Article by Gustavo Viera at 2012-10-19 18:27:57 Categorized in Business Trends,
http://www.onlywire.com/r/106995135Friday, October 19, 2012
Accountant in Miami Can Get Taxpayers Penalty Relief
Article by Gustavo Viera at 2012-10-19 00:32:12 Categorized in Tax,
http://www.onlywire.com/r/106886326Miami Accountants Must Consider Putting a Business Plan in Place
Article by Gustavo Viera at 2012-10-19 00:06:07 Categorized in Business Trends,
http://www.onlywire.com/r/106881113Monday, October 15, 2012
Contadores en Miami - Contabilidad en Miami
Article by Gustavo Viera at 2012-10-14 12:47:43 Categorized in Accounting,
http://www.onlywire.com/r/106219565Using the Cloud to Build Your Niche Miami Accounting Service
Article by Gustavo Viera at 2012-10-13 15:59:54 Categorized in Business Trends,
http://www.onlywire.com/r/106134071Sunday, October 14, 2012
Small Business Branding 101
Small Business Branding 101
We’re constantly branding and marketing our Miami CPA Firm. In the world of small business marketing, certain terms are thrown around quite a bit – so much so that they become cliché rather than tenants of a solid strategy. You’ve heard them before, terms such as “think outside the box,” “something catchy” and maybe the phase “branding”. Despite its overuse at Monday morning meetings, it’s worth reexamining what branding is really about.
As a small business, never gloss over the power of branding. The reason is simple. Branding is the foundation for top-of mind-awareness. It’s the thing that allows customers to remember you despite their daily exposure to thousands of competing marketing messages.
So let’s start at the beginning. What is branding? Branding is simply the consistent means by which you communicate the services, products and ideals of your organization. It’s your identity—the DNA of your business. With proper implementation, branding will highlight key differences that separate you from other businesses in your city, sector and industry. This is vital for those who operate in highly-competitive arenas such as: retail, finance, automotive and so on.
Here are three simple concepts that can galvanize your branding strategy:
No. 1: Know your audience. Successful branding begins with the customer. The projection of your brand should be predicated on the needs, values and lifestyles of your collective audience. All too often companies possess “personalities” that are inconsistent with their customer base. So before launching into an ad campaign, do a little research. Ensure the projection of your company’s identity resonates.
No. 2: Having the right tools. Cramming more and more verbiage into your ads is not the solution for visibility. It’s going to take mnemonic tools to get things to stick. Here are some examples of things you can use to bolster your company’s brand: a jingle, logo, tagline, company colors, a mascot, spokesperson and so forth. Let’s be clear, using one of the previously mentioned items will not magically result in branding; you’ll most likely need several simultaneously. And most important, they will have to be used consistently.
No. 3: Commitment. This may seem like an easy one but you’d be surprised at how many businesses fail to solidify a brand due to a lack of consistency. This is the most critical concept for small business owners when evaluating branding.
Things to remember:
• Don’t cancel ad placements if your phone doesn’t ring right away
• If your budget is limited, don’t “media hop”– stay with one thing
• If using a jingle, feature it everywhere (radio, TV, on‐hold, Web)
• Don’t change up your logo often
• When buying an ad ‐ budget for more than a couple of weeks
• Use your tagline every chance you get
All too often businesses “dabble” with ideas in full view of their audience with no real commitment to a core message or theme. It’s better to consistently run with an average commercial rather than sporadic airing of brilliant ads.
Gustavo A Viera CPA
We’re constantly branding and marketing our Miami CPA Firm. In the world of small business marketing, certain terms are thrown around quite a bit – so much so that they become cliché rather than tenants of a solid strategy. You’ve heard them before, terms such as “think outside the box,” “something catchy” and maybe the phase “branding”. Despite its overuse at Monday morning meetings, it’s worth reexamining what branding is really about.
As a small business, never gloss over the power of branding. The reason is simple. Branding is the foundation for top-of mind-awareness. It’s the thing that allows customers to remember you despite their daily exposure to thousands of competing marketing messages.
So let’s start at the beginning. What is branding? Branding is simply the consistent means by which you communicate the services, products and ideals of your organization. It’s your identity—the DNA of your business. With proper implementation, branding will highlight key differences that separate you from other businesses in your city, sector and industry. This is vital for those who operate in highly-competitive arenas such as: retail, finance, automotive and so on.
Here are three simple concepts that can galvanize your branding strategy:
No. 1: Know your audience. Successful branding begins with the customer. The projection of your brand should be predicated on the needs, values and lifestyles of your collective audience. All too often companies possess “personalities” that are inconsistent with their customer base. So before launching into an ad campaign, do a little research. Ensure the projection of your company’s identity resonates.
No. 2: Having the right tools. Cramming more and more verbiage into your ads is not the solution for visibility. It’s going to take mnemonic tools to get things to stick. Here are some examples of things you can use to bolster your company’s brand: a jingle, logo, tagline, company colors, a mascot, spokesperson and so forth. Let’s be clear, using one of the previously mentioned items will not magically result in branding; you’ll most likely need several simultaneously. And most important, they will have to be used consistently.
No. 3: Commitment. This may seem like an easy one but you’d be surprised at how many businesses fail to solidify a brand due to a lack of consistency. This is the most critical concept for small business owners when evaluating branding.
Things to remember:
• Don’t cancel ad placements if your phone doesn’t ring right away
• If your budget is limited, don’t “media hop”– stay with one thing
• If using a jingle, feature it everywhere (radio, TV, on‐hold, Web)
• Don’t change up your logo often
• When buying an ad ‐ budget for more than a couple of weeks
• Use your tagline every chance you get
All too often businesses “dabble” with ideas in full view of their audience with no real commitment to a core message or theme. It’s better to consistently run with an average commercial rather than sporadic airing of brilliant ads.
Gustavo A Viera CPA
Utilizing the Cloud to create Your Niche Miami accountants
It’s been fabulous to watch the discover the momentum that technology can deliver to their and their clients and I’m occasionallyasked what the most prosperous Miami accountants are doing with technology. In many cases, they’re utilizing cloud-based solutions to take expertise and industry focus to a whole new level.
The recipe is simple: Combine amazing, Web-based tools with a profound understanding of a client’s company operations and environment. Duplicate that success with similar companies, and your is primed for substantial growth.
The basic process and productivity improvements from Web-based tools are familiar to most practice leaders, even those Miami accountants who haven’t fully embraced the cloud. When taking a look at use of Web-based tools, always start with data that’s always accessible and can be updated immediately; the ability to create powerful, easily grasped financial reports; and the design of better capabilities for business continuity and catastrophe recovery, but these advantages are just the beginning.
While specialization can pose challenges, to do it spot on you have to completely reimagine the most helpful way to deliver results for your client, based on that specific vertical or sector. For instance, take the retail or tourist industry. What can Miami accountants do to drive efficiency and add value from the time a sale is rung up to the creation of detailed financial reports for the business owner? The ultimate goal is giving the client clear, insightful guidance on decisions that will shape his or her business.
For example, one of our partners has a substantial expertise delivering technology solutions for the restaurant industry. Recently it was able to develop a suite of cloud-based applications for a small Boston-based restaurant chain that wanted get access toto live financial data to guide expansion plans.
The restaurant’s finance and back-office proceduresweren’t supplying the results the company was looking for, so it turned to the firm’s business process outsourcing platform which incorporates tools such as Bill.com and Intacct to get better visibility into the restaurant chain’s financial situation and sharpen its planning and budgeting.
Since the engagement began, the business organisation has opened two new restaurants despite a shaky economy. But whether it’s the restaurant business or another industry, the idea is to create a technology-driven road map that other businesses in the same niche can use.
Remember, your isn’t just delivering an overview--you have to be well-versed in the finer details, too. You may need to know, for example, which point-of-sale devices are best for collecting data on retail sales. You also have to have a firm grasp of the standardized services you’ll need for the sector, and lay out premium rates for times when you have to deviate from those.
The goal is to create a standardized practice built around your niche, with pre-built templates so you can get clients up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible. As your business grows, the push toward standardization gives you economies of scale. But successful firms aren’t creating a cookie cutter approach, they’re using a well-designed blueprint that can be tweaked to best serve each client.
Simply speaking, the opportunities for specialization are limitless and there’s still time to stake out your territory, but it pays to learn from your early adopter rivals too.
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