Marketing

Check out the digital edition of the May 2012 issue of Accounting Today.

Maybe the post office isn’t the best place for it, but don’t underestimate the importance of having a picture associated with your professional presence. Your Web site and your social media profiles absolutely need one.

Florida-based Top 100 Firm Berkowitz Pollack Dick & Brant has rebranded itself Berkowitz Pollack Brant Advisors and Consultants.

Looking to increase your business leads? Who isn’t? The best kind of lead is one that comes through a referral. While accountants always welcome referrals, they don’t always actively work to get them.

The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters has released an email marketing benchmark report for CPA firms.

Enterprise resource planning product maker Epicor Software Corp. has released Epicor eMarketing and eSurveys tools as a Software-as-a-Service offering, providing customers with a deployment and licensing model as businesses continue to embrace the cloud.

Social media site LinkedIn offers opportunities for developing new clients and prospects, but you have to engage to make the most of it

BDO USA LLP has elected Wayne Berson as the firm’s next CEO, starting November 1 when longtime CEO Jack Weisbaum retires.

Industry leaders agree a successful business development program must be part of the firm’s strategic plan and be followed with vigilance by all members of the firm.

The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters has acquired BizActions, expanding the company’s marketing services.

Accounting and advisory firm Sikich has merged with Denver-based Microsoft Dynamics AX reseller Streamline Systems, rounding out its own Dynamics sales and consulting practice.

The financial services industry has always had pretty specific rules about testimonials, recommendations and advisory.

With all the talk about personal and company branding, a wider problem can get lost in the shuffle - that of the accounting profession's brand. This was a central gripe during the first Innovation & Collaboration Opportunities event hosted by local firm New Vision CPA Group and its CEO Jody Padar in Schaumburg, Ill., which corralled thought leaders, influencers and prolific tweeters for a day of brainstorming the profession's direction.

In this Generational Viewpoints article, we asked members of Casey Peterson & associates ltd. (www.caseypeterson.com), a rapid City, s.d.-based accounting firm with two offices and approximately 50 employees, to share their perspectives regarding social media. Generation X senior-incharge Kayce Gerlach, born in 1979, and Baby Boomer president Casey Peterson, born in 1953, replied to the following question:

First things first: Is your firm ready to be found online?

Central to any functional succession plan is a focus on the clients, and seamlessly transitioning those relationships from one partner to the next.

For most major accounting firms, the Enron era set profitability back decades when they were forced to abandon their highly lucrative consulting arms in an effort to shed even the vague appearance of a conflict of interest.

Establishing a brand as a CPA firm is something that can take a lifetime.

"We've got to have a Facebook page!" That's the exclamation of most CPA and accounting firms. and then, while many pages go live, they sit almost lifeless, as one of an infinite number of silent trees in a dense forest.

A new marketing blog, marketingideasforcpas.com, has been launched, offering strategies, tips and ideas for CPAs and accounting firms to effectively market their services.