In my first 2-3 years at Xcentric the staffing equation dominated the conversation, hot topics, and round table discussions at every conference I went to. As you know the tide has turned in this arena and now partners are discussing marketing, sales, and business development. This has led many firms to question the use of the Internet and how it fits into their overall marketing scheme. The book Inbound Marketing provides a comprehensive look at using the web as a marketing tool and it is a highly suggested read.

The book defines “inbound marketing” as marketing focused on being found by customers.  So, where do your best leads come from? Referrals, of course.  A conversation that started in the gym, chamber of commerce, rotary club, golf club, barber shop, etc, turned into a phone call to your firm because a client was a raving fan and told them they should give you a call. Business conversations inside these circles will continue to be the norm and your goal should be to be found in them. However, more and more of these conversations are being facilitated on the web in a distinct, targeted fashion.

Here’s what Inbound Marketing has to say about why:
* ‘Search’ on the web is targeted. Think rifle versus shotgun. If you have a specific need the web is more likely to return the targeted results you are looking for versus your friend network. This doesn’t mean you don’t ask your friends, it just means that you can now do this in a more leveraged fashion (see last point).
* Social club memberships are on the decline. Costs and time are under more scrutiny than ever and people turn to the web to fulfill some of the value previously gained in these memberships. Conversations that used to take exclusively in these ‘clubs’ are now taking place on the web in hyper focused interest groups.
* It’s leveraged. One to many versus one to one. You can ask the question over the web and get far more brains/eyes/etc on the matter than you could over a week full of meetings. Plus CTRL+C & CTRL+V is hard to do in person, easy to post a question on the web a few different places.

The question the book ultimately asks is: Will you be found in the discussions that happen on the web?  Just like the ‘in-person’ discussions, will your name be dropped, will you come through as a thought leader in that specific practice area or in your community?

Here is a link to the book: Link to Inbound Marketing

Not all hackers involved in these groups fall under the unethical stereotype that probably comes to mind initially.  Some actually include federal agents, corporate IT professionals, lawyers and people who want to find out what latest attacks their systems are up against.  However, keep in mind that many of these public resources are openly available to unethical hackers as well.

Some  8000 people gather in Las Vegas each summer for DEF CON,  the largest and longest running underground hacking conference.  The conference organizers call themselves “goons” and go by names like “Priest” “Dead Addict” and “The Dark Tangent”.  The wireless network at the conference is nicknamed “the world’s most hostile network’ (as an attempt at flattery, so they say).  Besides discussing  computer security, the event includes all kinds of other hacker-friendly fun like  Capture the Flag  (where teams attempt to attack and defend computers and networks) and Spot the Fed (where everyone  tries to pick out the Federal agents from among the attendees by calling people up on stage and asking them questions).

The “Spot the Fed” contest took an interesting turn at a recent conference when the conference organizers changed it to “Spot the Reporter” to expose a Dateline NBC reporter who was there undercover trying to catch attendees admitting to crimes on a hidden camera .  The event organizers were alerted of her intentions prior to the event and even contacted her several times to ask her to register as press.  So, when she persisted to turn down their requests and showed up at the event as a regular attendee with the hidden camera, they decided to call her out publically in their new game called “Spot the Reporter”.  However, before they got a chance to call her to the stage, she bolted (followed by several hundred angry attendees and registered reporters).

The word on the street is that by the time she had made it to the airport, the hackers back at DEF CON had all of her personal information pulled up on the conference projectors and website- including her social security number, address, and  flight information.  The lesson here is don’t mess with hackers.

As professionals in the accounting industry we all need to commit to keeping our systems as secure as possible.  You might be surprised to know the most effective thing you can do to minimize your risk related to hackers is to keep Windows up-to-date.  Each week there’s potential that Microsoft will release an update that addresses some sort of security flaw.  If your firm hasn’t adopted a set of tools and policies to ensure these updates are regularly completed, please don’t hesitate to give us a ring so we can point you in the right direction.

By the way, if you happen to want a more in-depth retelling of the reporter incident mentioned above, here’s a link to an article with some footage caught on tape: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=653.

I’m finding that in life and in business it seems that the issue with tacking new initiatives or getting things done isn’t ‘do I have the time?’.  The real question is ‘do I have the energy?’- the energy to start something new; the energy to take on a new project.

To my question.

What are you doing that is a waste of energy? Possibly write 3 things you engage in that are a waste of energy. Revisit them after tax season and see what you think then…

We are honored to serve you and proud to be the team that supports more accountants than any other technology company nationwide.  Thank you for your continued trust in Xcentric.

If so, here are a few ideas to bring the energy levels up:

1)  Recreate/define your Vision for 2010

2)Substantiate your Core Values

3) Set 2010 Goals

4) Celebrate the small things like March 15th!

At just 1.5 lbs, 0.5 inches thick and about 10 inches long, the iPad  connects to the fastest Wi-Fi networks to give you access to everything from email, videos and photos, to music, web pages and more at just the touch of a finger.   The iPad runs almost 140,000 apps from the App Store (and any you’ve downloaded to your iPhone) and also features iBooks and iTunes stores as well.

The iPad utilizes multi-touch technology similar to that of the iPhone, but on a much larger scale, with over 1000 sensors in the design.  The iPad rotates the screen to whatever orientation you are holding it in so basically there’s no up or down and its IPS technology allows for a wide viewing angle so you can hold it any way you want and still enjoy a brilliant display.

The iPad comes with up to 10 hours of battery life and its wireless technology allows you to connect devices such as wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard, although the iPad also comes equipped with a touch-screen keyboard and built-in speakers and microphone.

The Wi-Fi iPad is scheduled to hit the market in March, starting at $499, and a 3G model with data speeds up to 7.2 Mbps should hit in April.

Click here to learn more.

Today, 2010 – what’s the apples to apples comparison?

An example.
If I asked you if you knew what Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma is – would you know?
Most likely not.
But if I asked you to find me the answer would you know where to go?
Yes. Google. (they have 70% or so world market share)
So does that mean you actually did know what Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma was the first time I asked, since you could pull up the answer in just a matter of seconds?
Hmmmm.

If you live in a ‘connected culture’ your definition of knowledge (or Epistemology) has radically changed over the last 100 years. If you live in a hut in the Amazon (therefore not reading this post) then your epistemology has changed very little if at all.

So what does this mean?
Niche knowledge industries are becoming a commodity in the ‘connect world’. You see this with how audits and how they are being shopped in the market place right now. Price wins….unless…..you focus beyond ‘knowledge’ on thinks like relationships, trust, and the ability to communicate.

In today’s world, ‘knowing’ tax law has been reduced to the power of search and tax applications. However, if your practice’s success is built on such ‘knowledge’, then you are headed for destruction. On the other hand, if your practice has the ability to communicate, thus transforming knowledge into wisdom (actionable knowledge) then you will become an invaluable partner to your clients.

Below is Google’s Super Bowl ad – also their first ever commercial. An example of what I mean by the example mentioned above.

Here is what I have heard:

*Don’t gain weight.
*Go to all my daughter’s basketball games.
*Take Sundays off.
*95% of my jobs on budget.
*Get every return done where we have all the information.

Happy Tax Season. Seems to be ramping up.

A day later I found myself in ‘the chair’ with that haunting light over me, hearing deep sighs from the dentist. “Son, we have a problem. You not only need one root canal, you need THREE.” Horrible news, especially for an 18-year old.  But at least I’d found someone who could fix it; someone experienced with helping people get their mouth back in good form, right?

Fast forward 10 years later to a few weeks ago.  There I sat in the dentist chair once again, only to hear another deep sigh from the dentist, “Son, you need a root canal.”

What?  How on earth? I brush regularly, now with a Sonicare toothbrush nonetheless (Link to my Sonicare post), and haven’t had a single cavity in 10 years.  How could this happen?

Turns out the last dentist hadn’t cleaned out the infection properly during the root canal. I won’t go into specifics, but basically tooth #14 has 4 canals, of which the 4th is hard to find.  My previous dentist didn’t find it, which means it didn’t get cleaned out. Thus I have had an infection for possibly 10+ years in tooth #14.

Why hadn’t the dentist gotten to the root of the issue (in every senses of the word)? In short, he wasn’t a specialist. He was a generalist. He was actually a great dentist, but he wasn’t a skilled Endodontic Specialist. In certain cases a specialist is needed and, in this case, the dentist didn’t possess the lens needed to find the 4th canal in tooth #14. Luckily my current dentist knew he wasn’t a specialist in this matter so he referred me to an Endodontic Specialist.  He was the expert and, for him, finding the 4th canal was routine.

In summary:
I had an issue.
I found help.
It wasn’t the right help.
I had another issue.
I found the right help.

How does this relate to your technology?
Glad you asked.  As a CPA firm your technology needs are more complex than SMBs, ie. your clients. Most technology companies are generalists and have 90% of the tools (staff and/or technology) for 90% of the businesses out there. But what happens when your audit application won’t sync? What happens when an update blows up? Most likely a generalist technology company won’t find that 4th canal and may even have no clue how to help you…unless they spend multiple hours looking for a needle in a haystack, which they may or may not find, but will most certainly bill you for.

Why won’t they find it? Like the generalist dentist, they don’t have the right lens. They don’t possess that skill. They are generalists and they may be a great generalist at that…but that’s not what you need. You need a specialist.

*Article was written approx 30 minutes after completing the root canal, I blame typos and non-sense on the drugs!