Law firms continue to outpace accounting firms when it comes to harnessing the power of blogs to market their services to current and potential clients. A recent post by Michelle Golden asks the question “Isn’t Your Firm Blogging Yet?” and the answer apparently is no.
The post quotes this one from LexBlog founder Kevin O’Keefe, which brings to my attention that 53 of 200 AmLaw firms have a blog (or sometimes more than one). There is no comparable data for accounting firms, but Michelle maintains a pretty comprehensive list of accounting related blogs on her site, which includes my own.
(My views do not represent those of my accounting firm, but you can find my latest post on the BDO.ca home page as of this past weekend. In a sense, you can say BDO in Canada blogs.)
Seems like a good time to reprise an article I wrote about a year ago for Canadian accounting and finance industry publication The Bottom Line. It was titled
“Blogs can be important marketing tools“, but I don’t think the title was insistent enough because the message hasn’t been heeded within the profession it seems.
Blogs are all about having more personal and meaningful conversations with an audience about a topic. When you’re an accountant or accounting firm, blogs are a way to reach people interested in your expertise, whether they’re fellow accountants interested in discussing the profession or potential clients looking for an accountant with an aptitude for technology and an ability to stay on top of the trends.
This stuff still rings true, so take mine and Michelle’s and Kevin’s advice: Get started with your blog today.
Hey Neil, thanks for the mention. Yes, keep spreading the word. I’ve been in accounting marketing for 15 of the 20 years it’s even been allowed and, to date, I’ve seen nothing more effective at demonstrating one’s expertise than a good, honest blog. Like yours. Keep up the great work and congrats on becoming a CA!
M
Heh heh, I read that article too and was thinking of writing a post on it. I’ll just pick something else to comment on instead. ;)
Even without your contribution to that front page – which is cool – I figured the UK blog itself was enough to put BDO in that “club” too.
Who the heck is the guy they put in the “About Neil” graphic box, though???
Thanks for mentioning our report on lawyer blogs. You ought to start tracking blogs in the accounting space. You and Michelle could probably start accumulating a list by searching and when posting the list others will let you know who you missed.
Hey, Kev, I already have the list! Silly…you’ve posted about it. Must be a senior moment…didn’t you just have a birthday?? ;-)
Why do you think accountants are like this?
We’ve started offering our members a section for blogs, but from feedback so far it seems 1 in 3 think there is no benefit in blogging!
We have had some accountants express an interest in blogging, but again… very slow to get going.
Neil, great to discover your blog. I’m an old-time blogger who now works in the web marketing dept. of a Big 4 firm. I’ve been advocating for blogs since Day 1 of my employment (I’ve been here 8 months now) but the climate is so risk-averse that it’s doubtful we’ll ever really embrace the culture of blogging. I do have some partners coming to me who are very enthusiastic about blogging but the culture and machinery here seem to throw cold water on them.