“Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance…Gallup found that after six months on the job, only 38 percent of employees remain engaged. After three years, the figure drops to 22 percent.”

—The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.

The energy and power to fully engage at anytime during the day but especially during stressful times of the year when accounting deadlines loom is key. Here are some simple yet effective solutions from The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz that can effectively increase your ability to get things done.

Each one of these ideas is very simple. What makes them powerful is their impact on everyday life and the energy to engage fully. The post is only a primer, the book is a very rewarding and worthwhile read.

The principles of the book are based upon expanding capacity in a systematic way gleaned from working with top athletes. The writers have found that top athletes perform statistically much better when they go all out in bursts and then rest. The cycle of going and resting is a natural energy pattern that can be leveraged within every day tasks.

Engaging fully takes away the need to spend more time on getting things done. The energy you bring to each task is much more robust and fulfilling thereby making it easier to get things done in less time. If you need to think about it in terms of profit, if you spend less time doing a task you make more money overall.

Take breaks. This can be one of the hardest to do especially when you are busy but it is also the most rewarding. Steven Covey talks about stopping to sharpen the saw and this is exactly what a break does.

Take a Rewarding Break Each Day

Your mind and energy are the saw and you can cut more effectively into things to do each day when it is sharp. The key to a break is to step completely away from what you are doing, block out the time and do something that inspires you.

Especially when you are drop dead busy your mind and body need not just to stop doing but do something deeply inspiring. This can be anything from going to the local bookstore around the corner to taking a brisk walk a couple of times around the block.

What you do during the break is up to each person to figure out. Experiment until you find just the right activity and stick to it even when the flood is at the gate.

Exercise. Another key component that can be combined with the break you take is exercise. The benefits of exercise are around us each day so much that the word has become too large for the average person.

This is due in no small part from people telling you what exercise is and isn’t to be healthy. Keep it simple and let it be about getting your body moving.

Forget about how much time and how fast your heart should be going. Walk around the block, up the stairs, with friends, bike, jump up and down, anything to get your body out of your chair and moving.

Eat regular healthy meals. Think good food for your body rather than diet. There are books written on the subject, read one or two, figure out what works for you and stick to it. The key is to eat so you have sustained energy levels rather than spikes of up and down.

Develop a routine. By developing a routine that incorporates each of these points you take away the need to think and rationalize away doing them at all. Incorporate them into your calendar as if they were a meeting with an important client, the only difference is the client is you.

The last key to all of this is to listen to what your body and mind need rather than just pushing aside these messages so that you can get one more task completed. When you spend at least one month with a routine with each of these in place there are energy benefits that are more sustainable and rewarding than your daily cup of coffee.

Have your own experience with some great routine guidelines? Write a comment to share with other readers.

One of the best times to get client feedback is right after doing work for them. What you have done and the process you took to get there are all fresh in both you and your clients mind.

Of course having the energy to get the feedback can be tough after working non-stop to stay ahead of deadlines. Here is a quick breakdown on some easy ways to consider getting feedback that can be incorporated and used on a regular basis.

Do a contest. Having a drawing from the names of those that respond is a fun way to gather feedback. Although there is a risk of getting a few responses without much in the way of content, it is generally seen as worth it for the few that take the time to write a quality response.

Do an email to all your clients. This is an obvious solution because it is generally fast, efficient, and easy for both your clients and your firm. You send the message and the client just hits reply, types a few words and sends it back.

You can use the email marketing system that comes with any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions. You can create a campaign and attach a request for a feedback message to it. You can then organize by attaching future requests for feedback under that same campaign.

Submit a Review Button

Create a form. Create a custom form on your website that requests feedback. If you keep this up throughout the year it can be more accessible to your clients. Create a specific email address (feedback@yourdomain.com) just for this form as a way to keep track of the responses as separate from the usual contact form.

Change a page on your website. You can change the home or any other page on your accounting firm’s website to request feedback. On it you can have a custom form, a link to email, or a creative image that draws them in with a smile. Once you are done with getting feedback you can then take it down or just leave it up, changing it periodically depending upon the time of year.

Whatever method you use to get feedback from your clients it is essential in keeping your business sharp. Once you incorporate it into your firm’s accounting web site or as a regular campaign within your email marketing system then the feedback system runs by itself.

Have your own story about how you get feedback from your clients? Send a comment and share with other readers.

Although there are over 230 ready-to-go websites available to any accounting firm’s website hosted by CPA Site Solutions there is always an option to create a custom design. Past posts have interesting custom designs showcasing the use of designing from a brochure, to creating a minimalist theme, and using local images.

There are accountants who like their previous website design and want to use that as a custom design with their new website. Although there may be some limitations a previous design can blend with current site styles for a look that melds both together. This is part one of a two part series showing websites that have blended designs.

The benefit of this type of melding is that the initial structure from our ready-to-go website designs can make it a less expensive than that of a custom design from scratch. Yet there is still the flavor and overall branding from the previous web site design.

Custom Design for Hart, Chandler, and Associates

Consider Hart, Chandler, and Associates who worked with custom designers at CPA Site Solutions to produce an interesting meld of website style 233 and their old website. The great part of this process is that even though the structure of style 233 is used the website is very much their own.

Welcome page. The welcome page blocks out different sections providing information and pictures without feeling cramped. There are several local images that flip from one to the next providing an interestingly familiar effect to those that know that landscape.

Hart, Chandler, and Associates Header

Header and logo. To leverage the consistent feel from the welcome page this custom has the accounting firm’s logo take over the whole header area. Their particular logo works well with this setup as it has a tall main image to anchor on one end while the name of their firm is longer allowing it to take up most of the remaining space.

If you are considering what sort of design to use and are torn from going away from a previous design then melding the two together can be a great solution. Regardless, there are many ways to create a custom design for your accounting firm’s web site.

If you want to talk ideas over call 800-896-4500 and a designer can answer any questions you might have. Don’t have time at the moment but still have questions? Email support@cpasitesolutions.com with a list and get a response within a business hours.

Have your own experience using a custom design? Write a comment and share that experience with other readers.

dawn by Peter - Mozilla Thunderbird (TM)

Like most people, Accountants value time saving techniques, services, and programs. Mozilla Thunderbird does this by removing your dependence on programs that are flimsy, have a lack of options, or lose your settings, customizations or client lists when updated.

Mozilla Thunderbird, like Mozilla FireFox, is an open-source alternative to both Microsoft’s Outlook and Apple’s iMail clients. It is a quick, lightweight, customizable program that is easy to use and retains ongoing support via a community of programmers.

Out of the box. Thunderbird will function just like Outlook and iMail. The integration with the Webteam Collaboration Suite offered to any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions is even easier with Thunderbird. Overall you will have the same sorting power as with Outlook or iMail in the form of rules, folders, and importance “flagging” but with the ease of setup, use, and filtering.

The plug-ins. The biggest benefits to using Mozilla Thunderbird are the plug-ins created and supported by the Mozilla community. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of plug-ins all dedicated to making Thunderbird a time saving staple at home or in the office.

These range from plug-ins like a program that helps you check links that people send to you, to a program that syncs perfectly with your Workteam Collaboration Suite. This last one is called Instant Message and allows you to stay connected to people in your firm without having to pick up the phone, walk away from your desk, or shift to another program.

Despite all of this ongoing support Thunderbird is free and can be downloaded here. To install the Thunderbird plug-ins you can follow the directions here. Some of the time saving plug-ins we suggest are:
Lightning – Integrated calendar for Thunderbird
Provider for Google Calendar – Allows you to access (view and edit) your Workteam Collaboration Suite Calendar
QuoteCollapse – Allows you to collapse quoted text in an email
SamePlace – Multi-network instant messender
ThunderBrowse – Adds browsing features to Thunderbird
xmpp4moz – Necessary for SamePlace

One neat piece of software. When everything has been installed and is running, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch before. Thunderbird allows you to save time and to bring all the necessary functions of your Workteam Collaboration suite together into one neat piece of software.

Are you already using Thunderbird and have a story? Send a comment and share it with other readers.

When you sign up for a website with CPA Site Solutions you have the option of having the Workteam Collaboration Suite which provides email to up to 50 people in your firm. Opting into the Suite can not only save you time and money initially but also in the long run.

How does it save money?

No internal IT costs. If you have an internal email solution you will have to have an IT person who knows how to do that. At a conservative estimate lets say it costs $69 an hour to hire this person.

This can be even more depending upon where you live and if you opt for a case by case solution. All of the money you save by not having this person goes directly to your bottom line.

99% Uptime. Our Workteam Collaboration Suite is powered by Google Apps which boasts a 99.9% uptime. That means less time spent working out problems from email being down.

No special hardware or software. A computer is all that you need to access your email anytime, anywhere. There is not extra software or hardware to buy or spend on costly upgrades over time.

Save your time so save money. The time spent with email can be spent on billable hours instead. Save your time and so save your money in multiple ways.

How does it save time?

All email on off-site server. This offers access anytime, anywhere. Wish you could remember what the content of the email you received last week? If you have access to a browser via a computer, pda, iPhone, and more then you can have access to your email anytime, anywhere.

7 Gigs of space. All this space means you can keep a lot of email for records before needing to delete. Need to find something fast from one person? Search via their email or any other term to find the exact file you are looking for.

25 MB attachment limit. Very high so can send larger files. Just be sure to use security of the Vault if you are sending any financial records or any information that you want to keep from prying eyes.

Call 800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com if you want to make the switch to using our Workteam Collaboration Suite. Your questions can be answered if you have any and you can usually get up and running with the Workteam Collaboration Suite within one to two business days.

Have a comment regarding the email solution you currently use? Send a comment to share with other readers.

Beyond the help section offered by CPA Site Solutions are some best practices for making your life easier when modifying your accounting firm’s website. There is a past post on some helpful suggestions that brought some positive feedback so here are some more.

Adding a custom page.  When you add a custom page to your accounting firm’s website the default file name is custom.php. This name is what shows in the the website’s URL.

So, for example if my website is wyattcpa.com and I go to the services page on the site it might say wyattcpa.com/services.php as the URL. If I have a custom page, by default, the page shows as wyattcpa.com/custom.php.

If I create more custom pages they become custom2.php, custom3.php, and so on. This isn’t good for search engines and doesn’t look good if a user looks at the URL or uses the URL in a link.

Custom Page Settings

You want the page name to be more descriptive and appropriate to what your page content is about. You can fix this easily enough through the settings of the custom page.

While in the Site Manager click on Site Map. Mouse over the new page, right click, and choose settings. In the settings area change the file name from custom.php to something similar to the navigation title.

If your navigation title is New Tax Rules you might change the file name to newtaxrules.php or new_tax_rules.php. By changing this you are helping search engines and users identify what content that page contains.

Custom Header

Using your own image within the page header area. The page header contains the title of your a particular website page alongside a small image. If you have ever tried to change the image there is no choice to upload one of your own.

You can do this by changing the Header Style to Custom Header. Doing this brings up a blank page. You can then copy the previous image, title, and line and paste it in place. (Doing this directly is ok because you are copying from within rather than from Microsoft Word)

You can then click on the image then upon the insert image icon and upload a picture from your computer. Be sure the image is already re-sized as the area it is going into is very small.

These are a couple of time saving tips you can use with your accounting website. Look for more in the near future.

Have some tips of your own that have saved you time? Send us a comment and share them with other readers.

Backing up your critical files to a secure area is best to do before you need it. If you have a Gold or Platinum hosting package with CPA Site Solutions there is a small application that lets you do this and more automatically. Here is a quick breakdown of how it works and why you should use it.

The FileVault Windows Application is very light yet connects your computer directly to the vault. This connection allows everyone in your accounting firm and their clients the same time saving features.

Follow the instructions from this help file to find out how to download it. Here are some ways to use the application to save you time.

One-Click Upload

One-click upload. Send a file directly to your own vault file by just right-clicking and choosing “Send to Vault.” Once you set up the FileVault then you can set exactly which folder a file goes to when you use one-click upload.

Files directly to your client’s folder. You can send multiple files directly to a particular clients folder without having to login. Just open FileVault, click on the Upload tab, choose the files to upload, the destination folder and click “Upload Now.”

This can save everyone in your firm a lot of time logging in and going to each of your clients folders. When you are done with one client you can then choose more files and send them to a different clients folder.

A client can also use this same feature to upload multiple files to their own folder. Your clients will thank you each time they use this time saving feature.

Critical File Backup

Backup critical files. You can choose which files to backup and what time each day you would want the backup done. When you are in the FileVault just choose the backup tab, add files to the list, choose when to backup and click ok.

Mind you this is different from backing up all your computer files. This is intended for particular files that you need to backup and keep secure.

If you are wondering the difference consider the amount of overall space you currently have compared to the amount of clients. In general most of the financial files won’t take up a lot of space.

If you are curious as to where the space is going you can run a quick report. While you are logged into the Secure File Exchange, choose More (see image), and then Usage Report.

Vault Usage Report

The report will tell you how much space each client is using. Find a client using 50% your accounting firm’s space? Most likely the client is using the service inappropriately.

You can let them know that they get only so much space as a service to them. After this space is used up then it costs a certain amount for the extra space. If they decide to use it then you can purchase more space at only $9.95 a month for 2 additional gigs of storage.

Since they are paying for the space then it isn’t a disadvantage to your firm. The seven layers of security provided by the Vault makes this an economical solution.

Once you start using the Vault with the one-click upload feature you start saving your accounting firm and your clients time. If you are at the Gold or Platinum level you can download and start using it today!

Have a comment regarding your own use of the Vault and backing up critical files? Send a comment.

Sign up for Google Analytics

Google Analytics is free and, when used effectively, can keep your accounting firm’s website as an ongoing tool to understanding potential clients. Here is a quick breakdown of the potentials behind Google Analytics.

Having a tool rather than just a website. How you use your accounting firm’s website can make the difference between just having a website and having a tool to interact with potential clients. When you use this tool effectively you can gain more clients.

Use your creative energy wisely. How you change your website can be guided by understanding why users are coming to your website and where they are spending most of their time. Expanding the content that draws users in the first place and making these pages easier to access leverages your website as a tool.

This sort of interaction is key to making sure that your website improves according to feedback from those who use it most. This type of feedback is freely available when you sign up and use Google Analytics.

Google Adwords. If you are a platinum level client then we have already set Google Analytics and linked it directly to your Adwords account. This allows you to pick out the highest performing ads and get rid of those that don’t perform as well.

The most page views. You can see which pages draw the most traffic from the Top Content report. If you notice that people are coming to your seminars page then making this as a top level navigation makes it easier to find.

You also have feedback that offering more seminars gains you more users and potential clients. If users are not coming to your firm profile page as much then you can change it to be more appealing. Alternatively you can make it a sub navigation of the welcome page so you can have more room for the seminars page that is pulling in traffic.

Google Analytics Interface

Compare month to month. What users do changes over time. You can look at month to month traffic and get a better idea of the potential changes. This gives you time to respond with content or changes to your website that reflect those changes.

Over 80 customizable reports. There are over 80 customizable reports available. You can drag and drop to change what type of data you want and how it is displayed.

Signing up is free. Signing up for Google Analytics is free and there are great documents that support how to use it. There is a lot more information to how to use it, look for future posts on tips and suggestions.

Focus The Landing Page on Your Accounting Website to Sway the Prospects that Matter.

There are four types of visitors to your accounting website. Only one of them has any chance of being affected by your landing page marketing copy no matter how brilliant it is. Here they are:

1. Nevers
2. Not Todays
3. Heck Yas!
4. Wellll… I Don’t Know…

“Nevers“
A simple truth is that not all visitors to your website are prospects. Most visitors are coming onto your website with absolutely no intention of using your services.

The first of these “nope” visitors is the easiest to deal with… I call them the “nevers”. Maybe they are a competitor just checking out your website or a web designer who just wants to grab a look at your landing page.

It could be some person looking for free t-shirts. There are a thousand reasons that someone might come to the web site who is, in no way, shape or form, even a prospect. These are the “nevers”. Don’t waste your time even thinking about these people.

“Not Todays“
Just above the “nevers” are the “not todays”. They are completely unaffected by your landing page copy like “nevers” are, but they’re really not “nevers”.

They may be a friend of a friend grabbing a tax form or leafing through your free reports to see if you have any good articles about selling their house. They could already have a good accountant that they really like, already a client and needs your number or just some guy looking for work.

An accounting firm's most common website visitor type is the "Not Today", or "Long Term Prospect". Don't waste your valuable landing page copy trying to hard sell these users. You won't convert them, and you'll even scare some away.

While you should consider all these people long term prospects for sales, cross-sales, and up-sales, it’s a waste of time trying to convert them with your landing page copy. The trick to landing a “not today” prospect is “relationship marketing”.

We need to provide them with what they are looking for. It is usually a good newsletter, a library of financial information,  or forms, and tools that will bring them back whenever they need information related to accounting.

It’s OK to do a soft sell in your free reports and set yourself up as the authority to turn to. For the most part this is a low intensity pitch. These visitors offer no useful opportunity to get us a sale with good landing page copy.

By far the “not todays” are your biggest contingent of visitors. They have no need for your services today, but in a month, or two, or six… this may change.

Perhaps the prospect will buy a house, or get a big promotion and a fat raise. Maybe the accountant he already works with will retire or take a job with a large firm.

By providing these visitors with a wealth of useful content we are keeping our brand in front of them and establishing ourselves as an authority so when that time comes we become the logical choice for that change. This is a type of relationship marketing.

We need to treat the “not today” crowd like friends. This also keeps them coming back. We stay in touch, listen to their suggestions, care about their needs and feelings, but any potential professional relationship is in the future.

“Nevers” and “Not Todays” are Landing Page “Nopes”.
Combined these two groups are the “nopes”. You can’t convert them with your landing page content. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, they are not going to call you based on your landing page copy. If you start pushing a “not today” for a sale you may even scare them away.

“Heck Yas!“
The next prospect group is are the “heck yas!”. This is a very rare and precious visitor. This guy is an absolutely dedicated buyer.

He’s going to log on to your site just long enough to look up your phone number or find and fill out an online form. This buyer will overcome any obstacle to contact you.

These guys will even navigate through a badly designed site, exploring the site, relentlessly clicking through page after page unutil he finds your phone number. You could hide your contact page under a pile of links in a locked basement of an abandoned building and put a sign on the door that says “Beware of the Leopard” and this buyer is going to reach you.

Some of these dedicated buyers are just stubborn. Most have already been sold on your service by off site factors. If your practice is in the boonies the visitor may just see you as the only game in town.

For the most part this guy is a referral, so the better you are at networking and off site marketing, the more “heck yas!” you are likely to get.

There’s no point even trying to convince this guy of anything. He’s already sold. Just ask him where he heard about you (so you can send the referrer a ham) and set an appointment.

“Wellll… I Don’t Know…“
THESE are the buyers you need to capture. This is a very large segment of your visitors. They represent your best chance for a fast sale. These are the people you should be targeting with your landing page copy.

Find Your Niche and Sell to It:
You are going to convert some of the “welllls” without lifting a finger. To maximize the effectiveness of your landing page you need to understand your prospects.

No landing page can convert every “wellll” prospect. Don’t even try. A landing page that appeals to one prospect, say a business owner, may very well scare away an individual.

At best you can only hope to convert a portion of the eligible prospects on your site. If you focus your landing page too heavily on business you will lose individual clients. If you focus too much on individuals business owners will leave. If you try to find a middle ground you’ll lose prospects on both ends. One web page can’t be all things to all people.

You know your market. Focus your landing page on the “welllls” in your area. Look at your market and realistically assess what the needs are there, then focus your landing page marketing copy on the prospects you think will most likely bring in the best return for your practice.

Need some help with how to do things on your website hosted by CPA Site Solutions? Help files have been recently added that make it that much easier to see exactly what to do.

Here is a list of what has currently been added. There are more soon to come on how to do just about everything on your website.

Using copy and paste. If you copy and paste code from places like Microsoft Word into the editor on your website then you may make it so your users won’t be able to view the page at all. If this page is your welcome page this makes it so your site won’t come up at all. Watch this video to find out how to avoid this common error.

Drag and Drop. The Site Manager menu has a drag and drop feature that allows you to move your pages and delete them with ease. Find out about how to change settings as well with this help video.

Add a page. You can delete any page on your website and then add it back again with ease. Watch this video help file to find out how to add a page to your accounting firm’s website.

Anytime you have any questions regarding how to do anything on your accounting firm’s website you can call us at 800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com. There are times though when a visit to the help section on CPA Site Solutions works just as well.

Updates to the help section are ongoing with these recent videos being just a start. Have some suggestions you want to share? Send a comment or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.