By David Rachford
CPA Marketing Center
As CPAs and Accountants, we're often skeptical of the power of advertising. Admittedly, advertising is usually an afterthought, but marketing is something every firm needs to do. Marketing is the process identifying leads for potential clients. A great way of attracting leads is to employ publicity marketing, or media marketing.
What Publicity Marketing can mean for an accountant is improved positioning. The CPA or Accountant is an expert in their chosen niche or practice area. Every marketing plan for accounting firms should include Publicity Marketing. When favorable articles appear in a newspaper, magazine or journal the articles can build the reputation of the practitioner, and increase the confidence of current clients.
So here's what to do with publicity when you get it...
1) Reprints: Get reprints - post them on your website. Send the reprints to clients, prospects, and associates. Many people won't see the newspaper or magazine. But when you show it to them, they'll remember and be impressed.
Here's an example: Making Payroll Painless - Santa Barbara News Press
http://cpasantabarbara.com/SBNP_8-19-05_8x10.pdf
(note, that press release brought me about $15,000 over the past year!)
2) Build a Book: Compile those articles in a binder for your lobby - If you have people waiting from time to time, they will be in awe of your media mastery, and see the press as an endorsements of your firm.
3) Frame It! Take it a step further, put reprints on the wall for your customers to see. Sure, it's a bit vain, but we're marketing here, so have fun with it!
One note about reprints: Many newspapers, Journals and Magazines charge a fee for reprint rights. I recommend paying the fee, as they usually do a nice job formatting the articles for you also, and they will get it to you quick for a timely release!
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