January 2004a- Each month this page will be updated with new tips and ideas and the previous content archived. As time goes by our archives will grow. These will always be accessible, and always without charge. Enjoy.

Welcome to the free tips page for January 2004

Happy New Year!

I hope that 2004 will be a great year for you, I know it will be for me, because I am planning my work and then working my plan for the year ahead.

Few good things happen by accident. Few things come easily. Very rarely do good things come easily. With that tought in mind, I decided to write about the de-merits of an easy cop-out that so many firms use as a critical part of their marketing effort...

The Misconception about pre-written newsletters.

"What? I can buy content for a newsletter that's emailed to me in the correct format for my printers? Colour-spearated artowrk? My firm's logo, address and other details over-printed? Good value for money? Sold!"

Uh-huh. BIG mistake.

Sorry, but you've just put convenience over content, and clients and referral sources will rarely forgive that.

Sure, The Canadian Institute Of Chartered Accountants (as an example) produce a very fine product, called Business Matters. It's time-saving, good quality technical content, and comes out on time.

But, and it's a BIG but, it's going to decrease the value of your marketing message - not imncrease it. Here's why...

Let's imagine that you are the owner of a very successful manufacturing company who would be an ideal client for your firm. You're very profitable, growing at a steady, sustainable pace, and you are highly receptive to tax planning ideas.

For whatever reason, you've decided to look around for a new accounting firm, and you start to approach a few local firms to 'comparisom shop', before making a decision.

You receive a newsletter in the mail from you present accounting firm. You flick through it and it seems ok, but two days later you receive three more newsletters from three other firms, some of whom you've approached directly and another sent oput of the blue as a part of their won marketing effort.

Two of them also bought in to the Institute's service and they read exactly the sdame as the one you got from your own firm. The only difference? Different names, logos and addresses on the front of them. Not impressive.

On the other hand, the one that you received totally out of the blue was different. Very different.

It was unique, in fact, and written by the firm who sent it - no bought-in solutions for them. The content portrayed their sense of humour, some very focused articles highlighting some of the very challenges you face in the year ahead, and very well designed.

After discovering the other three firms' newsletters were all the same, this one stood out. It spoke to you.

The fiorm who sent it had previously sent you some neat direct mail, again displaying a sense of fun. You got the impression that they really love whatb they do and the level of personal service portrayed in a ouple of case studies and client testimonials that they sent you gave you the confidence that you would be well looked after by them.

If you were thinking of making a change in your accounting firm, which firm would you call to arrange to meet with first?

Another example? OK, then imagine that you're a bank manager who deals with owner-managed businesses up to $200 million in revenues.

You've come to know a number of accounting firms pretty well over the years. Some good, some not so good.

Each of them has put you on their newsletter mailing list - after all, you're an important referral source to them - and each month you receive any number of accounting firm newsletters.

But you've noticed, over the last while, that many of them are exactly the same, just different colour schemes and contact details. Inside, the content of many of them is identical.

However, two very entrepreneurial firms, with personality, produce very different newsletters, and you love them!

Come to think of iot, these two firms are the ones who you have been referring most of your business customers to recently.

Coincidence? I think not.

What has happened here is that the firms sending pre-prepared newsletters might be saying 'we're different' in the text of their marketing messages, but the spirit that is revealed in their newsletter is 'we're the same as everyone else!' And Bank managers are smart people. They recognize what is genuine and what is fake. By using bought-in newsletter content, you're starting to look as fake as all the rest.

What has happened here is that the firms sending pre-prepared newsletters might be saying 'we're different' in the text of their marketing messages, but the spirit that is revealed in their newsletter is 'we're the same as everyone else!'

And Bank managers are smart people. They recognize what is genuine and what is fake. By using bought-in newsletter content, you're starting to look as fake as all the rest.

So what's the solution?

Spend hours and hours writing scholarly scripts for a firm newsletter? No.

Instead, you should scour the web for interesting articles. Read the trade press of key clients, make notes when you listen to talk radio in the car and keep a constant eye open for interesting topics or existing articles that might be the basis of a good article for your newsletter.

Then hire someone to re-write them all and turn them into a unique newsletter by your firm.

Next, hire someone to design a really good looking layout for ther newsletter, and you're off to the printers (or convert them into pdf files for e-mailing) for the final stage before sending out something you can be really proud of and that will really justify your claim that 'we're different'.

It doesn't cost a fortune and it makes a huge difference when your unique newsletter is compared to the many others that client, prospects and referral sources reveive every month.

So, who can you turn to for help in this area? You're alrwady there. This is something we help clients to do on a regular basis, and it's a lot less expensive than you might imagine.

Call us today at 905-569-2174 and let's get started.

You might also need some help in other areas of practice development...

Whether it's a marketing manual such as "LOW COST HIGH IMPACT WAYS TO WIN NEW CLIENTS", or maybe it's our unique "TOWARDS AWESOME CLIENT SERVICE" program is up to you. It might be subscribing to our free monthly e-newsletter, "LEDGER" or maybe it's time to get down to establishing a web site for your firm.

Whatever it is, we can help.

All you have to do is ask. Here's a little help:

For those interested in our "Towards Awesome Client Service" program, please click on the logo here:
For those who need a little help in marketing their firm, please feel free to call me direct at:	905-607-3673
If you're ready to get a web site for your firm, go to our web site services page by clicking on the screen shot here:
Or if you simply want to get some great ideas on how to cost effectively market your firm, then check out our eBooks below.

Check out our eBooks:

Our full range of e-books is now available for immediate download. All are now available as "PDF" files AND eBook files - the choice is yours, or download both versions (no extra cost) to see which format you prefer!

Including:

For more details, see our products page

So, that's all for now, if you need more, sign up for our free e-newsletter, LEDGER, on our newsletter sign-up page, or look at our best-selling manual LOW COST HIGH IMPACT WAYS TO WIN NEW CLIENTS.

Thanks for visiting.
Have a great month.
Until next time.

More free tips to come as we next update our site in February 2004.