Jassen Bowman EA

Remember our whale hunting expedition last week?

Well, we’re not quite done with that. Today, we’re taking the next step in that “Dream 100” style marketing campaign.

Last week, you mailed them a cover letter with some news articles, and made a follow up phone call.

Today, we’re taking the whale hunt to LinkedIn.

Working with the same list that you generated last week, initiate connections with the leaders of those companies on LinkedIn. Once they are connected, send them a message about being able to help them with their financial issues — your message is basically your elevator pitch.

I’d suggest aiming for at least two connections per company. The CFO/controller type person for sure, and then either the president, CEO, or founder. Look for other C-level executives and try connecting with them as well. This is much easier to do at these regional mid-sized companies that it is at Fortune 500 size companies.

Will many of these people decline your connection request? Yes, absolutely.

Will some of them accept, then unconnect after receiving your message? Yes, absolutely.

It is what it is. This is the grind. It’s part of doing account based marketing (the fancy modern term for old fashioned sales prospecting).

Enjoy the whale hunt!… Continue reading

Yesterday, you went about creating your first marketing video to be added to your new YouTube channel.

When you save your YouTube video, you’re going to be presented with several different settings that can be optimized to help you get traffic and leads. Today, you’re going to optimize yesterday’s video listing.

First, the title of your video should be relevant to the topic, obviously, but also include keywords that people will search for. For example, yesterday’s video script could have a bunch of different title options, but “FTD Penalties” would be a bad title. Most people aren’t searching using our acronyms and jargon. “What You Need to Know About IRS Payroll Tax Penalties” is a better title.

Second, the description box on YouTube is your opportunity to shine. I suggest putting your full website or landing page URL that you want people to visit as the first item in the description. Then, insert a keyword-dense description of the video, and perhaps even your script if you’re using one. YouTube will transcribe your video for you, but it’s not necessarily accurate.

Third are the video tags. These are a “word cloud” of keywords that help people find your video. Here you might want to include the industry jargon, such as “federal tax deposit” for this example, but you also want to include keywords people use.

After these basic text settings, your next task is to select the thumbnail to use in your video. YouTube will give you a couple options, but you can also drag and drop a file on to the page and YouTube will use that. I recommend using a thumbnail that shows you mid-word, looking engaging.

Lastly, toggle the “Transcriptions” item and enable the automatic transcription feature if it’s not already on by default.

These are the basic steps to optimizing a YouTube video for maximum effect. Do these things for the video you posted yesterday, and tomorrow we’ll continue with more digital marketing.… Continue reading

Yesterday, you were tasked with setting up your YouTube channel for your 941 marketing.

Over the course of the weekend, we’re going to put that channel to use.

Yep, that means you’re going on camera today.

But don’t stress. We’re going to make it easy and painless.

First, what’s our script? Let’s make it easy. Hop on over to page 30 of Pub 15. We’re going to make a super short video about FTD penalties. Let’s take the first and third paragraphs of the FTD penalty section, and add a brief intro and simple call to action:

——————————————————-
Hello, [your name], [license] here from [company name],
and today we’re going to discuss payroll tax penalties.

Penalties may apply if you don’t make required deposits
on time or if you make deposits for less than the required
amount. The penalties don’t apply if any failure to make a
proper and timely deposit was due to reasonable cause
and not to willful neglect. If you receive a penalty notice,
you can provide an explanation of why you believe reasonable
cause exists.

For amounts not properly or timely deposited, the penalty
rates are as follows.

2% – Deposits made 1 to 5 days late.
5% – Deposits made 6 to 15 days late.
10% – Deposits made 16 or more days late, but before 10 days
from the date of the first notice the IRS sent asking for the
tax due.
10% – Amounts that should have been deposited, but instead
were paid directly to the IRS, or paid with your tax return.
15% – Amounts still unpaid more than 10 days after the date of
the first notice the IRS sent asking for the tax due or the
day on which you received notice and demand for
immediate payment, whichever is earlier.

Late deposit penalty amounts are determined using
calendar days, starting from the due date of the liability.

WE can help you avoid these IRS penalties. Call my office
at xxx-xxx-xxxx to schedule a payroll tax review today.
——————————————————-

Bust out your smart phone, open the YouTube app, login to your new channel, and record yourself speaking this script. Rehearse it a couple times before filming, but then just do a single take and post it.

Bam. Done. One take, five minutes or less. All done.

Tomorrow, we’ll spruce up your video and channel with other details necessary to help you get results.… Continue reading