You've started a tax preparation business, and you're
prepared to begin preparing taxes. But you need clients - how can you
find them? The internet is an excellent place to promote your business.
Here are some tips to begin.
Start a Website
Your first step to promoting your business online should be to create a business website. You can start a free website through a blogging platform (blogger.com and wordpress.com are the most popular), but for a business you may want to purchase your own domain for a more professional web address. Godaddy.com and register.com are two sites where you can purchase online domains reasonably.
Once you have your site, spend some time making it look professional: include your qualifications, rates, services offered, time required to complete various types of returns, client testimonials, and other information that answers questions your customers may want to know.
Include a spot on your website for potential clients to sign up for information and updates. This is a good (and free) source of email addresses which can become an email database for you to send messages to. To further increase your email marketing list, you can offer a discount to clients for referring others to your business.
Your tax preparation business will benefit from a quality website:
it gives your business more credibility and is more likely to recruit
new clients for you.
Use Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are other ways to promote your tax preparation business online. You can mention your business in Facebook status posts. Or, you may want to set up a Facebook page just for your business. This can provide your website address and basic information for potential clients of your business.
On Twitter, you can tweet about your business, offer discounts,
direct friends and family to your business website, and more. The sky
is really the limit with social networking sites, and the beauty of
them is that they are totally free to use. As with many small
businesses, your tax preparation business will most likely get its
first clients from among your friends and acquaintances. Then, it can
grow as word of mouth advertising takes over among your satisfied
customers.
Consider Using Craigslist
Craiglist.org is another website to consider when marketing your tax
preparation business. Again, it is free. You can advertise your
business there, listing services offered and basic information. Be sure
to keep your headline short and to-the-point, like QUICK, ACCURATE TAX
PREPARATION SERVICE. Interested customers will be directed to you via
email, and you can respond to them from there.
Visit Message Boards
Message boards and forums are another online tool for promoting your tax preparation business. For instance, volition.com has a forum for mystery shoppers, and a sub-forum for advice on tax preparation for mystery shoppers. As a tax preparation professional, you could visit such boards and offer advice, leaving your business website in your signature line. If you specialize in a certain type of tax returns (for people with small businesses, for instance), you can search for and visit forums in that specialty area.
The Internet's reach is huge and ever growing. It's a great place to tap into customers for your business!
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Susan Braun is a freelance writer living with her husband, three daughters, 2 rabbits, 2 gerbils and hedgehog in Indiana. She writes at girlsinwhitedresses.wordpress.com and Associated Content.
