July 2002a- 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 July 2002

Last month I gave you some more details of our Towards Awesome Client Service program, or, as it's abbreviated, TACS. This month, I have a very special offer for you.

TACS will be launched in October this year. It, as you probably know by now (if you visit this site regularly) is a specialized system for advancing client service for accounting firms, designed to substantially increase your fee income as a direct result of providing awesome service to your clients.

It is unique to the special needs of, and is only available to, professional accounting firms in public practice.

The cost is $1,995.95 (US) for the whole program, delivered and paid for in four modules of around $500 each.

It comes with a series of coaching e-mails - helping you to implement and deliver awesome client service - and it's payback period is expected to be less than six months.

We are allowing a limited number of firms to take advantage of a special discount:pre-register now, and pay just $249.95 per module, saving $996.15 over the whole program.

Visit our site http://www.awesomeclientservice.com for more details, module contents or to pre-register today.

A Special Offer Exclusive to LEDGER Subscribers...

This month our special offers kick-in, exclusive to LEDGER subscribers, and we're starting off with a really big deal. You can buy our entire library of marketing books for just $89.95 if you're a subscriber to LEDGER. But that's not all. You'll also get 2 free e-Consulting question credits, value $39.90.

That's a total package value of $209.60, for just $89.95, SAVING $119.65.

The link to the web page that will provide you with all the details and the web page address to visit to take advantage of this time limited offer will ONLY be published in LEDGER in Volume 1, issue 9 - JULY 2002.

If you're not yet a subscriber, why not join us? Click here and send us a blank e-mail to join our subscriber list.

How To Get A Regular Column In A National "Niche Market" Newspaper or Magazine.

So, last month, I promised to tell you how I became a regular writer for Canada's national Accounting newspaper, The Bottom Line. This is something that cost me a total of about $40 - for lunch, and has provided national coverage for me personally, and for MFA and my other business interests. And it's something you can do too, with a little adaptation, in any set of circumstances. It all started about two years ago, when I was helping a Toronto search firm who specialized in finding CAs for Canadian blue-chip corporations.

They produced a twice-a-year salary survey and I suggested they send the results in to CA magazine and The Bottom Line. Both magazines published the survey and gave a nice by-line about the firm.

I sent nice thank-you emails to the editors of both publications and kept in touch from time to time.

Six months later, the next salary survey, same results!

So, when I arrived as VP of Mandrake Executive Search, I invited the Editor of the Bottom Line out to lunch to introduce myself, as we had never actually met, and to inform her of my new role.

We met for lunch and we got on very well. My background of writing a regular newspaper article for almost three years in the UK was of great interest to her, and as the conversation evolved, she told me of her plans for the publication and I told her all about my background - as an Accountnat myself for 12 years in the UK, as a Marketing consultant for the next 10 in Canada and the UK, and of my role in the recruiting of CAs, CMAs and CGAs in Canada.

She then asked if I would be interested in writing a human resources column for her paper.

Of course I was!

So, we talked about a few ideas for topics and put together a plan for the first article.

Then, the next issue, she had a spot open and asked if I could step in with something else on recruiting, and now I am writing a four part series for the next few months' issues.

This is fabulous publicity for me and my services - aimed directly at my target market - and it's also great for the publication, as they get quality original content free of charge - so everybody wins!

You can do this too!

Think of some of the magazines your clients read. Industry-specific publications, such as (for example, the fictional The Dental Exchange - a national magazine for dentists - don't try to look it up, it doesn't exist, I just made it up for illustration purposes.)

Approach the editor with a few useful, innovative and/or creative ideas for articles that YOU could write.

Is there something specific about Dentists that you can write about? If so, there is your opportunity to place yourself in front of possibly thousands of potential clients and build a niche market.

Being published gives you tremendous publicity and elevates you to expert status.

Pick an industry you want to develop a niche in, find out all about the various publications serving that industry (ask some of your existing clients in that field which ones they read) and make an approach to the editor.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The most it will cost you is an hour or two of your time and a modest lunch!

Important Announcement Regarding Our Free Newsletter, LEDGER

Don't panic. We're not about to stop producing it. Nor are we going to start charging for it. I want to announce that we have upgraded the newsletter to be in "pdf" file format from the June issue on.

The e-mail sending out the newsletter will include a link to download the free Acrobat Reader Software if you don't already have it, but here's a link for the free download now, if you want to go and get it in advance:

Important Update

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! See our special offer to LEDGER subscribers before you buy anything - you could save $119.65.

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 August 2002.