The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

“Far too many professionals want to feel good about themselves and demonstrate their expertise, but what they do is, they jump in and talk about how they are going to solve the problem before they have an understanding as to the value to the customer.” -Ed Kless   Welcome back to another spotlight session with your host, Louie Prosperi, the second in our three-part series on subscription models for bookkeeping and accounting businesses.   When trying to sell ourselves to clients, we often believe we have to offer the best and most rapid solution to their problem, in order to beat the competition. But is this way of connecting with clients hurting your bookkeeping business?   This episode’s featured guest is Ed Kless, Senior Director of Sage Accounting Solutions and co-host of The Soul of Enterprise podcast. Ed speaks to the need to avoid being a solutionist, to avoid jumping the gun to secure a client before you can fully explore the true value of what they need. The best way to express your expertise isn’t to fix problems for free or to undercut yourself, it is to ask the right questions. To replace advice with curiosity. Only when you know what a client values can you put the right price to it.   Once you know what clients value, you’ll know where they fit in a subscription model and know how to structure different subscription levels, for clients with similar needs.   If you are someone that wants to unlock the potential of subscription modeling but is afraid of giving up too much too soon, this episode will change the way you think about your relationship with your clients.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of asking the right questions to prevent undercutting yourself How to integrate value pricing into a subscription model The importance of tailoring your pricing to customer needs  Click here to find out more about Ed.   Email him directly at ed.kless@sage.com.   Connect with Ed on LinkedIn or Twitter.   Click here to listen to The Soul of Enterprise.   Go to this link to pre-order Ron Baker's new book, Time's Up! Both Ron and Ed will be speaking at The Successful Bookkeeper Summit which begins November 9, 2022. Click here to get your FREE ticket!   Time Stamps       02:33 - The subscription model for accounting firms 04:40 - Integrate values priced pricing with a subscription model 06:30 - Don’t give away the farm by overselling too quickly 10:40 - Replacing advice with curiosity 17:00 - Pricing the portfolio & the relationships 20:01 - Tailoring your pricing to your customer's needs 23:25 - Adding value & innovation to your offering 29:35 - Asking the right questions to build the right relationships 32:25 - The difference between reoccurring & recurring revenue 35:33 - Valuation in the subscription model 38:24 - The Soul of Enterprise

“My tribe helped me realize I don’t need to compete with anyone, and I can use everyone as a resource and sounding board.” -Coreen Wright   There is a tendency among small business owners and start-ups, to feel like they are in constant competition with others from within their industries. The same fear is true among bookkeepers. But when you let go of the idea that asking for help equates to weakness, you’ll begin to find like-minded people, all with a desire to help one another out.   Your inner imposter may be screaming at you, that you don’t belong until you are a master of your craft, but imagine how much quicker you could achieve your goals if you connect to and learn from people that have already made all the same mistakes you have.   Coreen Wright, President and Owner of Faith Accounting and Consulting Services, is this episode’s featured guest. She has spent years building an incredible business designed to help her clients with their accounting. Her approach is one of working to overcome limiting mindsets to leverage your skills and connections to create the perfect business for you.   If you are finding yourself, competing with other people, struggling to learn new things, or connecting with people in your industry, this episode will be the one to give your self-esteem a boost and help shift your mindset.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of setting boundaries & valuing your energy & time How to let go of the need to do everything in order to focus on what brings you the most joy The importance of finding supportive people & communities Click here to find out more about Coreen. Contact her directly at hello@faithacs.com.   Follow Coreen on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.   Time Stamps        01:33 - Coreen talks about her career journey 04:55 - Pulling the trigger on a new life 06:04 - Overcoming the challenges of starting a business 09:44 - Learning to embrace our mistakes 13:48 - The value of Pure Bookkeeping 18:45 - Finding the right clients for you 21:56 - Solving pricing issues 23:20 - The benefits of Accelerate 2 Advisor program 27:30 - Visions of the future This episode is sponsored by our friends at Ignition! They have a special promotion happening for our Successful Bookkeeper Community. Right now you can take advantage of 50% off Ignition for 3 months and see how it can help you WIN CLIENTS and GET PAID, EVERY TIME. Book a demo TODAY by clicking THIS LINK and learn how to transform your bookkeeping business. You won't regret it!

“Probably 20% of your clients are causing 80% of the problems.” -Natalie Eckdahl   Finding your bookkeeping niche is hard. But not as hard as finding the number of clients needed to make a low-price business successful. Low pricing may seem like the way to gain many clients fast. But in reality, this kind of business model is working against you.   When you find your niche, it will be because it is something you are passionate about, something you can become an expert in, because you care about it. It is time to stop charging for a basic general service, and start charging for what your knowledge, expertise and experience are truly worth.   In part two, Natalie Eckdahl, founder of BizChix, host of the longest-running female entrepreneur podcast and voted one of the top women in business to listen to, speaks to the need to let go of mindsets and clients that are holding you back, finding your niche, and her upcoming virtual talk at The Successful Bookkeeper Summit.   If you are struggling, as an aimless generalist, taking every client you can for fear of losing business, this is the episode to get you headed in the right direction! During this interview, you'll learn... The value of finding your own niche How to let go of clients that are holding you back The importance of connecting with the right clients To find out more about Natalie, click here.   Connect with her on LinkedIn.   Click here to listen to the BizChix podcast.   Natalie will be one of our great virtual speakers at The Successful Bookkeeper Summit that begins on November 9th 2022. Don't miss her presentation by getting your FREE ticket TODAY! Click here for more information. Time Stamps 2:30 - The value of finding your niche 9:31 - Building an enduring business 11:19 - Finding the best ways to connect to clients 12:40 - Learning to let go to build a better future 18:45 - The Successful Bookkeeper Summit 22:12 - Ways to connect with Natalie

“One of the biggest challenges I see is that women do not have enough profit coming out of their business, and the base behind that is they are not charging high enough prices.” -Natalie Eckdahl   Overcoming the struggles of building a business is tough enough, and yet for a lot of women, there are considerable added pressures. Not just in terms of feeling like an imposter in the workplace, but being scared to price at equal value, or paying themselves less to not upset male colleagues or partners.   Women on average price themselves 28% lower than their male peers. In the first part of a two-part series, Natalie Eckdahl, founder of BizChix who is the host of the longest-running female entrepreneur podcast and voted one of the top women in business to listen to, talks about shattering glass ceilings, empowering women in business and how to create the life of your dreams.   If you are building a successful bookkeeping business but are struggling to overcome limiting beliefs, this two-part episode series is the one for you. Natalie Eckdahl has years of experience helping women get past their negative and limiting mindsets to achieve their personal and professional goals.   Her three-pillar approach to creating an enjoyable, profitable, and sustainable business, could be just what you are looking for to build your confidence and take your bookkeeping business to the next level.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of finding & doing work that fulfills you How to change your mindset to one of growth and value, not scarcity The importance of overcoming self-made barriers to success Click here to find out more about Natalie. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Go to this link to listen to the BizChix podcast.   Don’t miss a chance to get your free ticket to The Successful Bookkeeper Summit on November 9th 2022! Natalie will be speaking there, so click here for more information.   Time Stamps       2:44 - Natalie talks about her career journey 8:10 - Getting used to changing direction 12:20 - Valuing your family, the true V.I.P’s 15:30 - The barriers to enduring business 18:30 - Shattering glass ceilings 24:02 - Changing the numbers by changing our mindset 27:30 - The difficulties of finding your niche

“If we want premium pricing, we have to go to the market with an uncommon offering." -Ron Baker Welcome to a new episode of our Spotlight series, now hosted by a great friend of The Successful Bookkeeper and world-class business strategist, Louie Prosperi. This is part 1 of a 3-part Spotlight series about subscription models for accounting and bookkeeping firms. You see, many bookkeepers struggle with the idea of changing from time-based pricing to value-based pricing. Let alone changing it up even more by adopting a subscription pricing model. Ron Baker, author, and radio talk show host is this episode’s featured guest. He makes a powerful argument for the future of bookkeeping businesses that can offer pricing based on relationships, access, convenience, and peace of mind, rather than just stacking services on services, and calling that value. Ron speaks to the need to offer specific and uncommon offerings in order to command uncommon prices. To change up the way your clients relate to you, so that you can offer them the transformation they are seeking, not just services that keep them ticking over. It can feel scary to make changes to your business model, there is great comfort in our habits. But when you put the value of your relationship at the heart of your business model, you’ll stop limiting your value to only monetizing transactions and time. You only have to think about your favorite services or those with the greatest valuations to realize they are all subscription based. What is stopping you from achieving the same success? It is time to stop asking how much we want our customers to pay us, and start asking, what do we want our customers to pay us for? During this interview, you'll learn... The value of the subscription economy How to price relationships not services The importance of your niche & providing uncommon offerings Click here to find out more about Ron.   Connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. Go to this link to pre-order his new book, Time's Up!   Connect with our new Spotlight host, Louie on LinkedIn. Don’t miss a chance to get your free ticket to The Successful Bookkeeper Summit on November 9, 2022. Click here for more details! Time Stamps        01:32 - Introducing our new Spotlight host 02:08 - Louie introduces this episode’s guest 04:00 - The subscription economy 10:19 - What makes this model better? 14:02 - Reinventing customer experience 18:25 - Consistently adding value to your offering 20:32 - Structuring the subscription model 24:34 - Pricing personalized transformation 31:24 - Overcoming limiting mindsets 36:34 - Measuring your success against new KPIs 41:00 - The value of predictability 45:30 - Ron’s new book, Time's Up!

“You will never have the time, and you have to make the time, so make it in small chunks. Schedule fifteen minutes a day to work on that, because as long as you are moving forward, you aren’t standing still or moving backward.” -Tanya Hilts Finding your own path is not easy. Textbooks say one thing, but real life says another. Your story isn’t written by anyone but you. So, you won’t know how successful you could be until you try. No matter your educational background. If you have a willingness to learn, to start from the ground up and build your dream career, because you cannot see yourself doing anything else, then you will always be successful. It is your knowledge and desire to serve, not your certificates that set the standard of who you are.   Tanya Hilts, founder of Cloud Business Services, board member of CPB Canada and operator of Tanya’s Bookkeeping Bootcamp is this episode's featured guest. Her approach speaks to a need to practice continuous learning, to build your confidence to face the many challenges of the bookkeeping industry. She believes when you have the right work ethic, nothing can get in your way. If self-doubt, confidence issues or concerns you aren’t on the right path are bothering you, this is the episode for you.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of continuously learning & building mentor relationships How to build & follow your own path to success The importance of facing challenges with confidence Connect with Tanya on LinkeIn, Twitter or Facebook. Click here to find out more about Cloud Business Services.  Time Stamps 01:50 - Tanya talks about her career journey 05:05 - Following your own path to success 07:28 - Finding programs & mentors to further your learning 10:34 - Facing challenges with confidence 15:12 - Saying goodbye to clients who aren’t serving you 22:45 - Finding your ideal client 31:40 - Perfecting personal service 36:20 - Tanya’s Bootcamps & training services This episode is brought to you by our friends at Accountex Canada. It’s Canada’s newest in-person conference and trade show for accountants, bookkeepers and finance professionals that takes place in Toronto on November 30th and December 1st. Take advantage of the $40 super-early bird registration that ends September 30th. REGISTER HERE!

“They don’t come to you because you can do numbers, they come because they enjoy talking to you.” -Michael Eckstein     Starting a business is never easy, and while we can all theorize about potential outcomes, there is no substitution for trying and seeing what works. No one ever learned to run a business in any other way than just running one.   The advice of others is key in this process, but it isn’t the be all and end all. You have to find your own way, plot your own course through the business world to create the best possible outcome for you. What you are doing should be fun! People should want to work with you for your passion and because you are fun to work with, not because you have something to sell them.   When you find your own personal brand, your own niche, and way of connecting with clients, you are far more likely to succeed.   Michael Eckstein ‘LinkedIn’s Cutest Accountant’ is this episode's featured guest. He speaks to the need to embrace yourself and be authentic about who you are. How to find your niche and understand the patterns that exist within it to serve clients you are truly interested in helping. And how to seek out the right audience by building real connections and friendships.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of understanding the patterns of your niche How to find your audience where they are The importance of building lasting honest relationships Find out more about Eckstein Tax Services here. Learn more about Resting Business Face at this link.  Connect with Michael on LinkedIn. Time Stamps 1:28 - Michael talks about his career journey 2:44 - Finding the flow in your business 6:28 - The story behind LinkedIn’s Cutest Accountant 8:11 - Finding your niche 14:00 - Understanding your niche’s fact pattern 16:25 - Finding your audience where they are 21:15 - Three base rules for content creation 26:00 - Building lasting relationships

“Once you realize what you love to do, you get really good at it, and you can charge a lot more money for it.” -Dawn Brolin Finding the path to success is never easy. Even ‘overnight’ successes don’t happen overnight. It can be easy to feel like the only way to double your profit is by doubling your clients. But more work isn’t the answer. One of the biggest challenges is finding out what we really want to do and dialing into that then accepting we don’t have to do everything. We have to find the things that spark joy in us. That makes us the kind of people clients are desperate to work with. When you connect with the elements of your bookkeeping business that you truly love, you’ll begin to understand that dollars don’t drive success, confidence does. If you feel stuck in your pricing, stuck working more hours than you’d like, handling elements of the business that aren’t exciting to you. It’s time to dial into the things that truly bring you joy. And to do them with such confidence clients will have no trouble meeting your prices. Dawn Brolin, CEO of Powerful Accounting and arguably one of the most influential and powerful women in the industry today, is this episode's featured guest. Her approach to business is one of confidence, understanding and continuous learning. If you are feeling unsure about your place in the bookkeeping industry, let her words in this episode offer you the motivation you need to become the best possible version of yourself. During this interview, you'll learn... The value of getting out there & getting connected How to break the belief barrier to charge what you are truly worth The importance of establishing value from the beginning of relationships Click here to connect with Dawn. Learn more about her on LinkedIn and Twitter. To check out her book, The Designated Motivator for Accounting Professionals, go here. To listen to the DM Disruption Podcast with Dawn Brolin, explore this link. Visit here to learn more about Powerful Accounting. Time Stamps 2:02 - Dawn talks about her career journey 4:11 - The drivers of change 7:41 - Showing business owners the value of bookkeeping 12:01 - Dawn’s Aha! moments 15:14 - Overcoming our mistakes 20:11 - Becoming the designated motivator 29:01 - The challenges of limiting beliefs 37:50 - Offering the best value to your clients 43:10 - Where to get Dawn’s book for free

In this episode, Lyla Smith, a technology expert and advocate for getting back to basics, discusses the value of knowing your worth to engage with the right clients. She emphasizes the importance of discipline, understanding, and passion in bookkeeping. Additionally, she talks about the formation of positive communities, the consequences of tolerance, and the challenges of working with family in a family-run business.

“Once you get going, you get more and more productive.” -Amanda Hamilton  Our bookkeeping businesses are our babies. We put the work in with the hope they’ll grow healthy and strong. But sometimes this desire can overwhelm our ability to step back, and to delegate tasks that leave us more time to focus on the areas we really love to work in. Don’t wait until you are burnt out to start planning what to delegate, start small and simple and build on it from there.   If your business life is task-heavy, it is not going to feel fulfilling. Letting go of the need to handle everything yourself is challenging, but when you start with the smaller tasks, it gets easier to layer on more complicated ones as your faith in those you have delegated to begins to grow.   Amanda Hamilton, Founder of Hamilton Raye, is this episode’s featured guest. She specializes in connecting the right people based on experience and personality, to free up valuable time and energy. By creating a list of your intended priorities and focusing on your pain points, you too can figure out the best tasks to delegate and where your true passion in your business lies.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of being intentional about how & what you delegate How to gain access to experienced talent without the added cost The importance of delegating & outsourcing tasks Click here to learn more about Hamilton Raye. Connect with Hamilton Raye on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.   Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn.  Time Stamps     1:42 - Amanda talks about her career journey 5:05 - Gaining access to people with experience 9:02 - Delegating with intention 12:22 - The signs that show you need help 14:52 - Picking the easiest tasks to delegate 17:35 - Dealing with a lack of standardization 20:10 - Hamilton Raye’s onboarding process 25:30 - The five keys of outsourcing SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: This episode is sponsored by LiveFlow. It's a software that connects to all of your clients' QuickBooks accounts and imports their financial reports from QuickBooks into Google Sheets in no time! To learn more about it and how you can save 20% off your first three months, click this link - liveflow.io/partnerships/successfulbookkeeper - then claim your discount with the promo code SUCCESS.