Shawn, Financial Freedom Tax Group asked the following:
Although the growth in my business can be looked at as a success, I have yet to word it that way. I have never met my numeric goals as far as how many clients I get in one season.
Every year the number increases, but I am still reaching to obtain 300 clients…and I’m still a ways off. I just seem to get mental blocks when I attempt to look at various ways to market myself and get the word out.
I just have no idea where to start (To view his full comment click here)
Shawn – One way to start building your client base is decreasing the seasonality of your marketing efforts. Tax season is January through April, but how much communication do you do in the remaining months? I noticed on your website that you now have a blog, which is a great way to reach out to existing and prospective clients. Offer tax tips throughout the year via your blog. People are always wondering what is tax deductible, how they should be preparing during the year to make tax time easier. When I talk to brides one of their tax related questions centers around how they file as a couple. Questions like is it better to file together or separate, do they have to be married a full year to file together etc. If you also open up your blog to people who want to ask questions, you create an ongoing dialogue. Your blog will also help you to drive more search engine traffic, which gives you exposure to prospects who otherwise may not have found you.
Also, because taxes are such a confusing subject for many you may want to consider doing a workshop or online teleseminar to help people through the process. This is another way to establish yourself as an expert and drive more business.
Finally, don’t discredit the success of your business. If you are growing at a steady pace and learning in the process, your business is successful. Having that goal of 300 clients is a great goal, but don’t feel you are failing because you haven’t reached it yet. Take a look at your annual growth percentage and set your goals on that. If in past years you grew by 10% each year set your goal to grow by 12 or 15%; you will hit that 300-client mark before you know it.
I hope this helps to give you a starting point in marketing your business. Also, I extend an invitation to your to write a guest post (or 2) related to small business taxes.
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