Category: 30-Day Tax Marketing Challenge

Are you enjoying becoming reacquainted with your telephone this week?

I hope so, because we’re not done with the Old Timey Talky Box quite yet!

If you attended yesterday’s live training, then today’s challenge is going to sound really, really familiar. Yes, it’s tactic #2 as discussed on yesterday’s webinar.

As discussed on that training, referrals from other tax professionals is one of the best strategies to use for jump starting your tax resolution business. It’s an even more valuable technique to apply on the 941 side of things, because there is a strange presumption that 941 case work is somehow more difficult than 1040 Collections representation, and so even fewer tax pros want to do it.

Sure, it’s different, to a certain extent, with more moving pieces occasionally, and more aggressive IRS enforcement… But those are all good things to me, as it justifies higher fee. But more difficult? Something to be afraid of? Not at all!

Here’s what you do:

1. Download the IRS PTIN list for your state.
2. Open it in Excel and sort by ZIP code.
3. Find your ZIP code. Just yours.
4. Call the other other small practitioners (skip the big firms) with your elevator pitch and ask if they’d like to get together for lunch to discuss mutual business development relationships.
5. Pick up the tab for lunch. That’s your marketing cost (and it’s still deductible!)

Easy peasy, right? Right!

To make this mini-campaign even more successful, throw in a direct mail letter. Hand addressed, real stamp. We’re talking about sending 10 or 20 letters, so the cost is minimal.

There is a sample letter of introduction in the members-only marketing library that you can use as a template. If you’re not currently a member, take a gander at our 14-day trial offer on Gold membership that is currently running.

Tomorrow will be our last heavy phone day, and then we’ll head into the weekend with some more marketing you can do without direct human contact. 🙂… Continue reading

In any 30-day challenge, this one included, there comes a point where the low hanging fruit start to dwindle, and the tasks get progressively more difficult to complete.

Today, we reach one such junction.

On Sunday, I promised a lot more phone work this week. We had some Monday and Tuesday, with you calling various business networking organizations, but today it ratchets up a notch.

Some readers knew that this task would come along, and were already dreading it. Others will have no problem with it. It’s a task that ends up being divisive, for sure.

But I’ll tell you this much, with absolute certainty: In the tax resolution universe, a practitioner’s willingness or unwillingness to pick up the phone and dial for dollars is the single most consistent indicator of future success that I’ve ever noticed.

I’m not saying that being on the phone is the be all, end all of tax resolution marketing. Far from it. But the willingness to do it says a LOT about you, such as how open you are to change, your coachability, and your commitment to growing your practice. It’s a very strong indicator of other things.

So here’s your challenge task for today: Cold call 15 business tax liens.

Don’t worry about your script — just use your elevator pitch.

Don’t worry about making perfect calls — just make the calls.

Don’t worry about calling the right tax liens or the best tax liens — just make the calls.

Don’t know how to find tax liens? Look ’em up on your local county clerk and recorder or website, or order a small batch from here.

Get after it!… Continue reading

Yesterday’s challenge task was all about getting involved with your Chamber of Commerce.

If your local Chamber of Commerce is active, it’s likely the best place for you to “hang out” in order to meet other business owners. You want to do this because business owners are the folks that have 941 problems, or they know people that have 941 problems. By being active in such an organization, you’re able to position yourself as the go-to authority on 941 IRS problems (and state withholding issues, too, of course).

But where else can you find local business owners in addition to the Chamber? Or, what if your local Chamber is just a shell of what it once was?

Fortunately, there are other options.

Your challenge task for today is to do some quick research to find what’s active in your local area, and then hop online or pick up the phone to get involved. We’re just putting ourselves out there and getting involved. Involvement feels good, right? Let’s change the world!

Here are some other organizations besides the Chamber to check out:

• SCORE – The Service Corps of Retired Executives (old name) mentors small businesses across the country. Volunteer or attend events.
• Small Business Development Centers – SBDCs, in partnership with the US Small Business Administration, provide networking events, business development training, and access to all kinds of compliance resources for small business owners. See that? “Compliance resources”. Maybe you know somebody that can be a “compliance resource”? Eh? Eh?
• Young Entrepreneurs Council – This one leans towards the opposite end of the age spectrum from SCORE, and you must be 45 or younger to join. But, essentially, they do a lot of the same things as SCORE. If you want to niche towards a more Gen X and Millennial audience, then this could be a good direction to go.
• Toastmasters – Not a business organization per se, but a public speaking training organization that happens to attract a LOT of business people. The education is good, and reason enough to join. It’s also dirt cheap. I pay under $40 per year to belong to two clubs. Join for the education, and along the way you will meet a ton of local business leaders that can be great referral partners.
• BNI – Really a referral swapping service, but also good for networking. Being active in BNI is almost guaranteed to get you