5 Reasons Why You Need to Showcase Your Expertise Online

Our mission at ClientWhys is simple: We help CPAs, enrolled agents and tax accounting professionals showcase their expertise and safeguard their reputations. Why are these two actions so important?

By establishing yourself online as an expert, you will: 

• Build online visibility that is imperative for driving business development today
• Attract new clients with less effort
• Command higher fees and reduce churn rates
• Attract better referral partners
• Help stop businesses from making bad decisions 

We believe that accountants are the most important people to help any business succeed. Without proper guidance, structure and cash flow management, 50% of businesses will fail within 5 years.

According to surveys, only 33% of small business owners hire accountants and bookkeepers to help them run their business.

But why is this? 

If we know accountants are the primary barrier between success and failure, why do so many go it alone?

We believe part of the problem is that accountants have not been very good at getting their message across to the masses. They are seen as pencil pushers and pocket protectors rather than recognized as the expert business coaches they truly are.

At ClientWhys, and now with the help of TaxBuzz.com, we want to change accountants’ story line.

Your experience, reputation, opinion and passion as an accountant are powerful assets that should be showcased to your network and beyond.

Accountants have been slow to the party. Whether on social media, blogging or online reviews, the profession as a whole has been skeptical at best. Accountants are starting to wake up as new threats from technology automation, outside countries and even demographics are making them realize they are expendable.

But not so fast… A new breed of accountants are winning the race to the new frontier by taking advantage of what the online world provides, a place where they can build up their expertise and visibility.

They are focusing on three main channels: 

• Reputation Management – The rise of the internet has fundamentally changed the way consumers choose whom to work with. If you do nothing and let others shape your online reputation, you might find that a few disgruntled former clients can wreak havoc on your brand and future growth prospects. Taking control of reviews and testimonials helps you shape your public’s perception. It improves your search results and makes it easier for referrals to feel comfortable that you are what you say you are. 

• Content Marketing – Whether through your blog, ongoing communication in the form of a newsletter or YouTube.com videos breaking down a tax planning strategy, you need to develop great content that people will want to read and share. Google and the search engines want the best, most relevant content to rank highly, and the result is that SEO has become more human friendly. Google is looking at the kind of content you’re sharing with people instead of the number of keywords you can stuff into a blog post. 

• Social Awareness – Social sharing and signals are part of the Google algorithm. It does matter if you are engaging your audience. But more importantly, throw out the SEO benefits altogether. Social media is just an extension of your email newsletter. It is a place where you can engage your audience in your voice to help build on your relationship. 

If you are highly visible on the three channels above, your overall brand and online reputation will rise to the top as well. You will see your brand ranked higher in search engines, gain more inbound links to your content and attract new clientele with less effort.

Why do you ask?

We know that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

We know that Google and the search engines rank unique, longer content higher than shorter, thin content.

We know that inbound links affect your website ranking and overall visibility online.

We know that Google uses Twitter to find new content and that social media influence is used in rankings.

So if all of these tools are readily available and relatively inexpensive to use, why are so many accountants stuck in their old ways?

Not all that is for sure. We have been working with market leaders across the country who understand the new normal. Smaller brands and websites have to step up their game if they are going to counter the mainstream messages from Intuit, Turbo Tax and H&R Block, and all you need is software, not to mention the expertise or year-round experience that seasoned accountants offer.

If you really think you offer a better alternative, start shouting to your world.

Write better blog content, and proactively seek reviews on TaxBuzz.com, Yelp and Google+. Post actively on social media. Basically, be visible and authoritative. Your prospects will see it, Google will index it and you will find running your practice to be much less time consuming and more rewarding.