My Biggest Mistake Year 1 of MediaBooks

You would think there are very little similarities between accounting and marketing…having worked in both I can tell you they are actually very alike! 

My first year in business I made a huge mistake. One that I know even experienced accounting firm owners make.

I had my marketing strategy up and running. We were generating leads, I was onboarding new hires, and everything felt like it was working. Maybe too well….

The work had piled up (yay!) and I thought this was a wave I would be able to just keep on riding. I got so busy, I watered down my marketing. I went from posting 3x per week, writing biweekly newsletters, showing up, etc…..to only marketing when I had time. Which wasn't often.

Then a few months later, the consultations slowed down to a stop. Which wasn't a problem at first but eventually I wanted better clients, had some turnover, and wanted to grow more. 

Since my marketing became stagnant, if felt like I had to start from scratch. My engagement was slow, my leads had cooled, and this was also during tax season which tends to be our slow season.

Eventually things did start to pickup - but here is the trap a lot of accounting firm owners find themselves in.

Things pick up → the consultations come in → we get busy → the marketing slows down → the consultations slow down → we start marketing again but it takes time → things pick up → annnnd now we are in a never ending loop.

After years of seeing accounting firms run into this issue with their marketing, here are a few strategies to get out of the cycle:

1 - Get Your Processes Ready

Put stress tests on your processes. Do you know how many clients your staff can handle? When you start to exceed that client per staff ratio, do you know how quickly you can hire another accountant? If you do not want to expand - do you have a waitlist in place for when you do need clients?

In 2024 MediaBooks adopted a 2 week web design process. When testing out this process we ran stress tests to see how many clients we could hold at a time. We found what boundaries needed to be in place to maintain quality and the appropriate capacity per account manager. This means when we start to approach these boundaries we need to bring on another hire or get more selective.

Stress test your processes and get comfortable with setting boundaries.

2 - Don't Stop Marketing

But I get busy - how the heck am I supposed to keep marketing? 

I get why marketing becomes the task that goes to the bottom of your to do list but this is how you fall into this stressful cycle that creates unpredictability in small businesses. Instead of pausing or watering down your marketing figure out a reasonable amount of time you can dedicate to your marketing…then outsource the rest. Even when you have time.

This is a process you need to establish to keep a flow of new interactions that can sustain your business during every season.

3 - Get Picky & Improve Your Client Roster

Quick story - back when I was entering marketing I worked for a social media management firm. One of the clients I had to manage was a dental office. It wasn't the content that was the issue but the client. Without going into every challenge they gave me, it was soul draining. And even though my boss agreed with me, his response was for me to just work harder to make the client happy. I ended up leaving.

I am sure you have had those clients too. For whatever reason, your office does not work well with certain clients. Maybe it is an industry you despise or they keep trying to get you to implement tax advice they found on tik tok….

Connect with other accountants who may be a better fit and let those clients go. Find more people you love jumping on calls with and suddenly you won't have the Sunday Scaries anymore. 

Right now things are relatively slow for a lot of accounting firms. Which means now is the time to implement these strategies before year-end and tax season. This is your sign.

If you are ready to begin advisory services and bringing marketing strategy into your business, schedule a consultation below: