Blogs for Accountants – Introduction

What is all the fuss about!

6 reasons every firm will have a blog

1. A simple way to bring everything together

2. Saves time

3. Blog once – update everything

4. Increase visitors to your website

5. Fire your web developers

6. Replace old, historic, boring newsletters

6 compelling reasons for the I Blog

Why most blogs fail

Here is a common example – blog?

Oh! Here it is . . . .

Integrated with the website

Helping to SEO the website

Appears on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook

Blogs form a powerful part of your site

And can be styled with ease

What does a blog look like?

What does a blog look like?

What does a blog look like?

What does a blog look like?

How do I get a blog?

1. Build one yourself 2. Use an existing agency3. Register for the I Blog • Customised blog• Unique system developed only for accountants• Integrated by us into your social media platforms • 30 minutes training • Plus a unique ‘How To’ guide

Making it all count

What’s the point of social content?1.AIDA2.Developing conversations that over time ultimately lead to commercial potential3.Ultimately an intentional offline conversation

Making it all count

• Know your style for each piece!

• Impact• Value• Response

Making it all count

The Social Mix• Fun shared•Great value content standalone – advice knowledge impartation•Content that stimulates discussion & conversation•Great value content that offers some kind of response device

Making it all count

The Sources• Write your own• Look & find RSS feeds• Use Google alerts as content feed• Use a platform•Quote: One of the overlooked keys to social networking is having planned ease of access to content. The easier it is to post it the more likely it is that you will…

How to find, use and distribute Blog content

Blogs for Accountants - Great Sources of ContentSet up Google alerts

Choose some topics take extracts or share

Choose some topics take extracts or share

Take extracts or share

Sources of content

Sources for content

Sources for content

• Share with my LinkedIn • Then post a comment• With a bitly link to SNTW

The content funnel:Step 1 Blog

When it comes to Accountants & Social Media there are 4 types of Partner

1. The Ostrich Partner Some firms and more commonly some partners do the ostrich thing and have taken the decision to do nothing at all. They are simply holding out for a better day, when things will ‘return to normal’. Perhaps there is some wisdom in this; after all, some accountants have mastered the long game. They say they understand what is happening and believe that things will return to how they once were. This may be the case once Facebook and LinkedIn die a death, supermarkets stop considering doing compliance work, internal threats from the likes of Xero fade away, attrition rates return to normal and competition starts to decrease! Of course we know this is just not going to happen, what will happen is change occurring at a faster rate than ever before. Firms and partners alike need to face up to the fact that the game has changed: how accountancy firms market themselves, maintain relationships with existing clients and communicate with prospects has changed forever. We simply cannot stick our heads in the sand and hope it goes away!

The content funnel:Step 1 Blog

Option 2. NIMBY PartnersEqually some partners may be hoping it is something they will not have to address. Possibly other colleagues or the marketing department can handle all of it, or maybe just maybe I can reach retirement before I have to get involved. In other words NIMBY Not In My Back Yard!

Serious mistake for three reasons;1.If you are a partner you are the individual that key prospects and clients want to deal with. You are the uniqueness and social media can help you leverage that2.If you do a survey of your own staff you will generally find in a mixed aged group 50% + are already on it. You can guess what my next question is can’t you? What are they doing on it, what protocols do you have in a place what recommendations or requirements do you have? And if you multiply each member of staff by 100+ friends or connections then that’s the number of people being impacted without any positive direction. This needs sorting and it needs sorting fast

The content funnel:Step 2 LinkedIn Status update

The content funnel:Step 3 LinkedIn Groups

The content funnel:Step 3 LinkedIn Groups

The content funnel:Step 4 Tweet/Facebook

The content funnel:Step 4 Tweet/Facebook

The content funnel:Step 5: ask others to like/comment

The content funnel:Step 5: ask others to like/comment, free distribution

What on earth is bitly?

What is Bitly & How do we use it?

It’s a powerful free service enabling the following;

1.Shorten long URL’s (esp. important for twitter)

2.Enables you to test different URL on each posts3.Easy to calculate response rates to every piece 4.In turn this means you can use TMAI

Bitly how to get started – for FREE

Bitly how to get started

Bitly how to create a link

Let’s say I want to make it easy for you to view a video about blogs.The landing page on the Sales For Accountants Website is;www.salesforaccountants.com/websites-for-accountants/blog-creation that’s 63 characters!!

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Bitly what does it tell me?

Bitly what does it tell me?

Thank you for listening

60 second action plan

1. Lets talk together

2.DIY

3.Register for the I Blog and save £100