Build to Enough | Branding Matters: Building Your Accounting Firm's Identity

Keila delves into the often-overlooked importance of branding and marketing for accounting firm owners. She explains why these elements are crucial for establishing a firm's identity, attracting ideal clients, and standing out in a competitive landscape. The episode offers practical, manageable steps for firm owners to start building their brand and marketing strategy, emphasizing that even small efforts can make a significant difference in a firm's success and sustainability.

• (00:00) - This is Build to Enough
• (01:51) - Establishing Your Firm's Identity
• (03:04) - Visibility and Growth Through Effective Marketing
• (06:45) - Building Trust and Credibility
• (07:45) - Practical Steps to Start Branding and Marketing
• (10:46) - Leveraging Resources and Tools
• (13:00) - Conclusion and Next Steps

Connect with Keila!
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/keilahilltrawick
Website - www.krht.co

RESOURCES:

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Creators & Guests

Host

Keila Hill-Trawick, CPA, MBA

Helping entrepreneurs create and maintain the business they want | Building to Enough | LinkedIn Top Voice | Intuit Partner Council | Accounting Firm Owner

What is Build to Enough ?

Little Fish Accounting presents Build To Enough. The pursuit of endless growth and scaling can leave entrepreneurs feeling burned out and unfulfilled. This podcast explores how to build sustainable, purpose-driven businesses that align with your lifestyle and values, rather than defined by rapid expansion alone. On this show, we’ll reframe definitions of success, provide strategies for structuring companies around desired lifestyles, and share stories of entrepreneurs finding deeper fulfillment by focusing on “enough.” Join us as we discuss moving off the hamster wheel and building businesses with balance and meaning.

There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Keila Hill-Trawick: Hello. You're listening to Build to Enough, a podcast for entrepreneurs who want to scale at their own pace. I'm your host, Kaela Traywick, and I'll be your chief storyteller and cheerleader in a world that glorifies endless expansion, we're tuning out the noise and discussing the beauty of enough. Each episode will dive into inspiring stories, practical insights, and strategies to cultivate sustainable success on your [00:00:30] own terms. So whether you're a solopreneur, small business owner, or aspiring entrepreneur, get ready for a refreshing take on the entrepreneurial journey. This is build to enough. Hello and welcome back to Build to Enough. So today I want to talk about something that I don't think gets covered in a very specific way for accounting firm owners, and that is building your brand and why the marketing matters. So regardless of your firm size and you know, I am always here for you. Staying small, [00:01:00] every firm owner should be prioritizing marketing and branding, and not just because it gets us new clients. It also feels like a way to tell everyone who we are and what we stand for. And so when new clients are getting introduced to you, when you are getting referrals, your first kind of window to the world of hanging your shingle is putting some effort into your marketing and branding. Now, I know there's core work that accounting firm owners [00:01:30] are doing, and it can feel like you don't really have time to dig into the overwhelming landscape of marketing and branding.

Keila Hill-Trawick: But they're critical to the long term success and sustainability of any business, specifically those who are trying to stay small. So let's dig in. All right, so why is this even important to firm owners? I will give you three reasons. The first one is it establishes your identity. So like I mentioned in the intro, it's about your firm's identity in terms of what you do who you [00:02:00] are, what you stand for and what sets you apart. Branding has always been a really integral part of little fish accounting strategy. A lot of the reason is because, as I've mentioned before, when I started this firm, I didn't know any other firm owners. And so I really modeled what Little Fish did after design agencies because those were my first clients. What does that mean? It means that when we show up into the world, when you go to Little Fish's website or when you see a show up online in any way, we have a very particular [00:02:30] way that we stand out in the marketplace. And you know that it's us. You have the opportunity to do that for your firm, too. In showing, not just, again, other clients, your peers who might want to refer to you, organizations who might want you to come speak. You're being really clear about who you are by using your marketing and branding to do that.

Keila Hill-Trawick: When you don't have a clear brand, it can be really challenging to communicate your value to everyone involved, including potential clients. If you're too broad or too vanilla, [00:03:00] it can be hard to show clients why they should choose you over any other firm. Now the second reason is for visibility and growth. As you have probably heard in multiple different platforms, the goal isn't necessarily just to get more clients, it's to get better clients. You can take fewer clients when they're ideal for you, and when you have effective marketing, that's really the vehicle to make sure it's bringing your brand to life so that that marketplace is getting shown to the right people. You [00:03:30] want to be visible to the right audience so that you can attract new clients, but also foster long term relationships. The ways that you show up starts with, like, your website and how you get them into your firm, but then carries through them working with you and even to offboarding everything that you do should be a consistent methodology in showing who you are at every point in the process. And then the last thing that I'll say is that it's important to know that this is going to build over time. Small steps are where this starts. [00:04:00] The brand that we have now is not the brand that we started with. I did not have help. I built it myself and it lasted us for a good long while before we made some changes.

Keila Hill-Trawick: And so what we want to do in this episode is really approach these tasks without feeling overwhelmed, so that you can figure out how to gradually incorporate this into your firm. So the landscape is competitive. There is lots of competition and lots of firms that are vying for the same clients. So we want to think about how you can stand out. Also, clients are [00:04:30] more informed than ever. They can see things online. The internet is telling them all kinds of things that they can do with their accounting, and so they have higher expectations. They're not just looking for services, they're looking for a brand that they can trust, a firm that aligns with their values, and a company that stands out for the rest at the end of the day. Clients know that they can get their bookkeeping and tax preparation done relatively by any tax firm, any accounting firm. They have no idea how good we are. And so [00:05:00] what we're trying to show them is why we would be the right fit for them, not why we're just a good accounting firm. First impressions are super important, but so is consistency. Every time you show up, you want to look the same. Are you saying the same things over and over again, so that you can reinforce your firm's identity and assure clients that that high level of service and marketing that they're getting on the front end, they can expect to continue when they're working with you.

Keila Hill-Trawick: So [00:05:30] let's talk about what branding is and is not. Branding is not just a logo. Branding is not just colors. It is the overall perception and reputation of your firm. When people see you, when they see your firm show up in a certain way, what are they expecting to feel? So are you cozy? Are you using humor? Are you professional and straightforward? You are going to attract the client that wants the thing that you [00:06:00] are offering, but it needs to be consistent so that they know what they're getting from you. And then marketing is how do you communicate that brand and your services to potential clients. So when we're looking at marketing, what channels are you using? What are you saying and how are you saying it? Who are you directing that messaging to making sure that you're using like your reputation and how you look and then how you communicate that in conjunction with each other so that you're talking to the right client and bringing in the right revenue. [00:06:30] Right. Like the way that you show up attracts a more or less sophisticated buyer. It tells people, whether you're looking at startups who are on a budget or a luxury client who is willing to pay whatever to have hands on done for you service.

Keila Hill-Trawick: And this is really important, because what you're doing with branding and marketing is building that trust and credibility with clients. They are looking at you and saying, I've seen them show up enough times that I believe that they're going to do what they say they're going to do, and that's [00:07:00] how you differentiate yourself across a crowded marketplace. It also repeats business right when you are consistent about how you show up. You can build client loyalty, and that's what they're going to tell other people as the reason that they should come to you. For example, I tell people that if you see a post out that says I am looking for an affordable accountant, don't come to us. Don't even put us on that list. Not because I expect to be exclusive or expensive, but because if you're leading from that point, all of the value in the [00:07:30] world won't get you to understand why our services cost, what they cost, what that investment includes. And so you want to make sure that you're communicating that in whatever ways that you need to, or whatever ways make the most sense for the clients that you're trying to attract. Now, as I said earlier, I know that it can be overwhelming. And so you can start with the tiniest of steps to make sure that you're building your brand and marketing your firm. The first is start with a clear brand identity.

Keila Hill-Trawick: It can sound fuzzy to say, what's your [00:08:00] mission? What are your values? What are your unique selling proposition? But like brain dump that. Who are you trying to serve? What are you trying to offer them? What is the outcome that you're trying to get them to? You don't have to have it all pretty and formatted, but when you think about why you're doing this and who you're doing it for, what does that mean to you? And then build in some consistency. Look at your visuals. Look at everything from your fonts to your signature to your website. Is it cohesive? Does [00:08:30] it look like these brands live in the same house? I've seen some where it's like it doesn't even seem like they're in the same neighborhood, let alone the same address. So even if it's not exactly the same, do you see small tweaks that you could make to say, hey, every time I send out these financial statements, it is always going to have my logo at the top. Every time we put out a social media post, it's going to be one of these two colors. How can you simplify so that it's easy for you to be consistent? Do you need to make changes [00:09:00] or updates to your website, whether it's the services that you offer, more recent pictures, or just making it more cohesive. Are you using social media? Don't be on all the platforms. It is too much to keep up with.

Keila Hill-Trawick: Pick the 1 or 2 that you're already good at and go all in on those. And then networking. Networking has always been hard for me because I am not a seller and I'm not great at small talk, but what I have found is I like talking to people. I like learning their stories, figuring out what they do. Approach [00:09:30] it from a place of service. How can I learn more about you and be curious? And what might I be able to help you with? If I'm the right fit or connect you to. If I'm not from a very small space, start a blog or newsletter. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just get your thoughts out. Even if it's just telling clients, hey, this is when we're closed. These are the upcoming deadlines or due dates. And this is what you should know about things that we're doing behind the scenes. People like to stay informed, and to the extent that you can build that to something [00:10:00] bigger. Sure. But starting small is really the best way. And then gather client testimonials. It doesn't have to be anything official. I like to ask at the end of all of my calls, do you have any suggestions or recommendations for what we could do to make this service more valuable to you? Is there anything that we could do to make it better? What I have found is that's really a good opening for clients to tell us what we're already doing really well, and so we can use that as a way to tell future people, hey, straight from our clients, this is what we are [00:10:30] doing.

Keila Hill-Trawick: But also it's really easy to put into your branding and marketing when you can't articulate what do we do for our clients and why do they choose us over other firms? The last thing that I'll say is that you really want to think about resources to consider. At first you might be diying this, but the faster you can get help, the better off you are. So when you're ready to invest, get a branding agency or a consultant. This might be a one time call where they tell you what to do. Or it might [00:11:00] be ongoing service where they take it off your plate. If you're doing it yourself, you can use tools like Canva, which we still love, so that you can have consistent brand visuals. One of the things that I think is really cool is that they have a brand kit, so I'm always using the same colors and the same fonts without having to remember which ones I picked eight, nine, 12 months ago. You've also got marketing resources, so you can use tools like MailChimp, which we use for our email marketing, and HubSpot for client management. They've got free and low cost options, so [00:11:30] you don't have to go all in before you're able to try something out, and then take advantage of all of the free resources online, like YouTube, online courses, books and blogs.

Keila Hill-Trawick: We have a book club within the company for leadership. How can you take advantage of that to maybe share with some other peers to read and learn more about how you can improve your skills in this, not to mention mentorship and peer groups. At the end of the day, you know that you can start with DIY and get professional, but it's [00:12:00] a wide spectrum along that, so make sure not to hype. Hop into very expensive resources early on, as you're just trying to figure out what you want to do and then think about expanding your reach. One of the things that I have realized is that we've gotten to a place where our branding is marketing, and marketing is really good, but like, we need to reach more people. How can I get in front of the people that we would be best for? Now that I know that we've kind of nailed down what we're doing and what we're talking about, [00:12:30] and then we want to adapt to changes. So even though I feel like, yeah, that is good, as we get more client feedback, as new clients come to us, we have the opportunity to make small tweaks along the way so that we can build a legacy brand that also has sustained growth.

Keila Hill-Trawick: You don't want to do this up and down constantly, but really you want to build something that can be consistent across the board so that when you need to pull the levers to get a little bit more or a little bit less, those are already in place for you [00:13:00] So what I'll say is this take one small step. Use one of the things that we talked about in this episode, in order to really set the tone for what your next level of branding and marketing will look like. Excited to be able to talk to you about what you're dealing with, with marketing and branding. And if you've got questions, something that we can answer for you or just ways that you'd like to know how little fish is doing it, send us an email at podcast at Little Fish Accounting. Com and we would love to be able to answer you either directly or on [00:13:30] a future episode. See you next time. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Build to Enough. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate and share the love with your fellow entrepreneur friends, and make sure to sign up for the Build to Enough newsletter. The link is in the show notes. Stay tuned for more episodes as we continue to redefine success one intentional step at a time.