The Start Up To Grown Up Podcast

“We need you bossing the conversation.”

That was 2 weeks ago and from my leadership team, in what I can only describe as an intervention. They wanted me to write another book.

Anyone who knows me will find this funny. I don’t usually need asking twice to write a book. I’ve written six, several are on their second or third editions, and at any one time I’ve got four or five more knocking around my head. However over the years I’ve been trained by my team to NOT write another book. With the benefit of hindsight I’ve not had the mental bandwidth since about 2022 with fibromyalgia creeping up on me.

But the great thing about moving down here and ditching the councillor role soon, my mind is freeing up. I am feeling the urge to write a new book.

But there was still some reluctance. I had enough IP. I had enough content. And with AI making access to information cheap and pretty much ungated: why would anyone read a book now?

You’re probably thinking along similar lines. Our clients can ask AI anything and get a decent answer before the kettle’s boiled. A book takes months of time and focus. I know exactly what it takes to write one properly. By that I mean not just the writing, but the getting the value from it by marketing it. And I wasn’t going to pour all that effort into something that fizzled and flopped.

Welcome to a free edition of Start Up To Grown Up: Your source for ideas, insights and tactics to take back control of your business and scale it sustainably and profitably by Heather Townsend, award-winning author of The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club and Founder of The Accountants’ Growth Club

Why writing a book is a strategic level type decision

Every book I’ve written has paid me back, many times over. But every book has dominated my thinking for over a year. But also shifted my personal brand each time I pressed the publish button.

When I wrote The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking, (my first book) I was a jobbing trainer on associate rates. I’d just left corporate life and had no clue how to market myself. So I taught myself social media while it was still a playground for early adopters. And that’s why I was asked by Pearson to write the Financial Times Guide To Business Networking. Yes, they literally approached me. Once it was commissioned, not even published, I stopped taking on associate work. Clients came to me directly and I tripled my day rate to £2,000.

With The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club (my 5th book), I paid around £3,000 to use the PDF of the book as a lead magnet on AccountingWEB. It got me 550 qualified names for my email list. Within two years, that list had built £20,000 a month of income. The Accountants’ Growth Club, a £200,000 to £300,000 a year business, grew from there.

For The Go-To Expert, (my 3rd book) similar to all the other books I had written, I picked interviewees I’d have loved as clients. Cheeky, but it worked. Several did then become clients. Including one that was a £40,000 contract over twelve months. This tactic has paid off the costs of writing a book for every single book.

Poised for Partnership (my 4th book) has built an annual income stream of around £200,000. It’s this book AND my second book How To Make Partner And Still Have A Life which keeps the phone ringing with new enquiries for our How To Make Partner business. Most years I get a decent lead from the book which has lead to contracts worth over £50,000 a year.

Each book credentialed me with an audience. Often an audience that before the book I had no right to be in front off. This credentialing gave me an audience trusted me and enabled me to get in front of decision makers with a budget. Think of the book as a business card that opens doors.

You’ve read this far… so go on, press the subscribe button so you don’t miss another article which are published weekly.

What changed my mind

My team basically. Normally they stop me from creating new things. But in our quarterly business planning meeting they put it plainly.

Our members are s**t scared that AI is going to take their business. They need you to stand up and tell them otherwise.

Well when you put it like that?? Challenge accepted.

Let’s be frank for a moment. AI is as big a change for how we do business as the dot-com boom and the advent of social media. If you choose to put your head in the sand and decide it isn’t going to impact how you do business then you are kidding yourself. Potentially even risking losing your business. In fact I know of some knowledge businesses that have decided to shut up shop due to AI taking their business.

Now that AI is here to stay, small firm owners are puzzling it out themselves.

* How will roles change? What will AI do and what wouldn’t AI do?

* What services need to be done differently?

* How should our prices and how we charge change?

When social media burst onto the scene, it was a similar picture. Small business owners were trying to work out how their marketing and external communications needed to change with social media. For 12 months until the Financial Times Guide To Business Networking was published I was being asked for the book NOW, as they knew it was going to help them. For many small business owners and professionals in practice, the Financial Times Guide To Business Networking gave them the road map they needed to go to market using social media.

My team were right. The marketplace is waiting for someone to come forward, with authority, and talk about how AI is going to change how they manage and run their business. Someone will shape how our profession thinks about that. And why not me? It’s time I stepped out of my self-proclaimed exile and reclaimed the narrative. Become that thought leader once again for the professions.

The business case for a book in this new AI powered world

What happens when information is easily and readily available? In fact, anyone can churn out a 1000 word article which is largely correct in a few minutes now with AI. My starting point this article was dictating into claude for about 5 minutes to get my thoughts together for this article. I then largely rewrote its first draft.

AI is based on Large Language Models. Which are trained on data. I.e. what has gone before. Which means that working out how AI will change both the big stuff and the subtleties of running a small professional services firm isn’t something I would want to trust to AI. At this point AI will be using probability to give you its opinion on how AI will change the small business landscape. But what AI doesn’t have is the judgement and nuance of what will really happen. That’s where I can add real value in crystallising my opinion into a book.

Most people are wising up to the fact that whilst AI may sound confident, it can also be wrong. And sometimes spectacularly so. My opinion is that a book is proof that you have done your research and thought about what is going to matter. Clients will willingly still pay for that thinking. They want the reassurance of your expertise.

This week I had a conversation with one of my trusted associates. They are now a true expert in AI for marketing and business development in professional services. They were asking me about packaging or focusing the facilitated workshops they were doing. Apparently every one was materially different. I said, this is why you need a book. A book forces you to crystallise your IP and get your messages straight. It gives you the frameworks to sell products and services off the back of.

AI is a brilliant tool. And I use it in my writing (which I am transparent about). A year ago I described it as an enthusiastic intern. Now I believe its a great sounding board and advisor. What it can’t give you is your experience, your frameworks or your opinions.

When not to bother writing a book

I spent a significant amount of time in the professional speaking association UK and Ireland. It is believed that to be successful as a professional speaker you need a book to your name. As a result I was asked to be a beta reader for many speakers, coaches and consultants. Sadly most of the books I was given to read were poor. They almost universally need a decent edit and to be produced more professionally. After all if you want to be a £5k to £10k professional speaker your book needs to look like you are that quality of speaker. Anything with a whiff of home brew about it will instantly cost you credibility. And isn’t that the point of writing a book? To credentialise yourself and be seen as an authority?

Writing a book is a 12-24 month undertaking. There is the writing bit - which is actually the easy bit. Then there is the 12-18 months of relentless marketing for it. Its this relentless marketing that is the grind part of writing a book. If you are not prepared to do this then, frankly, don’t waste your time writing a book.

If you are unsure about who your audience is or what outcome you help them achieve then you are probably not ready to write a book. A book is a huge personal branding tool. If it doesn’t fit the brand you want going forward, that’s a lot of effort to try and reverse.

You’ve read this far… so clearly finding it valuable. So… go on, press the subscribe button so you don’t miss another article which are published weekly.

In summary

I’m ready to write this next book. Plus at least one more new edition of Poised for Partnership and a new book for my How To Make Partner audience. But each book is a 12-18 month undertaking. Writing a book is not for the faint hearted and should always be a considered decision.

But write the right book, and then market it effectively, and you can grow a brilliant business around the book. I’ve proved this many times over. So why not you?

Are you carrying responsibilities that have nothing to do with growing your business, but still take up valuable headspace? Have you said yes to a board seat, a trusteeship or a side venture that once felt exciting and takes up too much of your time and focus? If so this episode is for you.

Three weeks ago I moved out of the home where we brought up our family and said goodbye to the town I'd lived in for half my life. In this episode, I talk about what that move taught me about the burden I'd been carrying as a local councillor, and the headspace that opened up once I put some distance between me and it. You'll hear how to spot the commitments in and around your own business that no longer serve you.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why the responsibilities you take on outside your business can stop you switching off

- How to tell the difference between a commitment you chose willingly and one that has become a burden.

- Why so many business owners fill their week with non-chargeable work that has nothing to do with their firm.

- What changed for me once I made room for a daily walk, stretching and time in the garden.

Related reading/episodes

Why we feel the compulsion to overwork https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/7-reasons-you-are-overworking-and?r=l8khy

Everyone talks about scaling up - no-one talks about scaling down https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/everyone-talks-about-scaling-up-nobody?r=l8khy

You are not running a business you are running an expensive job (and here’s how to change this) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/youre-not-running-a-business-youre?r=l8khy

10 tactics to reduce your stress levels that you wouldn’t find in a textbook https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/10-tactics-to-reduce-your-stress?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Do you wonder why your team can't just step up and take initiative? Does every problem, every decision and every stuck point still land back on your desk? And when you do trust them to get on with it, do you end up disappointed, or worse, in a conversation you never wanted to have?

I share the disciplinary meeting where a former team member told me I had never made it clear what I expected of them, and the micro second where I doubted myself. In this episode I talk about why "trust your people" is not a management system, and what actually needs to be in place before your team will step up.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why the advice to trust your people lets you off the hook for proper people management, and how that belief is often behind a revolving door of employees

- Why leaving an expensive senior hire to sink or swim is the worst gamble you can take with your money

- The "ask, don't tell" principle I picked up at Tesco

- The power of systemising your firm

- How I handle mistakes so my team keep taking initiative

Related reading

Everything you need to manage a small team, in three processes https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/everything-you-need-to-manage-a-small?r=l8khy

How to eliminate your emotional baggage when managing people https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-eliminate-your-emotional-baggage?r=l8khy

5 subtle (and not so subtle) signs that you have a performance problem with a staff member https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/5-subtle-and-not-so-subtle-signs?r=l8khy

The day I found out that my team were b*tching about me on a private Whatsapp group https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-day-i-found-out-that-my-team?r=l8khy

How to finally have the conversation you’ve been too scared to have https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/4-things-to-do-before-the-conversation?r=l8khy

They sent me an email apologising for “breaking my business” (and this I show I recovered) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/they-sent-me-an-email-apologising?r=l8khy

The real reason you keep hiring the wrong people https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-real-reason-you-keep-hiring-the?r=l8khy

What to do when your team wouldn’t step up https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/what-to-do-when-your-team-wouldnt?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Do you know that moment when your chest tightens, your breathing gets shorter and the list of things you are supposed to be doing feels like it is about to swallow you? Are you carrying so much right now, the business, the family commitments, the promises you made to yourself, that you are in danger of doing nothing well? If overwhelm has become your default setting rather than the occasional bad week, this episode is for you.

I share what happened to me this week when overwhelm caught up with me, and the practical things I did to get myself back out of it. In this episode, I talk about how overwhelm shows up in your body before you consciously admit to it, and why so much of the pressure we carry as business owners is pressure we have put on ourselves. You'll hear how I worked out what genuinely had to happen this week, what I switched off, and why I refused to cancel my self-care even on the days I felt terrible.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why separating the must dos from the nice to dos is the fastest way to take the pressure off a difficult week.

- How to switch off the stressors feeding your overwhelm

- Why concentrating only on what you can actually influence is the way forward

- Why cancelling your self-care when you are overwhelmed is the worst decision you can make.

Related episodes

10 tactics to reduce your stress levels that you wouldn’t find in a text book

https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/10-tactics-to-reduce-your-stress?r=l8khy

Where did the week go? (And why it keeps happening) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/where-did-the-week-go-and-why-it?r=l8khy

The 7 habits that keep me standing when most business owners quit https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-seven-habits-that-keep-me-standing?r=l8khy

Why we feel the compulsion to overwork (and how to stop) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/7-reasons-you-are-overworking-and?r=l8khy

4 micro habits to stop burnout (before it starts) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/4-micro-habits-to-stop-burnout-before?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Are you about to write another cheque for a trade show stand because it's what your firm does every year? Have you come back from an exhibition with a lanyard full of business cards and almost no new clients? Do you suspect the money would work harder somewhere else, but you don't want to be the only firm in your sector missing from the floor?

Last year we spent £20k exhibiting at a trade show that brought in barely any new clients and nearly took the business under as a result.

We'd had several good years at that same show, so in this episode I talk about what changed, what I got wrong, and what I would do differently if I exhibited again.

I share the pre-show, on-the-day and post-show work that decides whether exhibiting pays for itself or just gives you sore feet and an empty pipeline.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why a trade show only works as one part of a wider marketing campaign

- How to check that your ideal clients will actually be at the show, and why the organisers' attendance figures aren't enough to go on.

- The pre-show work that separates a profitable show from an expensive one

- What to give away on stand so your brand stays on a prospect's desk rather than in a bin on the way home.

- Why getting a speaking slot can be the cheapest way to drive qualified visitors to your stand.

The follow up process that turns leads from the show into fee income

Related reading

The £20k trade show lesson I won’t forget https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-20k-trade-show-lesson-i-wont

AI and linkedin broke my marketing (this is what I did next) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/ai-and-linkedin-broke-my-marketing?r=l8khy

How to win clients without feeling like you’ve turned into a salesperson https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-win-clients-without-feeling?r=l8khy

You are showing up. So why aren’t you the leads coming? https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/8-ways-you-are-killing-your-personal?r=l8khy

The lead generator sitting in plain sight (that most firms ignore) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/you-know-your-website-needs-updating?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Does sitting down for a formal performance review with someone you talk to every single day feel like pointless box ticking? Did you swear that when you left corporate life you would never do meaningless HR admin again? And are you now carrying emotional baggage from team members who underperformed, walked out or turned on you, wondering how on earth it got to that point?

In this podcast episode I share what I have learned, mostly the hard way, about why good people management is not overkill when there are only a handful of you. 

I talk about the real reasons we avoid the formal people management stuff, which are rarely about time, and what avoiding it has cost me.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why the "we are all in this together" mindset will cost you dearly in your business

- The real reasons you are avoiding formal people management, and why not having enough time is rarely the one that is genuinely stopping you

- How hiring on trust, particularly with freelancers and experts for hire, is often an expensive mistake

- Why quarterly reviews work better than annual appraisals 

- How to work out the right frequency of 1:2:1s for each person, and the performance problems you will miss if you are not having them

Related posts

The 5.5 processes your business needs to scale without breaking https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-55-processes-your-business-needs

4 signs that an employee’s performance has dropped (and what to do about it) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/4-signs-that-an-employees-performance

How to eliminate your emotional baggage when managing people https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-eliminate-your-emotional-baggage?r=l8khy

They sent me an email apologising for “breaking my business” (and this is how I recovered) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/they-sent-me-an-email-apologising?r=l8khy

Are you being gaslit by clients or staff? How to spot and stop it https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/are-you-being-gaslit-by-clients-or

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Do you wake at 2am with your mind churning over whether your business is actually OK? Are you either tracking a long list of numbers that nobody ever acts on, or nothing at all beyond keeping your P&L up to date? And if one of those numbers moved next week, would anything in your firm actually change?

In this episode I go back to basics on how to choose the KPIs for your firm. I share why the financials your accountant talks to you about only tell you how your past decisions worked out, and what you need to measure alongside them to stay focused on what matters most. I also talk through how we set our own KPIs after losing 25% of our monthly recurring revenue, and what those numbers made us change.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why revenue, profit and cash survival time are the right place to start but a terrible place to stop.

- How to work top down from your 3-year growth plan and your big bets before you decide on a single KPI.

- Why your firm needs a ONE BIG FOCUS for the next 90 days, and how to pick it when everything feels urgent.

- The difference between the lagging indicators you measure at firm level and the leading indicators your team should be measuring.

- How I broke a £6k new monthly recurring revenue target down into KPIs and an action plan for my relationship manager.

- The one question to ask before any number goes on your dashboard.

Related reading/episodes

The 5 specific moves that made me redundant from my own business https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-5-specific-moves-that-made-me?r=l8khy

You’re not running a business, you’re running an expensive job https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/youre-not-running-a-business-youre?r=l8khy

AI and LinkedIn broke my marketing (this is what I did next) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/ai-and-linkedin-broke-my-marketing

6 emotions that drive real business growth (if you listen to them) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/6-emotions-that-drive-real-business?r=l8khy

The beginner’s guide to know if your marketing is working https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-knowing-if?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Has your revenue suddenly dropped off a cliff with no warning? Are you watching your cash reserves prop up a business that badly needs new clients? Do you know what to do first when the work dries up, or are you about to start rushing around with a face that says 'desperate for work'?

In the space of four to six weeks we lost 25% of the monthly revenue in one of our businesses. In this episode I talk you through exactly what I am doing about it, and the same advice I have given clients time and time again when their pipeline empties. You will hear the diagnostic work to do before you panic, and the specific activity that reignites new business fastest.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- The importance of learning how seasonality impacts your business

- The three types of cost you should never cut when money gets tight, however tempting it looks.

- Why warm relationships come before anything else, and the questions that turn a catch-up call into paid work.

- How to manufacture a reason for a call when picking up the phone feels a bit icky.

- What to say to prospects who went quiet and to the people who already told you no.

- How the 60 in 60 days approach works

- Why discounting to win work is almost always the wrong move, and the one exception.

Related episodes

How to turn meetings with existing clients into invoiceable business https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-real-reason-your-clients-dont?r=l8khy

How to get clients to say yes (without chasing or discounting) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/why-clients-say-let-me-think-about?r=l8khy

Why your marketing isn’t working and how one simple document can fix it https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/why-your-marketing-isnt-working-and?r=l8khy

How to build your marketing function: person by person https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-build-your-marketing-function?r=l8khy

AI and LinkedIn broke my marketing (this is what we did next) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/ai-and-linkedin-broke-my-marketing?r=l8khyThe £20k trade show lesson I won’t forget https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-20k-trade-show-lesson-i-wont?r=l8khy3 decisions that turned my empty pipeline into a waiting list for clients https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/3-decisions-that-turned-my-empty?r=l8khy

You’re showing up. So why aren’t the leads coming? https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/8-ways-you-are-killing-your-personal?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Have you outsourced or hired marketing help and watched it deliver very little? Could you explain, in granular detail, how your firm actually wins work? 

If you are thinking about handing your marketing over to someone else, this episode is for you.

I built a marketing function that did not properly understand how we won work, and that was part of the reason our marketing stopped working. Add in the changes to search and LinkedIn and our marketing was dead in the water. 

In this episode, I talk through what I got wrong and the order I would now follow to build a marketing function that brings high quality leads into the business.

What you'll learn in the podcast episode:

- Why documenting your whole business development process comes before any decision to outsource or hire.

- How missing KPIs left me unable to see whether the marketing was working until it had already cost me.

- Why your new marketing hire needs to report directly to you rather than to someone else in your team.

- What to measure in your account management before you spend money on winning new clients.

- Why testing what AI can already do for you should come before hiring a person to do it.

- How to work out what to outsource, and the point at which permanent help becomes more cost effective.

- What a marketing "do-er" should be responsible for, and when to add a manager above them.

Link to Riverside.fm (affiliate link) https://riverside.sjv.io/e1MXvg

Related reading/episodes

AI and LinkedIn broke my marketing (this is what I did next) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/ai-and-linkedin-broke-my-marketing

The lead generator sitting in plain sight (that most firms ignore) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/you-know-your-website-needs-updating?r=l8khy

You’re showing up. So why aren’t you the leads coming? https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/8-ways-you-are-killing-your-personal?r=l8khy

How to put your marketing on autopilot https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-put-your-marketing-on-autopilot?r=l8khy

The beginner’s guide to know if your marketing is working https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-knowing-if?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.

Are you staring at a blank page with a deadline coming and no idea what to write? Do you find that the weeks you most need to publish something are the weeks your head is completely empty? Are you churning out content at the last minute and knowing, as you press publish, that it isn’t your best work?

I created the narrative for this podcast epsiode while sitting on a train with no idea what my podcast episode for the week was going to be. I’ve been creating content for over 17 years, six books, thousands of articles and more than 100 podcast episodes, and I still get stuck. 

In this episode, I talk about what causes writer’s block for me, and the four things that make it far less likely to catch you out.

What you’ll learn in the podcast episode:

The two things most likely to give you writer’s block.

What gets my writing going again

How a content plan stops you from churning out poor quality content

What to keep in a swipe file, and where to find ideas beyond social media.

How to use AI to support you to overcome writers block without it writing or creating for you

Related episodes

AI and LinkedIn broke my marketing (this is what I did next) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/ai-and-linkedin-broke-my-marketing?r=l8khy

The £20k trade show lesson I wouldn’t forget https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-20k-trade-show-lesson-i-wont?r=l8khy

How to restart your business development activities when you’ve gone quiet https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-restart-your-business-development?r=l8khy

The lead generator sitting in plain sight (that most firms ignore) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/you-know-your-website-needs-updating?r=l8khy

How to put your marketing on autopilot https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-put-your-marketing-on-autopilot?r=l8khy

The 5Ps to make sure that business development always happens https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-5ps-to-make-sure-that-business?r=l8khy

Useful links:

- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up

Each episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again.

About Heather Townsend

Heather is the leading business coach for accountants (and other professionals) who want to grow their business. She is the founder of The Accountants Growth Club, who specialise in helping accounting firm owners grow their accounting business profitably and sustainably.

She is also the founder of How To Make Partner, the global experts in helping professionals in practice make it to partner, and when they get there, stay that. Get the confidence, the skills AND the time to focus on the right things and move your career forward with Progress to Partner Academy.