The Venus Fly Trap wastes no time making dinner out of a visiting bug.

A small insect crawls onto a smooth green leaf. The little bug has made its way across dozens of leaves that day – but this one is different.

This will be the last leaf he visits.

The plant senses the insect’s presence and, in the blink of an eye, snaps itself shut. The bug is trapped.

Your Website Must Move As Fast As the Venus Fly Trap

Your CPA website has about 5-10 seconds to capture a reader’s attention. If nothing on your site entices visitors to stay, they move on. And you’re out of luck.

You need to take the same no-nonsense approach as the Venus Fly Trap. When you get a reader, you need to snap your jaws shut and not let them leave.

Visitors Have Just 3 Questions

Here are the 3 things people want to know when they land on a CPA’s website:

1. Will I like you?
2. Can I trust you?
3. Are you competent?

You’ve got mere seconds to answer these questions about your personality.

You Can’t Do It with Words and Pictures Alone

Words and pictures are simply not enough to immediately get your personality across to potential clients. If they have to read a “wall of text,” 9 times out of 10, they’ll go elsewhere.

There is just one way to grab your visitors’ attention quickly and immediately convey your likability and trustworthiness: a short, professionally produced video.

In fact, according to Search Engine Watch…

Video landing pages generate 4 to 7 times higher engagement and response rates than static image and text landing pages. (February 2010)

Why Is Video so Successful?

Humans make snap judgments about the people they observe all the time. Within 30 seconds, they’ve decided whether they like this person and, when looking for an accountant, whether they would want to do business with them.

Everyone’s unconscious mind evaluates others based on numerous details – their clothes, the way they talk, their smile, their tone of voice, and the words they use.

Short of meeting you in person, video is the best way to let people make these judgments. Paragraph upon paragraph of text cannot convey your personality. Video can.

Check out the video that our client, Tax Savers, Inc., put on their home page: Silver Spring CPA video.

The Easy Way to Make an Online Video

You can sign up for an online video through us – and I strongly believe that our solution is the best way to get the job done.

First of all, it’s an excellent value.

If you paid a private videographer to make a video, it would cost at least $2,000-3,000.

On the other hand, if you sign up for one through us, you pay just $649. That’s at least 60% less than the alternative.

Secondly, it’s easy. You don’t need to be artistic in the least.

We send a professional videographer straight to your office at a prearranged time that’s convenient for you.

He or she asks you a few questions, videotapes your answers, takes a few more shots of your staff and your office – and that’s it. You get a copy of the first draft and the chance to ask for edits. Together with the videographer, you settle on a final version.

Once the video is done, we post it to your home page, as well as Google Places, Yahoo!Video, YouTube, and Metacafe.

Here’s How to Sign Up

If you’d like to “snap your jaws shut” on the next visitor to your website, sign up for an online video.

We’ll call you within 1-2 business days, take down your information, and ask you the best times for the videographer to visit. It’s simple, straightforward – and devilishly effective.

Brian O'Connell, President

We all spend hours each day surfing the Web. We use the Web for business, for social activities, and for entertainment. It’s become a way of life.

Because so many of us are online so much of the time, we’re often lulled into a false sense of security. The truth is, there are cybercriminals out there – hackers who want to gain access to our hard drives, steal our personal information, and use our computers to perpetrate their crimes.

Needless to say, tax season is not the time to suddenly find yourself a victim of identity theft, or even to face the annoyance of having your computer run slowly or unreliably because of a virus.

The good news is, there are simple measures you can take to keep yourself safe.

Probably the easiest among these is choosing the right browser.

Use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or IE8

I recommend using one of the three major browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer 8.

All three protect against phishing, malware, and pop-ups. Here are brief definitions of each threat:

Phishing - Phishing sites are counterfeit bank or credit card sites designed to look identical to the real ones. Their aim is to trick you into giving up your personal information, like your credit card or Social Security numbers.

Malware - Malware is short for “malicious software,” and it encompasses a variety of software or program codes – viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, and so on – that access your computer without your consent. Malware can be a minor annoyance – or, depending on what you stumble on, it can be downright criminal in function.

Pop-ups – Pop-up ads are advertisements that open a new window, usually a small one, and demand immediate attention. They’re generally more annoying than dangerous, but if you accidentally click on one, you could be redirected to a harmful site.

IE6 or IE7 Are Not Secure – Time to Upgrade

At this point, Internet Explorer 6 is nine years old and simply does not provide the security you need in today’s online environment. In fact, Microsoft, who owns Internet Explorer, is attempting to eradicate IE6. Internet Explorer 7 is not much better.

If you want to keep yourself safe as you surf the Web, upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, or use Chrome or Firefox. All three give you a warning screen when you’re about to click over to a suspicious site, and they scan all downloads for viruses, among many other safety features.

Upgrade Here for Free

It costs nothing and takes only a few minutes to switch browsers…

Download Google Chrome

Download Mozilla Firefox

Download Internet Explorer 8

Here’s a handy page explaining how to move your bookmarks from one browser to another.

Stay Safe This Tax Season

We’re heading into tax season, the busiest time of the year for accountants.

Why should hackers be allowed to disrupt your productivity and potentially steal your identity? Don’t take any chances. Upgrade your browser today and protect yourself against cybercrime.

And while you’re at it, sign up for a CPA website and take advantage of all its time-saving features – a secure Client Portal, a monthly Client Newsletter, a Dedicated Webmaster, Search Engine Optimization, and 100+ additional features.

You get the first 60 days free!

Brian O'Connell, President

Your CPA website exists to bring in more clients – to convert prospects into paying customers.

Websites from CPA Site Solutions come loaded with thousands of pages of Ready-to-Go content, so that when a visitor comes to your site, they’re immediately impressed by your professionalism.

But some people want more than to just read about you. They want to get in there right away and ask questions. And they’re used to doing everything online – they’re not going to pick up the phone .

For those folks, you want Live Chat on your site.

Imagine that a potential client is looking around for a new accountant. They have a question they want answered immediately. They come to your site and see the Live Chat box – and within minutes, they’re chatting with a real accountant, all without picking up a phone or meeting in an office.

That sounds to me like an excellent way to convert a lead into a client.

What Kinds of Questions Do People Ask?

People want to know all kinds of things when they visit your site – questions like:

• What are your rates?
• What are your specialities?
• How much experience do you have?
• How long would it take you to complete my return?
• Do you have time to take me on as a business client?

They also might have specific questions about their financial situation. It can be a bit time-consuming to answer these, but it’s a powerful way to demonstrate your professionalism and caring.

The Meebo Me chat box.

Meebo

Meebo offers a free chat box widget called Meebo Me that you can put wherever you’d like on your website. Any visitor can click on the box and ask you a question.

If you’re not taking chats, simply adjust your status to “offline” and folks can leave a message.

To get the code for your Meebo Me chat box, visit the Meebo website.

If you’re a Gold or Platinum client, take advantage of our We Do It All for You service and ask us to add the code for you. Call us at 1-800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Volusion

Volusion is another free live chat option.

Just like Meebo, Volusion gives you the option to change your status to “offline.”

One advantage of Volusion over Meebo is that it allows you to use your own image in the chat box rather than the stock photo.

Here’s an example of the Volusion chat box, on a Contact Us page:

This is what clients see when you insert the Volusion chat box on your site.

To download this free software, visit the Volusion site.

Again, if you’re a Gold or Platinum client, we help you situate the chat box wherever you’d like on your site. Just call 1-800-896-4500, or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Don’t Let a Prospect Slip Away

Your website is a valuable marketing tool. Extend its usefulness by impressing all the potential clients who visit, including those who want to make live contact right away – without picking up the phone.

Even if the chat option converts just two clients a year, it’s a worthwhile investment in time. And because the software is free, it’s certainly worth it in dollars.

If you have any questions about Live chat, let us know! 1-800-896-4500, or support@cpasitesolutions.com

Brian O'Connell, President

Tax season is just around the corner – and with it comes the need to exchange a lot of financial documents and sensitive files with your clients.

Unfortunately, if you email the files or send them via FTP, you’re out of compliance with state and federal privacy laws and liable for heavy fines and other legal consequences.

The good news is that you have a Secure File Exchange system that comes with your CPA website. This system is ultra safe. Your clients’ data is protected by 14 layers of security with this Client Portal.

One of the layers keeps the files encrypted 100% of the time. Your clients’ files are protected during transfer to the server, while sitting on the server, in all the backups, and when transferred back to you or your clients.

This level of file encryption keeps you in compliance with every state and federal privacy law.

Now You Get a Lot More Storage Space

The more you (and your clients) use the Secure File Exchange and Online Document Management System, the more storage space you need on our secure servers.

This month we are proud to announce that we are essentially doubling the amount of storage space in the Client Portal.

For Those on Our Old Server…

Most of our clients will see these changes in their Portal automatically. But a few of you will need to migrate to our new server to take advantage of the extra space.

If this looks familiar, you’re on our new server, and you’ve been automatically upgraded:

If either of these look familiar, though, then you’re on an older platform, and we need to migrate your website:

Once we move your site over to our newer system, your Secure File Exchange storage space will double.

If you have any questions about whether you need to be migrated, just give us a call at 1-800-896-4500, or email us at support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Continually Improving

This month’s improvement required a major investment in servers and the development of  scalable file storage and backup systems. I hope it demonstrates our commitment to continually improving the service we offer you each month.

We truly appreciate your business. Thank you for letting us take care of your website needs.

Happy Holidays.

Kathy O'Connell, CPA

When you want to attract new clients, don’t bother with LinkedIn. A CPA website is really what you need to build your client base.

But that doesn’t mean you should ignore it.

The plain fact is, to run a healthy, highly professional business, you need this networking social media site.

Here are the top 5 benefits of LinkedIn for accountants:

1. Banish Isolation

One huge advantage of LinkedIn is the plethora of professional networking groups you can join. When you’re a sole proprietor, it can be a welcome relief to meet other CPAs and swap stories about the highs and lows of running a business.

You may not have a company break room, but you can still spend a part of each day around a virtual water cooler on LinkedIn.

2. Get the Inside Scoop

Joining some professional groups on LinkedIn has another purpose, too – they help you stay informed about the industry. The groups, which are both national and regional, help you stay up-to-date on the latest tax laws, best practices, and relevant conferences.

Barry MacQuarrie’s excellent series about LinkedIn for CPAs lists the 7 essential LinkedIn groups to join:

• Your company’s group
• AICPA
• Your state CPA society
• SocialCPAs
• Your practice group (that is, your niche)
• The International CPA Association
• Your competition

3. Diversify Your Connections

When you’re joining groups, don’t limit yourself to just the accounting groups. Join groups for service professionals, sole proprietors, and small businesses. Join regional networking groups. If you have a specialty, join groups in that niche – restaurants, elder care, or entertainment.

The more businesspeople you meet on LinkedIn, the more you learn, and the more resources you can turn to when you have a question or problem.

4. Recruit

Despite the shaky economy, hiring is always tough. Selecting the best individual to bring into your company is big decision – one that can have an enormous impact on your firm.

Maximize your chances for success by maintaining an active profile on LinkedIn. As opposed to Facebook and Twitter, this social media platform is geared only toward professional networking – which means it’s a prime location for folks looking for work.

When it’s time to hire, look first to LinkedIn, both for applicants and for colleagues who can refer good candidates.

5. Keep a Safety Net

You may be happy as a sole proprietor or firm partner now – but it’s always a good idea to have a safety net.

If, for some reason, you need to find a position at another company, an active profile on LinkedIn is a very nice asset. Having an updated profile, which is essentially your resume – combined with the groups you’ve joined and participate in – is an excellent starting point in your job search.

Link Your Website to Your Profile

LinkedIn probably won’t help you attract new clients. But to build a professional, sustainable practice, it’s world class.

To display the LinkedIn icon on your home page and link your CPA website to your profile, just give us a call at 1-800-896-4500, or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

As always, you get some new designs to choose from for your CPA website this month - 8 modern looks.

You can change your design at any time at no charge – so take a look at your new choices and let us know if you’d like an update.

Design 449 Gold	Design 450 Gold
Design 451 Gold	Design 452 Gold
Design 453 Gold	Design 454 Gold
Design 455 Gold	Design 456 Gold

These designs are all Gold level. If you’re a Silver client and would like one of these looks for your site, consider an upgrade to Gold. When you upgrade, you can choose from all 300+ site styles.

All of the 8 new designs have slideshows – and all of them can be customized with pictures of your staff and your hometown for no additional fee. You just need to provide the photos!

Just Call Us

If you’d like to swap out your current style for one of these new designs – or any of the designs in our portfolio – just give us a call at 1-800-896-4500. Or you can email a Dedicated Webmaster at support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Remember – change is good!

Brian O'Connell, President

It’s not easy running an accounting business. You need to manage a lot more than your clients’ books – from human resources to operations to IT.

Chief among these “extracurricular activities” is marketing. You really do need to pay attention to marketing. After all, if you don’t market your services, you won’t have many clients.

But marketing is a big field. There are lots of ways to promote your business, all of which take up plenty of your time. How do you manage them all when you also need to focus on client work?

The answer: Focus on your website, and just use the other marketing streams to pull prospects to your site.

Your CPA website should be your marketing hub, and all other forms of marketing – ads, referrals, direct mail, and so on – should be treated as spokes on the wheel.

It may seem like a small detail, but when you shift your thinking this way, you focus your time and energy and make the most of each marketing stream.

Which means more of what your marketing is all about: getting new clients.

5 Spokes of the Marketing Wheel

Your marketing wheel: your website is the hub, and the spokes are your additional marketing efforts.

Think of all your marketing efforts as a wheel. The wheel’s hub is your website, and it has 5 spokes, which represent the 5 main areas of marketing.

Social Media

It’s easy to get distracted by social media. But remember the end goal of marketing: to draw in new clients, not to make friends or post clever status updates.

Your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts should serve to funnel people back to your website, where the work of “conversion” happens (converting them from a prospect to a client).

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a popular topic these days. Experts say that delivering messages straight to the inbox is the best way to get someone’s attention.

But don’t forget that an email message doesn’t contain a signup form – you still need folks to go to your site and actually become a new client. So emails need to pull the reader back to your website.

The emailed newsletter that sends automatically from your CPA Site Solutions website links readers back to your site. Custom email messages should do the same. To review how to send a custom message, with links to your site, see this Help file.

SEO/SEM

Search listings are called the “new Yellow Pages.” Put simply, if you want people to find you online, you MUST place well with the search engines.

If you search for an accountant in your area on Google and Bing and your URL doesn’t show up on the first page, you might need SEO (search engine optimization) services. Check out our Local SEO package.

SEM services – pay-per-click ads – are included in our Platinum service. If you want to focus your advertising dollars on targeted ads for folks who are actively looking for your service, take a look at our SEM package to see if it’s right for you.

Offline Marketing Streams

Offline marketing options include:

• Direct mail
• Print advertisements
• Radio and TV advertisements

Each of these areas should include a mention of your website. You may pique people’s interest with a postcard in the mail or a 30-second ad on the radio… but to actually “make the sale,” you need to give them a website address so they can visit your pages and get comfortable with you.

Referrals

Another very important offline stream is word-of-mouth referrals. Again, if a client recommends you to a friend, they’ll give your web address – not a memorized phone number. (As long as they give your name, the prospect will be able to find you in a Google search.)

Your Website Is the Hub

Your website is the heart of your marketing – the place where the conversion actually happens.

Why is that?

Quite simply, for someone to convert from a prospect to a client, they must become familiar with who you are – as a person, and as a professional. It’s just part of our psychological makeup – the need to gain a certain amount of trust before entering into a transaction with another individual.

Your website should answer these questions:

• How professional are you?
• What do you look like?
• What specific services do you offer?
• Are you an expert in your field?

If people get satisfactory answers, they become comfortable enough to take the plunge and sign up with you. And THAT is the ultimate goal of all your marketing.

Coordinate – Save Time and Effort

Don’t spread yourself too thin among every kind of marketing campaign.

Establish your website as the foundation of all your marketing efforts – use other marketing tactics to pull prospects to your site – and then enjoy the boost in your client base.

A professional, fully loaded website from CPA Site Solutions is designed to do the heavy lifting of turning prospects into clients. To get a 60-day free trial, sign up today.

Brian O'Connell, President

Have you heard about WordPress?

It’s one of the top blogging programs – chosen by millions of people and businesses worldwide, including eBay, Martha Stewart, and Wired.

People love it because it provides superior flexibility, in both design and function. (You can even build a whole website on the WordPress platform.)

In fact, it’s used by over 12% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites – and it’s the most popular content management system out there.

Host a WordPress Blog on Your CPA Website

Now, you can have a WordPress blog right on your CPA website with CPA Site Solutions.

Of course, we already have an Integrated Blog feature, which is perfect for those who want to blog once a week or less.

But if you’re in love with blogging and have been yearning to ramp it up – a WordPress blog is an excellent choice for you.

Here are 3 benefits to blogging with WordPress on your CPA website…

Boost Your Online Presence

When you blog regularly, you increase your chances of appearing higher in the search results on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. That’s because your site is more dynamic, with fresh content every few days.

Eager to see your website rise through the ranks and draw in new clients? Lots of blogging is a great way to get that going.

Perfect Your Image

Using WordPress allows you to choose from scads of themes (their word for “designs”) as well as plugins (bits of software that add to your blog’s functionality). More themes and plugins means you can customize the look and feel of your blog to better shape your image.

Needless to say, regular blogging is a fantastic way to show off your professionalism. Writing about the latest tax news and issues that affect your clients positions you as the expert you need to be to get new clients and keep your current ones.

Join the Community and Get Referrals

Your WordPress blog is set up so others can easily comment on your posts. When you get a comment, respond! Then go to the commenter’s blog and leave a message there.

The more you do this, the more you’ll be part of the community. And that’s a crucial part of getting word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals.

Two Packages to Choose From

Choose from two blogging packages: Do It Yourself or We Do It for You.

Both options include hosting, setup of all the proper settings and permissions, installation of the WordPress software, and an admin account – making either choice an easy and efficient way to go.

Do It Yourself

For $49.95, we get you started with WordPress. You find and install the theme and plugins that work for you.

We Do It for You

For $99.95, you get as many user accounts as you like. We also install a theme and plugins of your choice from our list of the best.

Get Started Today

To get started with a WordPress blog on your CPA website, just sign up!

Still need a website for your accounting firm? Sign up for one of our Complete Web Suites and get a free 60-day trial.

Brian O'Connell, President

What does it mean to be “more than” a CPA firm?

It means moving beyond accounting as a commodity. Finding ways to over-deliver. Treating your clients as more than just another job.

A recent article by Nicholas D. Keseric Jr. in WebCPA discusses the need to be more than a CPA firm.

Keseric writes,

“Business prospects, as well as current clients, are looking for ideas, suggestions, information and approaches. How they can better run their business, increase revenues and profits. Get more visibility. Leverage what they are doing to create more opportunities.”

Keseric lists several ways accountants can be “more than.” When reading this list, I noticed that a CPA website from CPA Site Solutions is already offering accountants the ability to put some of these solutions into action.

Solution 1: Relevant Articles

“An article that pertains to their industry.”

Keseric says to reach out to prospects, clients, and centers of influence, or COIs, with a relevant article. (COIs are the bankers, attorneys, insurance agents, and consultants who refer clients to you.)

With our 3,000 pages of Financial Guides, your CPA website has this one covered. Of particular interest to your business clients is the Business Strategies Guide, which provides valuable information on how to nurture a business’s growth through every stage.

Your 35-page services section, too, focuses on what you do for particular industries.

Solution 2: News Updates

“A heads-up to potential changes in tax laws, banking regulations, HR issues, medical and health issues, and how these and other changes could affect their business.”

You deliver this to your clients by way of your Monthly Client Newsletter and Email Marketing System.

• Through the Client Newsletter, your clients get valuable information and tips on all kinds of finance-related issues – from the latest in tax laws to how to save for their children’s education. (For example, the October 2010 newsletter features an article about the 2011 changes to Flexible Spending Arrangements, or FSAs.)
• Through the Email Marketing System, you can send specific and targeted messages to all your clients or to certain segments of your list. Use this for any kind of message, from information on recent changes in tax laws, to the latest on health care legislation, to a plug for your favorite charity.

Solution 3: Cross-Selling

“How other resources within your firm can help them, aka cross-selling.”

Your website gives you numerous ways to offer additional services to clients. Here are just three of them:

• Online Accounting is perfect for your business clients – allowing you to manage their books while keeping their data fully backed up and protected.
• 56 Interactive Financial Calculators allow your clients to make sense of their finances – including the gaps, where they might need more assistance from you.
• When you add the Online Payroll feature to your site, you show your business clients how you can safely and cost-effectively meet their payroll needs.

Remember that your site includes 35 pages of details on the services you offer. Use these pages to remind your clients of all your firm can do  - QuickBooks support, IRS audit representation, elder care, and so on.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Hard…

Being “more than a CPA firm” is a lot easier with a CPA website from CPA Site Solutions.

Your site’s content allows you to add value to the client relationship in so many ways.

Ready to take the plunge? Give us a try for free for 60 days. See how we can help you achieve that coveted “more than” status. In the words of Keseric,

Prospects are telling . . . accountants, “Before we switch to your firm we want more than a firm that provides accounting services. What else can you do for me and my business?”

Let your CPA website be the answer.

Have you ever had a day like this?

You just arrived at work. You say hi to your coworkers, get a fresh cup of coffee, and settle in at your desk. The day is off to a fine start – until you turn on your computer and discover your email is down. Not good.

Remote Assistance Means Less Downtime

At first, you’re calm. You tinker with this and that, maybe reboot your computer – but nothing helps. Finally you ask someone else in your office whether their email is working.

Bad news: It’s not the network. It’s just your computer.

Now, you start to panic. Every minute you’re not on email you feel itchy and jumpy. And you have no idea how to fix it.

If you called a computer techie, it would cost you $100-$300/hour – and you’d have to transport your computer to his office, or wait for him to show up. You don’t have the money, and you certainly don’t have the time.

You’re about to pick up the phone and call the techie – resigning yourself to a couple lost days of work – when you suddenly remember: your website service with CPA Site Solutions comes with free tech support!

Instead of calling a busy and expensive computer repair person, you call CPA Site Solutions for Remote Assistance – and your email is back up before 9:00 a.m.

Hallelujah!

The Convenience of Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance is included with CPA websites hosted by CPA Site Solutions at the Gold or Platinum level. Remote support is when a technician logs into your computer, finds the problem with your email, and fixes it.

You stay in control of your computer the whole time, monitoring every step – yet you never have to schedule and surrender your desk or office to an IT person while they fix the problem. You never even have to leave your chair!

And if something comes up that needs your immediate attention, simply suspend or terminate the session.

Our Experts Are Here to Help

Most email problems stem from a configuration error with Outlook. We’ve seen it all, and we’ve fixed it all.

We also provide support if your Email Marketing System, secure Client Portal, or other website feature doesn’t look quite right. We see exactly what’s on your screen and explain what will fix it. And we fix it while you watch.

You have to grant access for us to get on your screen. We can’t get on without your permission.

Nothing to Buy – Just Enjoy More Efficiency

If you’re a Gold or Platinum client with CPA Site Solutions, and we host your email, there’s no software and nothing to buy. Remote Assistance is included in your “We Do It All For You” service.

If you have a website with us but we don’t host your email, call 800-896-4500 and make the switch. You no longer have to pay for email hosting and you get full support.

Are you a Silver client who wants more efficiency with Remote Assistance? Call 1-800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com to discuss an upgrade for only an additional $20/month.

Why not let us fix your email in a matter of minutes – instead of hours or days? Don’t waste your time and energy on outside computer technicians. Let us reduce your frustration – and increase firm efficiency – with Remote Assistance.