Jolene Loos, CPA Says Accounting Firms That Refuse To Market Will Die A Natural Death
“I believe that accountants who refuse to market their practice are ultimately going to end up either having to sell their practice or merge with another firm or as they get ready to retire they’re going to fade away,” says Jolene Loos a Certified Public Accountant and member of GoodAccountants.com since April 2007. One of the co-founders of C & L Value Advisors, Inc., an eighteen person full service accounting firm based in Tampa, Florida, Jolene has added an additional $100,000 to her annual billings exclusively from companies referred to her by GoodAccountants.com.
Loos says her firm has not felt the affects of the downturn in the economy because she believes in marketing which has paid dividends in the form of substantial clients with well established businesses that can help a small accounting firm stay solvent even during the worst of times. While others are shutting their doors Jolene’s firm has actually experienced substantial growth. Among the clients she has obtained from GoodAccountants.com is Fairfax Imaging, Inc., a $15 million, world leader in turn-key image-based products and solutions for the data capture, forms processing, document imaging, and check/remittance processing industries.
“I have been actively looking for some practices to purchase and a lot of the companies I’m getting are practices that say they just can’t get new clients anymore or they’re losing a lot of clients,” says Loos. Although she admits that the economy has had a lot to do with scores of accountants shutting their doors or selling their practice she and her partner Kevin A. Cameron who holds an MBA degree in addition to his certification have never had a problem sustaining their firm’s growth since joining GoodAccountants.com. “But I think people have got to realize that they’ve got to move into the 21st century, they’ve got to be involved on the internet. They’ve got to be doing things that are the way young people and young entrepreneurs deal with their own businesses and if they don’t they’re going to die a natural death,” adds Loos.
Loos admits that she would have never landed Fairfax Imaging, Inc., as one of her clients, despite the fact that the company had relocated their headquarters to a facility within walking distance to her Tampa offices, had she not spent the $5,000 membership fee to enroll her firm as a member of GoodAccountants.com. “I didn’t even know that this company existed until I got the phone call from GoodAccountants.com telling me that a $15 million dollar business had just relocated to my neighborhood and was looking for a new accountant,” adds Loos. This one client represents a better than ten times return on investment for C&L Value Advisors, Inc., which beats by far the R.O.I. the firm has realized on any single accounting practice they have purchased to date. “Not only did I land such an awesome client in Fairfax Imaging but the owners of the company referred me to their spouses who also operate their own businesses,” says Jolene. “I am involved on almost every level of investment the company and the owners make and they are a joy to work with,” she stated as she ended her interview with one final statement. “I love GoodAccountants.com!”
Steve Chahal, President & COO, of Fairfax Imaging, Inc.
ABOUT FAIRFAX IMAGING, INC.
Although it’s been a long ways from Bethpage, New York for Steve Chahal and Tony Cristofano where the two young engineers once worked for Grumman Data Systems until it was acquired by Northrop in 1994, it has been a road worth travelling. The pair relocated to Fairfax, Virginia taking the town’s name for the company they started back then that has now grown into a $15 million dollar enterprise with 60 employees in the U.S. and another 40 in Vietnam. Established in 1994 with offices in Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Florida, Fairfax Imaging, Inc., provides state-of-the-art products and services to the document, forms and payment processing industries and includes among its client base the Internal Revenue Service, The California State Department of Motor Vehicles, the United States military along with a market share of more than 90% of the pharmaceutical industry. The company has garnered numerous leadership awards and recognition from every industry sector imaginable. So it wasn’t surprising to the folks at GoodAccountants.com when Fairfax Imaging’s President, Steve Chahal selected Jolene Loos and her company C&L Value Advisors, Inc., as the accounting firm that would lead them into the next decade of their development.
“We are very satisfied overall with the results that we got from GoodAccountants.com in finding us Jolene Loos and C&L Value Advisors, Inc.,” - Steve Chahal, President of Fairfax Imaging, Inc.
“If you know anything about Jolene Loos and her organization, the level of dedication she brings to her clients as well as her knowledge of business then you would know why they selected her, says Patty Schoenfeld, Senior Business Consultant with GoodAccountants.com.
To receive the upcoming full Reality TV Episode on Fairfax Imaging, Inc. subscribe now to GA Access click here
Bill Estes Engages $11 Million U.S. Subsidiary Company Referred by GoodAccountants.com
An important part of mastering the client acquisition process comes with the understanding that its success or failure cannot be defined by a single client. At least that’s how Bill Estes, a Certified Public Accountant and sole practitioner based in Rochester, Michigan now sees it when it comes to engaging large clients who pay fees of $25,000 or more.
“When you set your sights on acquiring commercial clients who pay substantial fees you should also be prepared at some point to experience somewhat of an emotional roller coaster ride,” says Estes. Recounting his own experience with the very first referral he received after joining GoodAccountants.com, a potential six-figure engagement with a medical group that would ultimately decide to select another accounting firm, Bill Estes now says he regrets the lack of faith he displayed in the overall process. “I was beside myself with anxiety when I first learned the owner of the medical group had decided to move in a different direction,” says Estes. “My only regret is the way I initially acted with some of the staff at GoodAccountants after I found out I was not going to be retained by the client they referred. I know better now not to allow myself to be defined by any one client,” says Estes.
“I had never done any kind of marketing program before in my 30 years being a CPA other than taking out ads in the local yellow pages here in Rochester, Michigan,” says Estes. Although he admits being able to count on both hands the number of clients he has managed to convert over the years from his yellow page ads he remained even more pessimistic about clients who search the internet to find their accountant.
During the tax season Estes estimates he does about 400 individual tax returns whereas the rest of the year he focuses on servicing physician groups as an outsourced CFO. With all of the clients resulting from his ads in the yellow pages pretty much being small clients wanting tax returns done when presented by GoodAccountants.com with the opportunity to meet with the owner of a large medical practice paying between $75,000 and $100,000 annually, although reluctant, Estes decided to take the plunge and became a member of the nation’s largest accountancy referral service.
“To think that here I was investing in a marketing program at a time when the health of the economy was worst than awful, especially in a city like Detroit already hard hit by massive unemployment, made it an even more difficult experience,” says Estes. “I guess the specter of what I saw as potentially losing all of my money if I didn’t get another referral from GoodAccountants.com was more than I could handle at the time,” he adds.
Instead of thinking from the perspective that difficult economic times bring about the shifting of business alliances as companies look for more favorable pricing for the goods and services they must purchase, many accountants are missing out on the huge marketing opportunity that presently exists in the marketplace.
“Marketing is a process and accountants like everyone else who market their services must be patient and allow the marketing process to work,” says Johanna Laurent, Chief Executive Officer of GoodAccountants.com. Also losing sight of the fact that bigger clients are generally more difficult to engage than smaller ones can often lead to a level of frustration that can drive even the most savvy of marketing professionals crazy. “Bigger clients are generally more complex as well as more discerning when it comes to selecting their accountant and will likely want to compare the services of several accounting firms before making a decision,” says Patty Schoenfeld, a Senior Business Consultant with GoodAccountants.com. “As professionals we are forced to live with this reality but it should never shake our resolve when it comes to landing new clients,” she adds.
In an effort to help demystify GoodAccountants.com’s marketing and referral process the current episode of GA Access is dedicated to documenting what really transpired with Bill Estes and the client that was the first referred to him by GoodAccountants.
“I don’t think two full weeks rolled around before they had me back out in front of another fantastic client,” says the mercurial accountant. The second referral was an $11 million U.S. subsidiary corporation of a $1.2 billion, Sweden based, publicly traded company with more than 700 employees. My first reaction to Patty Schoenfeld’s phone call was ”why me?” “Why would a multi-billion dollar corporation using a ‘Big Four’ accounting firm want to meet with little old me,” says Estes. The fact is many large corporations are turning to small accounting firms to handle their accounting and financial requirements whereas in the past the reverse may have been true. ”Companies today are more concerned with their bottom line and if they can save money on accounting costs by switching from a large firm to a competent, smaller, less expensive firm they will,” says Laurent. “Many large corporations, universities and retail establishments come to us and ask if we can find a smaller accounting firm for them that will be more attentive as well as less expensive especially as a result of the downturn in the economy,” explains Laurent.
“When I first called Bill to tell him I was lining him up to meet with another great client he was very sarcastic with me,” says Schoenfeld. ”He was still stuck on the client that got away and it was preventing him from moving forward,” she adds. “I almost hung up on him because I thought at that point he was acting somewhat childish,” she further explains. Somehow the two managed to set their mutual cynicism aside and Schoenfeld scheduled Bill for a meet and greet with the Vice President of Finance of the subsidiary company.
At this point we would love to report that Estes retained the second very large client that was referred to him by GoodAccountants.com and everyone lived happily ever after which is exactly what happened. Notwithstanding, it would take another two weeks after the fact according to Schoenfeld for Estes to realize he had actually landed the client. “When I called the V.P. of Finance she informed me of her personal attempts to contact Bill after their meeting having resulted with no response,” says Schoenfeld. “Had I not followed up when I did and discovered she was having a difficult time getting hold of Bill and was preparing to scratch him off her short list there is a good possiblity we would have lost this one too,” she adds.
“The moral of the story is stay focused on the goal at hand and don’t become distracted by external forces that can sometimes play games with your mind and interfere with your overall marketing strategy,” says Patty. ”Accountants have to begin to understand that marketing is a process and not a question of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. There’s nothing magical about it, it’s a process and they have to be willing to allow the process to work,” explains Schoenfeld. ”I’m just so glad I didn’t allow Bill’s lack of confidence to interfere with me staying on top of the engagement for him and although he may have given up on me, I never gave up on him,” says Schoenfeld.
To watch the full reality television episode filmed on location at Bill Estes and Associates, P.C. and hear Bill recount his personal experiences as a GoodAccountant you must become a free subscriber to GA Access.
Spotlight on Four Good Accountants
The current episode of GA Access begins documenting the experiences of four accountants located in various cities across the country that have been selected from among the ranks of accountants nationwide who are members of GoodAccountants.com. Over the next twenty-six weeks various episodes of GA Access will focus on the day to day experiences of these “good accountants” along with the clients they obtain from GoodAccountants.com.
GA Access, the internet-based reality television show was developed by GoodAccountants.com, the nation’s largest accountancy referral service to help demystify the company’s marketing and referral process. “The current economy has cost many accountants some of their best clients that have fallen victim to tightening credit markets and the sharp decline in construction and real estate development,” says Johanna Laurent, President of GoodAccountants.com. “Today accountants are more willing to market themselves in order to replace clients lost as a result of a bad economy or to attrition,” she adds. GoodAccountants.com offers accountants who may be sole-practitioners right up to large accounting firms a high-tech, one-stop solution to finding quality clients. Accountants who may be considering using the services of a professional marketing firm can now take advantage of a special 10 day offer that guarantees a two to one return on investment provided their membership with GoodAccountants.com has been activated within the next 10 days ending on December 31, 2009.
“Our member accountants are now able to track the referrals they receive from us right through their computer,” says Laurent. “We’re making it easier for them to receive their referrals by being able to alert them within a few minutes of a pending new client that may have just logged onto our website and requested a referral to a local accountant,” she further explains. “We can also send a text message or email alert to a hand held device that notifies the accountant of their next appointment,” Laurent adds.
The reality television series will document the effectiveness of the technology that has been deployed in the field to help member accountants land more clients from the companies that use the GoodAccountants.com website to obtain referrals to local accountants.
Sushil Kumar, George Jay Kite, Kris D. Hinckley, and Kirt D. Hinckley, all Certified Public Accountants are featured in this episode of GA Access.
The Story of Coleman University and its founder Dr. Coleman Furr
Founded in 1963, with one teacher and fourteen students housed in a small building in downtown San Diego, California, Coleman University now sits on 5.5 acres of some of the most expensive real estate in San Diego, County. For more than 45 years the 84 year old educator, Coleman Furr has been on a spiritual quest to establish what most educators have long regarded as being the impossible; a university with a near 100% job placement rate for almost every one of its graduates. The truculent benefactor stands vindicated in his belief that he could establish an institution of higher learning that places 94% of its graduates into a good paying job. “By teaching them what employers want them to be taught, Coleman University gives its students the training they need to get a job and go to work,” says Dr. Coleman Furr, the University’s founder.
Despite the dramatic downturn in our nation’s economy and the current ten percent unemployment rate, 94% of all Coleman University graduates are employed in a gainful job on or before their graduation date. Using what he describes as an “inverted curriculum” Dr. Coleman Furr may have discovered what could very well be the cure to the current economic malaise that has tens of millions of Americans unemployed.
Motivated by his desire to turn around what he saw as a national crisis with jobs leaving our shores each year in record numbers Dr. Coleman Furr set out to do something about it and along the way may have found the key that opens the door to what is truly a meaningful education; which seems to have eluded most Universities that remain all but oblivious to it. As more and more college graduates lose the battle to payoff their six-figure education loans and are joining the ranks of the unemployed perhaps other universities will begin to consider adopting Coleman University’s ‘inverted curriculum.’
With a realization that creating new jobs is directly hinged to our ability to create a more relevant worker, Dr. Furr’s approach to workforce preparedness starts to make more and more sense. But if by chance Dr. Furr proves not to have cornered the market with the answer to the single most important domestic problem facing Americans today; which is massive unemployment, then the country is going to be hard pressed to find a more viable solution than the one that bears Dr. Furr’s name and has been transformed into brick and mortar as Coleman University.
The way we educate our work force will directly affect our nation’s bottom line according to Dr. Furr is a truth that speaks to what is fundamentally wrong with our economy. “If we are going to teach people how to get a job we aught to also help them find a job,” he adds.
Formerly known as Coleman College the school which grossed $100,000 in its first year while housed in a small 15,000 square feet building in downtown San Diego has since grown into 87,000 of combined square footage in two campuses on 5.5 acres; one in San Diego and the other in San Marcos. The school has three major educational departments; computer programming, computer networks and computer graphic design.
The full reality television episode featuring Debbie Ford, Manager of Affiliate Marketing with GoodAccountants.com was shot on location at the Balboa Avenue Campus and can be seen by clicking here: see full reality TV episode.
For more information about Coleman University please call the San Diego Campus at (858) 499-0202 or the San Marcos Campus at (760) 747-3990 or go to www.coleman.edu.
Why Doctors Need A Good Accountant As Massive Changes Come To The Healthcare Industry
Dr. Robert Rudowski, by almost everyone’s definition of the word is an extremely successful healthcare provider and businessman. Based in Clinton Township, Michigan, Dr. Rudowski operates a chain of sleep diagnostic clinics and is a respected authority on sleep and its related disorders which adversely affect more than 70 million Americans. Like many healthcare professionals who run highly complex medical operations Dr. Rudowski must rely heavily on his accountant especially with reimbursements being routinely reduced along with all the changes on the horizon for the healthcare industry. Using the same accountant for more than four years, Dr. Rudowski was resistant to the idea of getting a second opinion as he often advises others to do when confronted with a serious medical condition.
Given the raging healthcare debate in Washington along with Detroit’s difficult economic climate Dr. Rudowski felt compelled to request monthly reporting from his accountant that would keep him abreast of his financial position as well as the performance of his clinics. When the doctor called his accountant to inquire about why he had not received a single profit and loss statement in more than six months he found himself embroiled in a hotly contested debate. It was during the phone call that Dr. Rudowski realized it was time to bring a fresh set of eyes to his internal accounting process so he contacted GoodAccountants.com. “Without the reporting that I need I couldn’t credibly manage my business. So I started looking on the internet and I came across GoodAccountants.com,” says Rudowski. As a result of retaining the services of GoodAccountants.com Dr. Rudowski discovered he was paying substantially more than he needed to pay for his accounting process. “I had no idea that for years I was being severely overcharged and not getting what I should be getting,” he states.
GoodAccountants.com recommended the accounting firm of Sepesi Holdan & Associates to Dr. Rudowski which he immediately engaged at a savings of more than $48,000 per year or $4,000 per month. “What GoodAccountants.com has done for me is reduced my $75,000 to $100,000 a year in accounting costs to a far more manageable figure. That’s huge, especially when you’re an independent business person like I am,” states Rudowski.
GoodAccountants.com is the nation’s largest accountancy referral service having more than 10 million business owners use its highly popular website in their pursuit to find the right local accountant that can service their business and or personal accounting needs. “We specialize in helping businesses of all sizes from start-ups to publicly traded companies find the right accounting relationship that can expertly service them,” says Debbie Ford, GoodAccountants.com’s Manager of Affiliate Marketing. “It was during my conversations with Dr. Rudowski over the telephone that I realized how important his practice is to thousands of patients across the country,” she adds. “After speaking with Dr. Rudowski it became apparent to me that I needed to be tested so I personally booked an appointment with him and travelled to his clinic in Michigan,” explains Ford. (see full reality TV episode chronicling Ford’s travels to Dr. Rudowski’s Clinton Township, Michigan clinic).
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders and are eight hundred percent more susceptible to heart attack and more than four hundred percent prone to becoming a stroke victim. People who are sleep deprived are more susceptible to a whole host of diseases including contracting the H1N1 virus or Swine Flu. Sleep disorder conditions such as sleep apnea can often lead to death and can seriously exacerbate preexisting illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. Dr. Rudowski recommends taking the Epworth Sleepiness Test for anyone who often falls asleep during lectures or meetings, at stop lights or when watching a movie just to mention a few such instances. The Epworth Sleepiness Test can be readily found on the Internet or by contacting your primary care physician. A score of eight or more may indicate a need to visit a sleep disorder clinic for more thorough testing.
For more information about Dr. Robert Rudowski and his Oximetry Company, LLC please call (586) 489-1193 or go to Night Hawk Sleep Systems. Also watch our upcoming reality TV episode featuring our very own Debbie Ford who traveled to Michigan to meet with Dr. Rudowski and his staff.
Dominic Scine Engages $48,000 Client Referred by GoodAccountants.com
Dominic Scine operates from a comfortable office nestled within a serene, rustic setting in Crofton, Maryland which serves as the home base for Scine Accounting LLC. Scine, a Certified Public Accountant, obtained his Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from Flagler College, in St. Augustine, Florida. His brother Michael holds a Masters in Taxation and runs their St. Augustine office. The two along with a small administrative staff offer an array of accounting services that includes very aggressive tax planning, tax preparation, the preparation of financial statements, business and personal financial planning, private audits and reviews along with online bookkeeping solutions.
A true believer in the power of the Internet, Dominic Scine remains convinced that relying on client referrals to build his accounting practice that may come from his friends and relatives along with a few colleagues in the banking and legal professions is not exactly his idea of a real marketing plan. Dominic wanted something more substantial and a lot more tangible than that. What Dominic wanted was a way in which he could insure his accounting practice would have a dependable stream of new clients; but not just any old clients. Dominic wanted clients whose annual accounting budgets were minimally $5,000 to $10,000 and up. He wanted corporate clients that require servicing year round.
Presently with 300 individual clients and approximately 75 to 80 corporate clients Scine readily admits that he does not look forward to expanding his roster of individual clients and in fact will not take on any additional tax work from individuals unless it’s for someone who owns a company. As an added convenience for the principals of the companies he serves Dominic also provides personal tax and accounting services. “His choice is clearly small to mid-size corporations who require ongoing yearly accounting work and not just the filing of a tax return,” says Patty Schoenfeld, a senior consultant with GoodAccountants.com. “Scine loves to do tax planning, internal controls consulting and wealth and succession planning; the stuff that evolves around wealth development and asset protection,” adds Schoenfeld.
But before Scine and Schoenfeld crossed paths he was convinced he could go it alone. Among a growing number of young Certified Public Accountants who successfully use the internet to grow their accounting practice, Scine turned to the top search engines. He would quickly discover how difficult and costly it was to get his accounting firm up near the top of the search engine rankings so that it could benefit from key-word searches conducted by corporate clients looking for local accountants. But the one thing that impressed Dominic the most was there seemed to be a predictable result each time he conducted a search engine query using the word “accountant.” How was GoodAccountants.com able to consistently remain the top result each time he initiated a key-word search? Scine was determined to find out but he decided to go about doing it in a somewhat surreptitious manner. He would call GoodAccountants.com and pretend to be a business owner seeking a referral to a local accountant. That was when Dominic Scine first came to the attention of Patty Schoenfeld who happened to take his telephone call.
“We were able to increase our profit margin by about 18 to 22% on every engagement that we got from Patty once we joined GoodAccountants,” says Scine. To date Scine’s firm has received just over $100,000 in billable referrals from GoodAccountants.com that it has engaged as its clients. Among these is a $4 million defense contracting company headed by Greg Yette who provides contract management and logistical support services to the United States Coast Guard, the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the Department of Homeland Security. Yette’s firm has become a $48,000 yearly receivable for Scine and has provided him access to other defense contracting firms in the area. Now at capacity, Scine is no longer able to accept additional referrals from GoodAccountants which he says is his biggest regret because of the caliber of clients he has already received however his first commitment of being able to deliver a quality service precludes him from taking on more.
Patty Schoenfeld is a Senior Consultant with GoodAccountants.com and can be reach at 1(800) 505-7861 or by email at: pschoenfeld@goodacountants.com
New Reality Television Show Takes Aim At Accounting Clients Who Pay Large Fees
Can featuring your accounting practice on an internet based ‘reality television show’ be a formula for attracting accounting clients that pay fees ranging between $25,000 and $100,000?
It certainly appears to be true for a large contingent of accountants who are harnessing the power of the internet to virally market themselves and their accounting practices by starring in their own ‘reality television show’ which features them along with the corporate clients they’re obtaining from GoodAccountants.com, the nation’s largest accountancy referral service.
GoodAccountants.com is the nation’s largest accounting referral service having more than 10 million business owners in pursuit of a local accountant or accounting firm use its website. The company has just launched an internet based ‘reality television show’ that features both the companies and the accountants who use the popular website to connect with each other.
The way it works is video taped segments also called webisodes that feature participating accounting firms across the country along with the services they offer and the clients they serve are uploaded to dozens of internet properties such as YouTube, FaceBook and MySpace as well as other social networking websites. The videos are also emailed in vast quantities to targeted audiences including thousands of corporations, business owners, chief executive officers and chief financial officers. The objective is to achieve widespread viewership among groups that are most likely to need accounting services. The accountants featured in the webisodes also serve as ‘in the field’ service providers also called Designated Service Providers (DSPs) or marketing affiliates of GoodAccountants.com and are the ones that fulfill the actual accounting services that are needed. Filmed episodes highlight the various accounting services that are offered by each provider such as tax planning, estate planning, strategic business planning, succession planning and internal controls consulting which will help business owners hold onto more of the cash they earn while avoiding higher tax payments. The net affect of the marketing strategy is to attract corporate clients looking to cut their accounting costs from the generally higher accounting fees they pay to large, regional accounting firms by getting them to switch to a smaller accounting firm belonging to GoodAccountants.com’s national network of accountants. “Given the current economic climate many companies paying substantial accounting fees are looking to cut back and this offers them the alternative they’re looking for,” says Johanna Laurent, Chief Executive Officer of GoodAccountants.com.
Laurent’s strategy is to attract the attention of companies that are paying between $25,000 and $100,000 in accounting fees by offering to feature them on her company’s “reality TV show” along with the accountants she recruits to take over their accounting work but at a discounted cost. “It’s the ultimate ‘reality show’ challenge of ‘our accountants versus your accountants’…guess who’s better and more cost effective,” says Laurent. Corporations that take Laurent up on her challenge will not only save on their accounting fees but will also be given the opportunity to promote their services and products free of charge through Laurent’s reality show. For the accountants who participate on the show, Laurent is offering a 3 to 1 return on investment. “We’re so confident about the results we’re obtaining for the accountants who participate on our show and are looking for this category of clients, that we’re offering accounting firms that sign up now, a 3 to 1 guaranteed return on their investment, but we will only make this offer to the accountants participating with us at the Designated Service Provider (DSP) level,” Laurent clearly explains.
The first episode which aired on September 17th featured a small, boutique accounting firm whose first referral from GoodAccountants.com resulted in a $26,000 client. Although Laurent will not reveal the exact amount the company was paying before she referred them to Nowicki and Company based in Buffalo, New York she does state they were paying far more than $26,000. A second referral given to Nowicki and Company is now a pending $100,000 engagement, all of which occurred shortly after the firm became a member of Laurent’s network. Laurent has taken measures to capitalize on the current trend of corporate clients that are migrating from the larger, regional accounting firms to smaller, more attentive accountants whose fees are less costly by recruiting new talent to her consulting firm to help coordinate the influx of search assignments. The recent acquisition of Debbie Ford, Laurent’s new Manager of Affiliate Marketing represents one such hire. Ford has been tapped to coordinate selection of the accounting firms being featured in the company’s ‘reality TV show.’
Debbie Ford, Manager of Affiliate Marketing
Debbie Ford has been recently recruited by GoodAccountants.com to the position of Manager of Affiliate Marketing and coordinator of the company’s internet based, reality television show. Debbie formerly served as Director of Sales for a Long Island based manufacturing company in her previous position where she was responsible for managing the Sales and Customer Service departments. During her eleven year tenure in her previous position Debbie found working side by side with her clients and helping them grow their business and secure major accounts most rewarding. “I am excited to be joining the ranks at GoodAccountants.com as the new Manager of Affiliate Marketing and look forward to helping the accountants in our Designated Service Provider Program grow their client base and to assist our clients in taking their businesses to the next level,” says Ford about her new position. For further information about becoming a participating member of GoodAccountants.com contact Debbie Ford at 1 (800) 505-7861 ext. 1016
Laurent acknowledges that a bad economy has substantially helped her company grow because in tough economic times companies are forced to cut their costs, from everything from payroll to their accounting fees. Laurent confides that her company is benefiting from search assignments that are now coming to it from business owners who are paying annual accounting fees ranging from $25,000 up to $100,000 but are now looking to scale back. According to Laurent many of the companies that are now using her website, fit in this category and accountants who wish to become the beneficiary of these kinds of referrals should act now and become a member of her network. “In the past, many corporations were not willing to move their business to a smaller accounting firm until the economy started tanking,” explains Laurent. “Ordinarily they would be looking for the larger accounting firms despite the higher fees however now due to the economy the exact opposite is true,” she adds.
A visit to the GoodAccountants.com website supports the assertion that many large corporations with recognizable names are turning to the Long Island based referral service to find accountants to fulfill their accounting requirements. Universities, manufacturing companies, distribution companies, fast-food restaurant chains, and technology companies among others are using the services of GoodAccountants.com to identify their accounting relationships and to cut their accounting costs. “When we can cut a company’s accounting costs by 20% or 30% and sometimes as much as 50% while maintaining the level of service they’re accustomed to, it becomes very difficult for these companies to stay with the large accounting firms that often put them on a back burner,” says Laurent.
“When we first launched our website in the fall of 2005 we were happy just receiving requests for assistance (with finding a good, local accountant) from companies that were for the most part start-ups or that had modest revenues of a few million dollars,” says Laurent. Today, we are receiving telephone calls as well as online requests for assistance from companies whose revenues are anywhere from $20 million to $50 million right up to publicly traded companies that are listed on the major stock exchanges, she explains.
Another objective of the show is to also increase awareness among companies paying fees in excess of $100,000 to demonstrate how scaling back their accounting costs can be as easy as switching to a smaller firm belonging to Laurent’s network. “The focus of the first episode was simply to introduce the idea of a reality show of this nature and to prove that not only would business owners and individual tax payers have an interest in watching such subject matter but if presented in an engaging way could be popular among millions of people who generally gravitate toward televised reality shows,” says Laurent. The verdict from viewers who have seen the first episode has given Laurent the answer she had hoped for and as a result fifty (50) new episodes will feature a new accounting firm each week along with the corporate clients they’re obtaining from GoodAccountants.com.
Laurent’s palpable excitement which comes through as she explains the thrust of her show is understandable when considering the current economy and how it’s impacting businesses of all sizes. “The companies that are being featured on our reality show are quite happy paying our accountants annual fees in amounts of forty to fifty thousand dollars or more,” says Laurent. “Some of them were paying more than twice what they’re paying now before they came to us for help,” she adds.
There can be little doubt that the companies being featured by Laurent’s show are clients almost any accounting firm would want and the show does appear to be a win-win for both the business owners and the accountants as well as for Laurent. “Showing a small to mid sized company we can offer them a viable alternative that allows them to cut their accounting costs and still maintain the quality of their accounting process is very enticing especially in an economy like this one and it’s resulting in companies switching to our accountants,” Laurent further explains.
Participating accounting firms are guaranteed a 3 to 1 return on their Designated Service Provider (DSP) Membership fee, which is $25,000 and a requirement to get the 3 to 1 guarantee, as well as be featured on the show. But more than just the $75,000 billing guarantee or 300% return on investment which can come in the form of a single client, each firm that participates will benefit from an intense marketing effort that includes “pay-per-click” ad-words campaigns coupled with targeted email blasts that are being sent to thousands of businesses within their proximity. “The viral marketing affect resulting from sending thousand of emails embedded with video taped episodes from our show will go a long way in generating tens of thousands of dollars in new billing for our members” says Michael Montoya, Social Media and Viral Marketing expert with GoodAccountants.com.
As additional insurance for participating accounting firms, GoodAccountants.com has recently tapped Atrinsic, Inc., a publicly traded company to manage its Google Ad-Words campaign. “We are committed to the proposition of expanding our dominance across all the major search engine networks including Bing, Yahoo, Hulu and others,” says Laurent. “The accounting firms participating in this marketing frenzy will not only triple their initial investment but will undoubtedly land clients from market sectors they have been trying to reach for many years but just didn’t know how to go about doing so,” she further explains. “This is a concerted effort to prove to the accounting community that our marketing approach is far superior to any others out there today in terms of our ability to attract ‘substantial clients’ that pay fees in excess of $20,000 and up,” confides Laurent.
The next episode features a $19 million dollar company based in Falls Church, Virginia along with the accountants that landed the engagement from GoodAccountants.com.
Accountants seeking more information or wishing to participate in GoodAccountants.com’s Reality TV Show please contact Debbie Ford, Manager of Affiliate Marketing at 1 (800) 505-7861 Ext. 1016.
New “Reality Television Show” That Features Accountants
September 17, 2009 by Insider
Filed under Featured, Stories, Upcoming Stories
“Accountants gone wild,” it’s not!
A new “reality television show” that will feature accountants across America begins this fall when GoodAccountants.com rolls out its first episode on September 17th.
“Although our reality show may not be debuting on a major television network or cable station it will be highly visible on such web properties as YouTube, Hulu, MySpace and FaceBook,” says Michael D. Montoya, Social Media and Viral Marketing specialist with GoodAccountants.com. “For far too long accountants have been branded as being the most boring human beings on the planet and it’s high time to change that perception which necessarily isn’t true,” he adds. Although accountants do serious work not all of it is done in dimly lit dungeons behind six-inch thick walls ten stories below ground level. Instead, the show will depict accountants who are gregarious, engaging and extremely important to their clients. “There are accountants out there who make a difference and we’re going to bring them to the public’s attention through this show and we’re going to do it in a very entertaining way,” says Montoya.
Debbie Ford, Manager of Affiliate Marketing
Debbie Ford has been recently recruited by GoodAccountants.com to the position of Manager of Affiliate Marketing and coordinator of the company’s internet based, reality television show. Debbie formerly served as Director of Sales for a Long Island based manufacturing company in her previous position where she was responsible for managing the Sales and Customer Service departments. During her eleven year tenure in her previous position Debbie found working side by side with her clients and helping them grow their business and secure major accounts most rewarding. “I am excited to be joining the ranks at GoodAccountants.com as the new Manager of Affiliate Marketing and look forward to helping the accountants in our Designated Service Provider Program grow their client base and to assist our clients in taking their businesses to the next level,” says Ford about her new position. For further information about becoming a participating member of GoodAccountants.com contact Debbie Ford at 1 (800) 505-7861 ext. 1016
GoodAccountants.com will offer a series of weekly episodes that will feature accountants who participate as members of its marketing network and will air them on its own website along with a number of social media sites that find such content highly relevant to their users. Partner site Lifeafter50.com whose website traffic exceeds more than 12 million daily impressions will carry a portal that will give its users access to the show.
“What’s interesting here is the continuing metamorphosis of social media in ways that are highly unique and which we believe will help promote the accountants in our network along with the business owners who use our website while bringing attention to a whole different side of the accounting profession,” says Montoya.
“It’s pure genius,” says Ray Nowicki, one of the first accountants to be featured by the show and who in his first month of joining GoodAccountants racked up a $26,000 annual engagement along with a pending deal that could gross more than an additional $100,000 in annual billing for his firm, Nowicki and Company based in Buffalo, New York. Nowicki, who has an extremely affable personality, was able to overcome his skepticism about accepting a client referral from ‘out of the blue’ as he puts it, when John Alogna, a Senior Consultant with GoodAccountants first contacted him.
“There is a vast audience of accountants, business owners, entrepreneurs and individual tax payers out there who are simply unaware of each other and will benefit from the subject matter and information these webisodes will bring to them,” says Johanna Laurent, CEO of GoodAccountants.com. “Several episodes will feature some of the small business owners we’ve helped find their accountant,” she adds. “We’re actually sending out hundreds of invitations to these small business owners inviting them to share how their new accountant has been instrumental in helping them overcome the challenges of a tough economy,” says Laurent.
To further promote viewership every episode will also be transmitted via email to more than 500,000 business owners and financial professionals each week. Taxes, healthcare and other issues of the day are topics that will make up some of the subject matter the show will tackle. “Corporate sponsors such as American Express, Verizon and Hewlett Packard among others will find a new and exciting venue to reach the small business community through this show,” adds Laurent.
To see the first installment of the new GoodAccountants.com ‘reality show’ click here.
Please refer all media inquires to Michael Montoya at GoodAccountants.com. Michael can be reached at mmontoya[@]goodaccountants.com
Unveiling of New GoodAccountants.com Website
July 31, 2009 by Insider
Filed under Featured, Upcoming Stories
New York City, NY
For the first time in five years GoodAccountants.com will be launching a new web presence that enhances ease of use and functionality for the millions of business owners, individual tax payers and accounting professionals that use the highly popular website.
GoodAccountants.com has become the nation’s number one website and referral service for finding an accountant with more than 10-million business owners and individual tax payers using the site since 2005.
“You’ll be pretty hard pressed to find an accountant almost anywhere in the country that hasn’t heard of us or that hasn’t been contacted by us,” says Johanna Laurent, CEO of GoodAccountants.com. “We’re always looking for the best of the best that are out there to recruit into our network of accountants so that we can offer their expertise to the millions of business owners who rely on our referral services,” Laurent adds.
GoodAccountants.com has changed the way business owners select their accountant as well as the way in which accountants are marketing their services. “Imagine being able to tap into a resource that can connect you to the most qualified accountant in your city or town in little more than the time it takes for you to snap your finger,” says Laurent. “Most accounting firms do not have a national presence as we do and certainly cannot provide the type of diversity in experience as we can through our national network that is comprised of thousands of accountants from various accounting firms across the country,” she concludes.
“The objective of the new website is to increase value to both business owners and accountants by making their user experience one that directly benefits their bottom line,” says Michael D. Montoya, Social Media and Viral Marketing specialist with GoodAccountants.com.
“What GoodAccountants has done for the accounting industry has been groundbreaking and pioneering in a similar vein as to what Google has done for the world of online and traditional advertising,” says Montoya.
Come see the new changes on September 1st 2009 at GoodAccountants.com. Also keep and eye out for the new accounting portal GATVInsider.com coming soon. Stayed tuned.
Please refer all media inquires to Michael Montoya at GoodAccountants.com. Michael can be reached at mmontoya[@]goodaccountants.com
To Whom Should You Entrust Your Business Telephone System?
Imagine suddenly discovering your clients and customers are dialing your company’s primary telephone number and are hearing a recording that states, “the number you have reached has been disconnected.” You feel your heart pounding wildly as beads of sweat roll down your face. You’re thinking, ‘there must be some kind of mistake,’ because you know you’ve paid your phone bill on time. You dial the number yourself and sure enough that dreadful recording is proclaiming your business phone has been disconnected. It suddenly hits you that your company’s telephone lines are no longer in service and there is no mistake about it since the recording just repeated your company’s telephone number verbatim.
You realize your customers and clients are now assuming the worst about you and your business. Adding to your stress, it dawns on you that your television and radio commercials are airing across the country and are directing hundreds of potential customers to a phone number that is no longer in service. Just at that moment your cell phone rings and it’s your advertising agency apprising you of the fact that they’re getting telephone calls from the television and radio stations asking what is going on with your phone lines. Your customers are now calling the TV station to confirm your company is out of business. How could this be happening to you despite the fact that you’ve work so hard to protect your company’s image, which includes paying all your invoices on time?
Unfortunately, this is a true story and the principals of this business did not get a second chance to make their case to the callers who were responding to their television and radio commercials; or to the clients who were trying to reach them while their telephones remained “accidentally” disconnected.
First impressions have a way of leaving permanent perceptions about you and your company. In today’s world, communication is the heart of any enterprise and remains the responsibility of the business owner to make sure the service provider of his or her choice is up to the task.
One such company that has maintained its hallmark of reliability is Verizon Communications, Inc. Whether you own a small business or a large corporation, Verizon specializes in communication for businesses of all sizes and complexity. While other companies are looking to break into the telecommunications field, business owners need to understand that their telephone system may be at risk when placed in the hands of a service provider whose core competency may be something other than telecommunications. Having your telephone system fail or having your phones accidentally disconnected is not the way to ascertain the strengths or weaknesses of your service provider. Do the research before you make a decision that could prove to be the most important business decision you may ever have to make.
As the winner of the American Brand Excellence Award, Verizon is ranked as the best telecommunications company to meet the telecommunications needs of small businesses. Verizon has achieved this level of excellence by consistently offering reliable services such as FiOS for Business.
Verizon FiOS has quickly become the standard for small business owners who are serious about taking their company to the next level. Fiber Optics is the future and is leveraged by Verizon through their bundled packages that include: Internet, Telephone and Television. In studies comparing FiOS to cable, FiOS consistently outperforms the competition. With 100% fiber optics, download and upload speeds are significantly faster and more reliable whereas cable companies generally charge more for slower speeds. With FiOS phone, Verizon offers affordable plans and Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, which has become a popular communication tool for small businesses. Verizon’s FiOS TV is more than just delivering a high quality television picture and sound so you can watch the latest sporting event; it’s providing reliable, super-fast uploading and downloading for critical online tasks such as video-conferencing; or interacting with employees who may work from home or from halfway across the world.
Verizon’s FiOS is the proven choice for many small- to medium-sized businesses. A recent Computerworld article states, “when it comes to connection reliability and speed, our survey shows that FiOS is a clear winner over cable…” The network allows companies to leverage high bandwidth applications while also providing critical voice communications. Pricing plans are affordable, starting as low as $19.99 a month.
Verizon has demonstrated over the years its commitment to providing quality and reliable service to small and medium-sized companies. They have an interest in seeing your company prosper, as evidenced by the Verizon Small Business Center, a professional networking site dedicated to helping business owners become more productive and better equipped to compete in today’s marketplace.
There are rarely any second chances when it comes to pitching your products or services. Whether you are hosting a teleconference or waiting for potential customers to call, the folks at Verizon understand you have other things to worry about than your telephone system failing you. They may not be able to make the pitch for you, but they’ll give you every opportunity to shine so that you can take your business to the next level.
This article was written by Omar Reed, a freelance business writer and financial analyst