CPA Practice Advisor - 21

BUILDING YOUR NICHE PRACTICE

something that will resonate with
the audience, such as Tighten the
Screws on Employee Misclassification, Concrete Equipment Financing
Tips You Can Take to the Bank,
Avoid Backfilling Your Balance Sheet
and Other Common Construction
Accounting Errors, and more.

DISPLAY ADVERTISING
Using Google (or Bing) Ads, you can
design and launch display (image)
ads that are placed on specific
websites construction people read,
like ConstructionProTips.com,
Heav yEqu ipment For u m s.com,
ContractorTalk.com, GreenBuild-

Webinar Tips

hen done well, webinars can be a great resource for your audience and a
lead-generation tool for prospects. Also, if recorded, it can be shared as
a podcast post event. Here are 10, effective webinar tips to help you launch
a series.
1. Settle on one, specific topic, especially
7. Use a headset microphone or land line
if it's a 30-minute webinar.
phone rather than the speakers on your
2. Choose engaging speakers.
computer or mobile device.
3. Identify the format, e.g., multiple
8. Do a dry run.
speakers in an interview style, a single
9. Prep the "studio" space, especially if
speaker, or a panel discussion.
you work from home or have a noisy
4. Consider the topic's SEO potential.
office area.
Crafting an engaging and SEO-friendly
10. Promote the event, in ads, social
title will help people to find your topic.
media, email, and other marketing
5. Interject slides with images and/or
channels, at least seven to ten days
graphics; not just text.
in advance.
6. Write a script - even for the topics you're
most familiar with.

has suggested to our app partners
have been implemented to help
our clients improve their workflow
and increase their ability to get the
information they need.
Here is a list of the apps with
which we have been able to develop
partnerships and that we often recommend to our construction clients
and fellow construction industry
accounting firms:
■ Knowify
■ ClockShark
■ Hubdoc
■ CoConstruct
■ CoreCon
Another question I am often
asked is how to best serve the
industry with advisory level services that go above and beyond
mere compliance. This third tip is
my favorite because the construction sector has some unique needs
that a firm can tap into and serve

in ways far beyond mere number
crunching.
At our firm, we have set
ourselves apart by offering a full
suite of back office services to our
commercial subcontractors that we
call Construction Document Management. This means that on top of
a full range of standard accounting
services we offer more construction
specific tasks such as:
■ Preparing AIA style progress billings
■ Dealing with monthly WIP reports
■ Preparing 20-day preliminary lien
notices
■ Checking and dealing with lien
waivers
■ Ordering certificates of insurance
■ Comparing bids and takeoffs to the
incoming and outgoing contracts
These services help ensure that
no owner or general contractor can
withhold payment on any project.
Our team is now able to let

ingAdvisor.com, BuilderOnline.com,
and more. Display ads do not cost
more than a search engine text ad.
The benefit is that you can target
your ad to websites contractors are
already reading and trust; plus, they
are graphical.

COST PER CLICK
CAMPAIGNS
Another marketing methods that's
great for lead generation is search
text ads. Whenever a construction
pro is searching for the type of
services you offer or solutions to a
pain point he/she has, your ad can
show up. There are two methods to
consider-running ads each month
or running ads only during a specific time, e.g., pre- and post-busy
season.
The trick is finding the right
keywords and search terms your
audience uses so your ads appear

small to medium sized construction
subcontractors know that we are
their back-office team. A back-office
team with specialists in not only
payables, payroll, invoicing, etc, but
also with trusted experts in managing the contract documents that
can be so overwhelming for them
to learn, research, and understand.
So, there you have it. My top 3
tips:
■ Determine which sector of the
construction industry your client
is part of

JULY 2019 ■

at the right time. That can be
remedied with keyword research.

Tighten the Screws On |
Employee Misclassification
| Firm Name
Classifying subcontractors correctly can be a
challenge when there are a 100 guys on site.
Here's a checklist to help you classify contractors correctly. Get the tips! Call us for help. (123)
456-7890
Ad structure, landing page quality,
and call to action will be key. Here's
a sample ad that would link to your
website landing page.
Now that you have the tips,
which will you use to start attracting construction leads? ■
Becky Livingston is the President and CEO of
Penheel Marketing, a boutique marketing firm
specializing in social media and digital marketing for CPAs.

■ Ta ke t i me to develop a go od
relationship with app developers
Look at the frustrations your
construction clients face on a daily
basis and see if there is something
your firm either already knows
how to take off of their plate or can
learn, hire, or otherwise find a good
way to fulfill that need for them. ■
Tonya Schulte is a construction accounting
specialist at Schulte and Schulte. providing the
"Corporate Accounting Office" for small/medium commercial construction trades.

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

http://www.GreenBuildingAdvisor.com http://www.BuilderOnline.com http://www.ConstructionProTips.com http://www.HeavyEquipmentForums.com http://www.GreenBuildingAdvisor.com http://www.ContractorTalk.com http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

CPA Practice Advisor

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