Golden Practices: Legal Marketing & PR

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Golden Practices

Ideas, tips and best practices for and from law and other professional service firms.
By Michelle Golden

Post Frequency: 0.6/day

Last Entry: November 17, 2009 at 00:38:51

Today I Remember a Dear Friend

Posted on November 17, 2009
Today, Nov 16, marks one year from when a remarkable man, Paul O'Byrne, closed his human eyes for the final time. My brilliant friend--a fellow senior fellow of VeraSage Institute--fought a noble battle against a...

Think Your Clients Use Your Firm's Website?

Posted on November 05, 2009
If you think your website exists primarily for clients, think again. A lot of firms think about investing in pricey features that would be in a client-only portion of the website. Did you know that...

Disenchanted with the New Facebook?

Posted on October 26, 2009
I'm hearing it everywhere. People are pretty heated over the changes Facebook rolled out last week. Other than some technical problems I'm having with errors and actually using the site, I think there is actually...

Social Media Risk Tolerance Quiz for Firms

Posted on October 13, 2009
I'm working on some risk assessment tools for firms to use to determine the level of rigidity (or lack thereof) needed in their own social media policies--and firms' likelihood, or not, of success in using...

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What is it With Disclaimers?

Posted on September 03, 2009
Some interesting albeit frustrating discussions about disclaimers lately. These relate to websites. Before I get into this, I want to state that I am not a lawyer, I do not pretend to be a lawyer,...

Two Great Honors, Two Amazing Marketers, Two Firms, One Houston Office Building

Posted on August 18, 2009
In June in Austin Texas, something really cool happened. Two extremely dynamic ladies who work for competing firms in the same city--the very same building, no less--were both honored for their exceptional contributions to the...

Managing Your Corporate Giving Strategies

Posted on August 03, 2009
Responding to a query by a fellow marketing professional about how much to give to whom, Andrew Rose, Director of Marketing and Business Development at accounting firm Naden/Lean, LLC chimed in with some excellent tips....

When You Look at These Future CPAs, the Future of Accounting Looks Bright!

Posted on July 31, 2009
Gotta hand it to McGladrey! I was just hopping around the web and came upon a post to McGladrey's Success Starts Here blog. They've posted about their 2009 Summer Intern Capstone Conference and, you know...

FAQ Pages for Accountants or Lawyers?

Posted on July 23, 2009
FAQs--the sort found on software or product sites--might not be the most effective approach for marketing a service firm, but what can we learn from them? If most firms set about to add a general...

100 Accounting Practice Blogs!

Posted on July 10, 2009
Having just updated the Accounting Blog List again (seems like every week or two) I am delighted to report that we have just crossed the 3-digit count threshold. The 100th blog has now been entered...

I'm Afraid it's a Terribly Unfortunate Problem When We're Negative

Posted on July 02, 2009
Got an unsolicited email about negativity in speech. Don't normally read my junk mail, but SO glad this item escaped my ruthless delete stroke so that I could share the gem with you: Negative Vocabulary:...

Our Fave Website Design Yet!

Posted on July 02, 2009
Today is a great day! We are super excited to launch our newest site & blog. Rowling Dold & Associates is a firm of CPA types who are primarily financial/wealth advisors. A really cool thing...

Policies for Emerging Technologies

Posted on June 25, 2009
This topic keeps coming up. People have differing comfort levels with newish technologies and therefore have very different tolerance levels for others using it. True that some people just don't "get it" when it comes...

CPA Bloggers of Note!

Posted on June 17, 2009
Boy, have things changed. A year ago in June, we had about 35 practice blogs by accountants on our Accounting Blog List. Now, there are 95. January 1 there were 65. There is some now...

A Special Memorial Day

Posted on May 26, 2009
I'd like to take a moment and thank all of those who serve and who have served in keeping our country and her people, and our fellow human beings safe, all around the world. Memorial...

The Instigator

Posted on May 19, 2009
Howard Wolosky, former editor-in-chief of Practical Accountant and WebCPA columnist, has a moving post today called "Auditors: Doing the Right Thing?" on his brand new blog (which I immediately added to my blogroll and I...

Streamline Your Writing; Improve Readership

Posted on April 15, 2009
Whatever it is you write?your blog, a tweet, an article, a book, a newsletter, web content, or even a good, old-fashioned letter, memo, or email?you want the reader to easily GET what you are saying...

It's Time

Posted on April 06, 2009
It's, well, time for a LOT of things. But it's high time for two things as I write this: 1) MUST introduce you to Debra Helwig's blog, Service Minded. Debra is the chief evangelist of...

Social Media: The Unavoidable Intersection of Your Business & Personal Life

Posted on March 12, 2009
For those among you who have managed thus far to maintain good, solid compartmentalization between your business and your personal lives, I offer a hearty ?Congratulations!? Seriously. Not an easy thing to do these days....

My Soldier's Return Made the Local News

Posted on March 01, 2009

iPods Aren't the Enemy (Neither are Texting, IMing or Other Social Media!)

Posted on February 27, 2009

Seth Godin on a Roll

Posted on February 21, 2009
3 back-to-back brilliant posts: Authenticity (snip) Authenticity, for me, is doing what you promise, not "being who you are." That's because 'being' is too amorphous and we are notoriously bad at judging that. Internal vision...

Tips for Your Next Presentation - Start Off With a Bang!

Posted on February 16, 2009
Outstanding tips from Decker Communications' blog for starting your presentation. Leverage the most important part of your gig through drama and confidence: Six Dos to Open Your Presentation

Operating and Growing in a Down Economy

Posted on February 05, 2009
I've written an article that came out today on AccountingWEB. Kinda relevant and helpful for non-accountants, too. Hope it provides some ideas and fresh perspective on healthy service and marketing behaviors in tough times. OPERATING...

Accounting Scholarship Opportunity from AccountingWEB

Posted on February 01, 2009
AccountingWEB, a news and resources website for members of the accounting profession, announced on Jan 28, the creation of a new scholarship. Three $500 scholarships will be awarded to students who are declared accounting majors...

Fodder for Convincing Social Media Skeptics

Posted on January 27, 2009
Marketers! Listen up! How to Sell Social Media to Cynics, Skeptics & Luddites - Tips, Resources & Advice If you've got an interest in rolling out some social media strategies in your firm, but don't...

Monitoring Yourself or Your Company Online

Posted on January 26, 2009
There are a lot of ways to find out if you or your business are being mentioned online which will include many print media outlets that also publish on the web such as business journals...

Twitter Accessories

Posted on January 24, 2009
Stumbled on a GREAT blog post about various tools for managing, filtering and interacting with twitter more effectively (though it is very effective in its own simplicity). Enhancing theTwitter Experience-Part 2 from the Brick and...

Best CPA Firms to Work For

Posted on January 24, 2009
Congrats to all the firms that made Accounting Today's 2008: The Best Accounting Firms to Work For (or in pdf with graphics). Especially happy for the recognition of my friends at Mark Bailey & Co...

Growing a Forensic Accounting Practice

Posted on January 24, 2009
I'm belated in posting this very solid article written by my blogger-friend Tracy Coenen of Sequence Inc: "Providing Forensic Accounting Services as a Small Firm" published originally in FOCUS - Newsletter of the AICPA Forensic...

IRC Section 7216: Impact on CPA Firm Marketing

Posted on January 14, 2009
There has been a lot of chatter about compliance with this new code released in July 2008, and put into effect January 1, 2009, and what it means for firms. Directly reading the code, you'll...

Marketing Via Differentiation: Music

Posted on January 06, 2009
ACCOUNTING SONGS The Singing CPA, Steve Zelin, recently released a CD called No Accounting for The Holidays with tracks including: Most Deductible Time of the Year We Wish You a Great Big Refund Joy to...

Dentist is Shining Professional Service Blog Example

Posted on January 04, 2009
A detour today... I used Google to help me learn why my 6 y/o has a white spot on her first grown-up tooth that is just beginning to emerge. The second result in Google for...

New Year's Marketing Resolutions

Posted on January 03, 2009
Lyne Noella is a wise lady whom I've long admired and known through the accounting marketing circles. Lucky for us, she has a blog called Relationship Marketing Program. She posted yesterday her Top 5 New...

Two New Accounting Blogs Launch: Marks 10th and 11th Niche Blogs

Posted on January 02, 2009
Hooray for (another!) Texas firm, Rylander, Clay & Optiz, LLP who are launching TWO blogs with fantastic team participation and a nice backlog of starting posts. Mission: Accountable is for tax exempt organizations serving Ft....

How to Build a Better Blog

Posted on December 20, 2008
Recently published by Law.com is an article by C.C. Holland that I contributed to, along with a few other blog experts and practitioners. Though directed at attorneys, the info in the article is just as...

How Do I Form a Working Marketing Plan?

Posted on December 15, 2008
A relatively inexperienced marketer, new to the firm, wrote recently with the following situation. Q. I recently interviewed my partners with a few key questions to begin developing a marketing plan for 2009. However, I'm...

What's the Diff...Between JPEG, TIFF & GIF?

Posted on December 14, 2008
Whether you only dabble in digital photo use and manipulation, or you are a seasoned desktop publisher, you're likely to learn some great info in these articles on Graphics and the Internet, by Grant Osborne....

Want $100 Savings for the AICPA PFP Conference, San Diego, in Jan?

Posted on December 09, 2008
As a speaker at the upcoming 2009 AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference (January 19-21, 2009 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront), I have the opportunity to provide you with a $100 friend-of-a-speaker discount on...

Please Stop Capitalizing "Firm"

Posted on November 23, 2008
You work in a firm, not a Firm. I think the reason accountants and lawyers excessively capitalize has to do with legal documents (contracts and engagement letters) you know, ?This contract is between Smith, Evans...

Getting Back to the Basics - Enjoying the Holidays Again

Posted on November 23, 2008
Maybe it takes a major economic downturn to smack us upside the head about what is important about the holidays. The spirit of fun, giving, and being with cool people is just amazing. And there's...

My Twitter Experience and Some Twittequette

Posted on November 22, 2008
I'm pretty new to Twitter (@goldenm) and I don't spend a ton of time on it. But I felt compelled to check it out and see what the buzz is about. Would there be value...

Most Fun Thanksgiving Card!

Posted on November 21, 2008
Just received this fantastic card from an accounting firm, KOS (Kessler Orlean Silver) in the Chicago area I love how they show they don't take themselves too seriously. The three hunters are the retired/semi-retired partners...

Building Blog Readership

Posted on November 13, 2008
Q. How might I bring the contents of my blog to a wider audience? A. Blog discovery and readership is very organic and, like most marketing, there isn't a single, guaranteed formula, but I can...

Accounting Association is Blogging

Posted on October 31, 2008
A new blog has emerged by the Exec Director/President of IGAF Worldwide, Kevin Mead, and it's called the Connected Accountant. Kevin's an interesting fellow. In addition to beign a Certified Association Exec (CAE), he is...

Turning a Liability Website into an Asset - Graf Repetti Launches New Site Today

Posted on October 23, 2008
Congratulations to my friend, CPA marketer Rob Orr, on a terrific-looking website for his new firm, Graf Repetti. When Rob arrived at the firm, as their first marketing director, the website was a fairly typical...

NY CPA, PFS Michael Goodman Comments on Economy

Posted on October 15, 2008
My friend Michael Goodman, CPA, PFS, president of Wealthstream Advisors in Manhattan, has created a fantastic set of short video clips discussing the current economic crisis. Approximately a minute each, the videos cover: Stock Portfolio...

Top 100 Firm (and Others) Prove Value Pricing Skeptics Wrong

Posted on October 15, 2008
For all the professionals who say that firms will never trash timesheets and move to value pricing, guess what? You can no longer say that. Four anomaly CPA firms who have proven you wrong are...

Your CPE is Your R&D, Don?t Underinvest

Posted on October 08, 2008
CPAs have become a lot less enthusiastic about CPE in the last 5-10 years. It?s almost viewed as a necessary evil. This is amazing to me because CPE for CPAs is essentially your R&D, or...

Your CPE is Your R&D, Don???t Underinvest

Posted on October 08, 2008
CPAs have become a lot less enthusiastic about CPE in the last 5-10 years. It???s almost viewed as a necessary evil. This is amazing to me because CPE for CPAs is essentially your R&D, or...

Jones & Roth (CPAs) Launch Healthcare Sector Blog

Posted on October 06, 2008
The EIGHTH industry-oriented accounting firm blog launched last week. The Best Practices Blog, by Oregon CPA firm Jones & Roth, focuses on medical practice management and is authored by partner Jeremy Prickel and senior accountant...

Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People List!

Posted on October 02, 2008
No, Michelle Golden is not one of the Top 100 people. (Not yet, anyway. Yeah, still working on that). However, this blog actually got a kind mention on page 8 of Accounting Today's Sep 22-Oct...

Back from Unannounced Blog Hiatus

Posted on October 02, 2008
Not that I expect anyone noticed, but I've been awol for a bit owing primarily to a heavy travel month and lots of cool stuff going on! Here's some of it... * My son lands...

CPA Tells Accountant Jokes, Humanizes Firm

Posted on September 02, 2008
GROCO, a CPA firm in California, has videos on their website featuring one of their accountants, Steve, telling CPA jokes. Brace yourself! These jokes are absolute groaners (a la "why did the accountant cross the...

Blogging Policies

Posted on September 01, 2008
I'm asked often by firms about setting up company blogging policies. In general, my advice is to incorporate blogs into a consolidated "communications policy" for your firm. You don't really need one policy for email,...

The Basics of Facilitation

Posted on August 19, 2008
My last post talks about the importance of "facilitation" skills, particularly for professional firm marketers. These skills are also invaluable for firm administrators, HR, managing partners, niche group leaders, managers, and anyone else wanting to...

Earning the CPF Designation

Posted on August 13, 2008
In 2001, I decided I wanted to pursue becoming a Certified Professional Facilitator: a designation earned through the International Association of Facilitators. At that time, there were fewer than 200 CPFs in the entire world...

Entrepreneurs With a New Label?

Posted on August 07, 2008
See Ron Baker's post on "Grindhopping." It's about a book that helps people create expectations for leaving their 9-5 job to start their own gig. Is this merely a new name for the entrepreneurial bug...

How to Do a Good Professional Blog

Posted on August 04, 2008
I'm just so impressed with Texas. Texans are known for their big hearts, big ideas, and being a bit rebellious, so maybe it's no accident that some of the best professional service firm blogs come...

The Exhuberant Accountant

Posted on July 30, 2008
The newest CPA firm blog is that of Scott Heintzelman (CPA, CMA, CFE) a young partner at savvy McKonly & Asbury in PA. Scott's blog is aptly named (if you've met Scott!): The Exhuberant Accountant....

The Exuberant Accountant

Don't Just Recruit Cool, BE Cool

Posted on July 29, 2008
Rita Keller brings up being "cool" if a firm is going to remain competitive. I agree and expand the point to emphasize it's a two-parter! The first step is attracting great people. The second and...

High Satisfaction Day (HSD)

Posted on July 27, 2008
My friend Ron Baker taught me about HSDs. HSDs are the days when something happens that makes you swell with sense of accomplishment and think, "this is why I do what I do!" - your...

"Are Employees Really an Audience?"

Posted on July 23, 2008
With permission, I post an e-newsletter article by a St Louisan in the PR profession, Les Landes. Les also recently started a blog called "Inside Out" which addresses "aligning marketing communications with employee engagement." (I'm...

Excellent Meeting Tips (Especially Sales Meetings)

Posted on July 17, 2008
Came across this fantastic post on the blog of Alexander Kjerulf, aka Chief Happiness Officer. We've all heard that the more someone else talks, the more brilliant they'll think you are! (or something like that.)...

Blog Content Sources

Posted on July 17, 2008
As a starting point for blog content, I always (and I do mean that as an absolute) recommend that professionals interested in blogging start going backward through their sent emails for ideas. In combing through...

Accounting Blogs Sprouting Up All Over the Place!

Posted on July 09, 2008
Ya know how accounting marketing season begins in May and June? Well, this is my favorite marketing season yet. The past two years delivered only teeny-tiny accountant blog growth despite growing awareness by accountants of...

Carlin and Taxes?

Posted on June 24, 2008
How do accountants spend the five minutes between learning about blogging, and heartily rejecting the idea of blogging? They wonder, "what would I ever write about on a blog?" The answer to the question might...

Must Be The Annual "Let's Send Them Everything We've Got" Mailing...

Posted on June 12, 2008
Funny but true. A few years ago I was just starting to work with a 30ish person firm that, ironically, performed the audit for an organization who employs a good friend of mine formerly of...

AAM 2008 in San Diego

Posted on June 05, 2008
It's lovely to be here in San Diego this week for the Association for Accounting Marketing Conference! I'm here learning and am (as this posts) presenting on "The Web Now. What CPA Firms Need to...

Are You a Better Listener Than Tom?

Posted on May 26, 2008
Just read a great story on Craig Weeks' Accounting Practice Business Development blog. The post is called "The Meeting Went Very, Very Wrong." I've seen very similar situations. It's like we're looking for that perfect...

The Four Ways to Differentiate & Why Negative Ads Are Run

Posted on May 20, 2008
Differentiating professional service firms is enormously difficult to get firms to do. Off the top of my head, it would seem there are only four main ways to differentiate a professional service firm: 1) Specialize....

Darfur Exhibit Sponsored by Houston CPA Firm

Posted on May 19, 2008
I recently visited Houston (for the first time!) in order to attend a one-of-a-kind event. CPA firm Gainer Donnelly Desroches hosted a preview of the "Darfur: Photojournalist Respond" exhibit at the Holocaust Museum Houston. As...

Creative and Edgy Attracts

Posted on May 08, 2008
I'm so behind in blogging. Seriously. And I know I don't actually have to tell you that. The beauty of blogs is that you, the reader, don't really know all the things I've been meaning...

Networking in the Age of Social Media

Posted on May 08, 2008
Just out is an article I wrote for Association for Accounting Marketing's bi-monthly newsletter, MarkeTrends, on the subject of the coolest way to build personal credibility and your business network. Here's an excerpt: Blogs, despite...

Defining Who You Are and Who You Aren't = Specializing

Posted on April 28, 2008
Who you aren't (see my last post) often comes up when discussing who you are. A brilliant comment to that post from my friend Marijean Jaggers (of Standing Partnership, a PR firm) inspires me to...

Who Aren't You?

Posted on April 26, 2008
If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times. Figure out who you are (and who you AREN'T) and boldly state BOTH! These guys have done exactly that: Hat tip to Brian Weinstock...

Gathering Customer Testimonials

Posted on April 22, 2008
Today on the Association for Accounting Marketing Discussion List, someone asked about the best ways to gather client testimonials. A discussion ensued and I was moved to share Golden Marketing's process. It seems several folks are comfortable writing a testimonial for the client and seeking their approval...

Mentoring Programs: Why They Don't Work

Posted on April 05, 2008
This post is for professional service firms who are thinking of starting a mentoring program or who have one and are wondering why it's not a brilliant success. Assigning mentors doesn't work. And internal mentoring programs are rife with problems. If you joined your firm before so-called 'mentoring programs' were...

Internal Mentoring Programs: The Wrong Approach

Isn't Your Firm Blogging Yet?

Posted on April 02, 2008
According to LexBlog founder Kevin O'Keefe, 25% of the top 200 US law firms have blogs. From Kevin's report: 53 of the 2007 AmLaw 200 firms were blogging Those 53 firms were responsible for a total of 110 blogs 36% growth in last 6 months in the number of AmLaw...

Istan-beauti-ful

Posted on March 31, 2008
Had an amazing week last week accompanying Ron Baker (VeraSage founder) to Istanbul for a presentation to the Turkish Advertising Association. Ron introduced Value Pricing in a presentation called Creating and Capturing Value to a group of about 80 people...

Productivity

Posted on March 22, 2008
An endless number of tools exist to help individuals and organizations become more productive. Like weight loss "solutions," most are a lot more hype than help. There is, however, one thing that I have witnessed that really does begin driving individuals and groups to improve in their productivity: Understood and...

The Trick to Proposals is Knowing if You Should Even Do One

Posted on March 18, 2008
Just got back from teaching our Marketing Courses in Texas. Last Tuesday's class was on Proposal Systems and Processes. Attendees are usually surprised when my class starts off with all the reasons for not doing proposals. Personally, I hate RFPs, but responding to them is an essential part of doing...

The Trick to Proposals is Knowing if You Should Even Do One

Posted on March 17, 2008
Just got back from teaching our Marketing Courses in Texas. Last Tuesday's class was on Proposal Systems and Processes. Attendees are usually surprised when my class starts off with all the reasons for not doing proposals. Personally, I hate RFPs, but responding to them is an essential part of doing...

Referral Sources: There's Always a Way to Reciprocate

Posted on March 05, 2008
The greatest referral source marketing fallacy among professionals is the thinking that you can't reciprocate to some referral sources because you don't serve the same type of clients as your referral source. Guess what? You can ALWAYS reciprocate. You probably just aren't thinking broadly enough...

Referral Sources: There's Always a Way to Reciprocate

Posted on March 04, 2008
The greatest referral source marketing fallacy among professionals is the thinking that you can't reciprocate to some referral sources because you don't serve the same type of clients as your referral source. Guess what? You can ALWAYS reciprocate. You probably just aren't thinking broadly enough...

Perks and Perils of Blogging

Posted on March 03, 2008
If you're thinking of blogging, you're trying to get your arms around all the pros and cons. In addition to the ROB (Return on Blogging) benefits I listed out in my earlier posts here and here, there are a few other cool side effects that can be realized: free books...

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Posted on February 21, 2008
In 2005, I started this blog and at the same time, I started posting our Golden Web Reviews. They are presented via a blog. I like the format for sharing and storing them which makes them easy to find, sort, and distribute (by RSS feed into readers and email) but it really isn't a true blog because it isn't a conversation, it's just our information without feedback...

Using Keywords More Naturally in Web Copy

Posted on February 18, 2008
People who write content for web are usually trying to strike a balance between helpful, meaningful information, and use of terms that will be attracting "the right" people from search engines. As such, copy-writing can get tricky and the resulting text can be pretty scary, actually...

Using Keywords More Naturally in Web Copy

Posted on February 17, 2008
People who write content for web are usually trying to strike a balance between helpful, meaningful information, and use of terms that will be attracting "the right" people from search engines. As such, copy-writing can get tricky and the resulting text can be pretty scary, actually...

Great Info on Viral Marketing

Posted on February 11, 2008
David Meerman Scott has again produced excellent and timely material on marketing in the digital age. Again, he offers a free e-book. This one is The New Rules of Viral Marketing: How word-of-mouse spreads your ideas for free. His first was on New Rules of Marketing and PR...

Boredom

Posted on February 10, 2008
I've been thinking a lot about personal responsibility because of David Bohl's great post that I picked up in my recent Carnival of Trust post. This morning, my daughter and I were having an interesting conversation. She's a couple weeks away from turning six which means she's constantly thinking about...

Boredom

Posted on February 09, 2008
I've been thinking a lot about personal responsibility because of David Bohl's great post that I picked up in my recent Carnival of Trust post. This morning, my daughter and I were having an interesting conversation. She's a couple weeks away from turning six which means she's constantly thinking about a lot of weird stuff and asks a lot of seemingly random questions...

Marketer to Attorney Ratio is 1:27

Posted on February 08, 2008
Some new legal marketing stats are in. Larry Bodine posted recent survey results reflecting that on average, AMLAW 100 law firms have one marketer for every 27 attorneys. Don't worry too much about the reported average tenure stats. These are consistent with highly paid marketing exec tenures across all sectors (see my prior post here)...

Carnival of Trust - Feb 08

Posted on February 05, 2008
There's something pretty cool about hosting this carnival on Mardi Gras...the concluding day of perhaps the most well-known carnival of all! And it is remarkable that Mardi Gras goes on despite the destruction unleashed from Hurricane Katrina...

Contribute to a Study? (just takes a minute) - Part 1

Posted on January 31, 2008
My friend Suzanne Lowe of Expertise Marketing is gathering data for her upcoming book, "The Integration Imperative" and is asking professional service firms to contribute to four VERY brief (3 questions) surveys. The first is live now (closes next week) and the others will follow (I'll post them, too) over the next couple months...

Make Every Date a First Date

Posted on January 28, 2008
Did you see Seth Godin's recent post, The Last Interaction? Great stuff!The last interaction Marketers (and high school kids) focus a lot on the first date. After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. I recently had some waterproofing done in the basement...

Cool New CPA Blog

Posted on January 25, 2008
A cool new CPA firm blog by my friend, Mark Bailey, and his team out in Reno. It's called "Innovative Practice Management." Mark is a recovering hourly biller. He converted to value pricing and I think he's been a little blown away by the depth of the changes that converting has invoked...

A Year's Worth of Marketing

Posted on January 15, 2008
Gainer Donnelly & Desroches is a CPA firm in Houston that is decidedly different from other firms. While Sam Gainer and his wife, Norma, travel the world, Sam captures dynamic people and scenes through his camera lens. For years, Sam's photos have graced the office walls and he's shared his art with clients...

Anniversary Impression on the Web

Posted on January 14, 2008
How cool is this? (worth the wait for it to load) HEMA, a Dutch department store How'd they do that??

5 Interview Tips from the Master

Posted on January 03, 2008
I think a lot of my friend and fellow-fellow (at VeraSage) Christopher Marston. I've talked to Chris many times, emailed with him more, and read his blog since its inception (he's not quite that much of a smart-ass in real-life, by the way). He's brilliant and worth listening to...

CFO Turbulence: More SOX Fallout

Posted on January 02, 2008
Saw this post yesterday at Guerilla Marketing for Consultants and it caught my eye. I'd mentioned The Changing Roles of CFOs back in March of 2006, but when I saw this story again, I couldn't help but think of the startling parallel with defections in public accounting firms, as well...

A New Value Based Law Firm (alt: What Pat Lamb is Up To)

Posted on January 01, 2008
Legal blogger and friend Patrick Lamb has been noticably absent from his blog lately (he promises to return when he remembers how to login write). His absence isn't surprising when you learn what he's been up. Effective today, Patrick launches Valorem Law Group (valorem being latin for value) in downtown Chicago...

E-Marketing - Do You? Don't You?

Posted on December 29, 2007
A discussion began over at David Maister's blog when a marketing consultant down-under, David Koopmans, asked: "If you were advising a professional firm about web marketing, what would you stress?" after pointing out that "among some types of professional firm (sic) there is often resistance to the concept of marketing in general, and the digital space in particular...

Merry Christmas from Golden Marketing

Posted on December 21, 2007
This time of year inspires reflection and appreciation of things most meaningful to us. For me, this blog (which means those who read it) is a very meaningful thing. In two and a half years of "braindumping" here, I am continually amazed at the depth and breadth of friendships, learning, experiences, and opportunities that come from this unusual and still emerging form of e-communication...

Goals, Objectives & Resources

Posted on December 21, 2007
My friend and fellow Fellow of VeraSage, Ed Kless, has a really good reminder post about the differences between goals and objectives, two commonly confused terms. Commenter Ric Wilmot adds a great .02 cents and expands the subject into consideration of resources...

Why RSS Beats E-Newsletters Hands Down

Posted on December 06, 2007
E-Newsletters are notorious for WYSINWYG: What You See is NOT What You Get. Overcoming format foibles in the delivery of an HTML newsletter that I was testing for launch, is what first got me looking into blogs back in 2005. When I found out how easy, painless, and beneficial RSS was over e-mail, using blog technology, with a Feedblitz email delivery option for those not RSS savvy, was a no-brainer...

Gear Up for the Next Interview Season

Posted on November 29, 2007
An interesting post at HR World talks about "30 Interview Questions You Can't Ask and 30 Sneaky, Legal Alternatives to Get the Same Info" What I don't like about the post is the title. It presents the article in a light that the content doesn't follow, which brings us to what I do like about the post...