local Chamber meetings failed to produce reliable new business for his firm. The phone wasn't ringing.

In this interview with TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty, Padgett shares about his firm's progression from a small firm with 1 new tax lead per month to a secure firm fielding 3-5 new tax leads per week.

There are some basic assumptions to be familiar with when starting any marketing conversation related to your tax or accounting firm.

1. You need more than a website.

2. You need to be conversion-oriented in your marketing.

3. Email is your hidden weapon.

4. Tactics are constantly changing.

5. There is a specific relationship journey to follow in order to convert a lead into a client.

With that foundation, we can jump into the specific elements of how to make marketing effective.

And that's what we delve into in this webinar: website, advertising, SEO, follow-up tactics, and more. We'll explain why most PPC campaigns fail and how to structure your PPC campaigns to avoid that outcome.

Join us … and start to dominate.

Join us for the next in our Spotlight Series as Nate Hagerty interviews Teri Suddard, a lifetime Delaware tax firm owner about how she's pivoted to changing market conditions over the years, including the quick fixes she implemented to make this 2020 pandemic-impacted tax season successful despite its limitations. She's enjoying the benefits that email marketing and local listings optimization have provided her in recent years and is already making some specific adjustments for next tax season.

PPP Questions? Bring them on.

Because how often do you get the opportunity to pick the brain of the CEO of the nation's leading non-bank SBA lender? On this webinar, you can.

Join TaxProMarketer CEO Nate Hagerty as he interviews Chris Hurn, CEO of Fountainhead, the nation's leading non-bank SBA lender. Hurn and his executive team have collectively closed over $24.09 billion worth of projects -- including 8,200 PPP loans, totaling more than $767.05 million as of August 2020. They are specialists in the SBA 504 loan, as well as SBA 7(a) and low LTV conventional loan programs.

Because of a longstanding relationship with CEO, Nate Hagerty, Chris has generously offered TaxProMarketer clients and contacts the opportunity to ask him questions, hypotheticals, and get his insight on the PPP forgiveness process -- as well as help them discover other SBA programs that can ensure that they are a hero to their SMB clients (and optionally get paid brokerage fees in the process via the SBA).

Back in the early 2000's, Nate Hagerty was the Marketing Director of a tax firm that grew from one little tax and accounting office ... into a multi-office tax empire that employed over 400 people in 15 different market areas and served over 27,000 clients.

Building a business empire like this required many small acts of decision along the way.

One of the primary ones -- can I build this without sacrificing everything else in my life?

In this podcast, Nate interviews the then-president of this tax business, who managed to build and lead this team ... all while he had plenty of time to spend with his 4 kids under 10 years old AND a maintain a thriving marriage at the same time. (Nate knows this because he spent plenty of time with them at their house at the time, and has remained close friends even as their professional paths took them to different places.)

On this webinar interview, Chauncey Hutter, Jr. shares what he discovered in asking himself these three critical questions:

• How can I cut my workload, but still keep growing the business?

• How can I reduce payroll costs and rapidly increase profits?

• How can I add extra passive income streams without hurting operations?

We were reviewing some marketing data in our office recently, and my oh my, was it fun.

We're seeing massive increases across the board in traffic, CTR, engagement and effectiveness in our marketing for accountants and tax pro clients ... so much so that our Director of Search, Christian Jones, suggested we put on a "snap podcast" and tell you what we have been cooking in our kitchen that has worked so well in our marketing for accountants and tax pros.

One of our clients sent us a note the other day, and offhandedly, he said (this wasn't the point of his note):

"With your assistance, we built a juggernaut. 4 locations. 3500 clients. Handsome billing. We THRIVE always." (Anthony M.)

Want to build a juggernaut?

Join us…

One of our clients, in a very large metro (heavy competition), is getting leads at $0.79 per click.

These are unreal numbers.

And "how" they are happening is just one of the things we talk about.

We share live data, and a variety of other "behind the curtain" marketing for accountants tricks we've been using to help our clients get to the top of organic AND paid listings for top keywords ... plus what's working in converting that traffic into good clients.

Such as how to:

* run ads that work

* show up at the top of search and maps listings

* generate reviews that BRING IN BUSINESS

* nurture your existing clients and prospects on your list to generate more revenue -- even without having to add new clients

If you want to build THROUGH this cultural insanity, you should tune in.