by Kelly Lucas, marketing and social media manager

It was the first day of my freshman year of high school. As I sat in my homeroom seat waiting for the bell to ring, a kid walked in and sat down next to me. He was new to the school, and having been the new kid once myself, I took it upon myself to welcome him. As I leaned in to talk with him, I noticed he had a HUGE booger hanging out of his nose. I mean, seriously, it had its own zip code.

I debated saying anything at first, not wanting to embarrass him. But then I thought about how he’d walk around with that thing all day and he’d become known as Booger Boy or something and I didn’t want that to be the first impression he made in his new school. I motioned him to lean in closer and I whispered “you’ve got an incredibly large booger in your left nostril.” He instantly looked very embarrassed, blushing and everything, said nothing and ran to the bathroom. I felt awful and thought, “Well, it was nice knowing him, won’t be talking to me again.” When he came back, sans booger, he plopped back down next to me and thanked me. While he admitted he was embarrassed, he was grateful that I had been willing to alert him when apparently no one else felt comfortable enough to do so. We quickly became friends and were great pals throughout high school and into college.

In the business world, professionals are not always comfortable with alerting clients to their “boogers.” When you are being paid, you often feel that it’s your responsibility to keep your clients happy at any cost. And while it’s important to do what you can to adhere to their requests, sometimes they are misinformed or just don’t realize that they are, well, wrong. As a professional, it’s your responsibility to break the bad news. Your clients are looking to you to provide them with the expertise and knowledge they need to be their best, even if that means telling them something they don’t want to hear.

For example, Bonnie once received a postcard invitation for a networking event. She was so unimpressed with it that she was compelled to contact the organizer and point blank stated: “This event seems like such a great idea, but the marketing for it does not give the best impression and you will lose potential attendees because of it.” Instead of being offended, the organization took Bonnie’s advice and made some changes. Now they are a client.

Similarly, we recently received a couple of newsletters from two different sources that almost made our eyes bleed. Like with the postcard, it was great information, but the design was so bad that upon opening it, most readers would be either completely turned off or just not have any interest at all. For the first newsletter, which included an invitation for an event, the sender asked us revamp it. For the second one, we are meeting to discuss their newsletter and potentially other work. For us, it has paid, literally, to be up front and honest.

There will always be some clients who just want a “yes man” and don’t want to be bothered with what you, the expert, think is best. For those, I can only suggest trying to find others within their organization that will help support any arguments or suggestions you have and learn how to best communicate on their level. There’s also a good case to be made that these clients aren’t a good fit for the committed professional, but that is a personal decision to be approached by the individual.

However, I think most people want to know when they are making a poor impression or if there is a way they can do something better. At the end of the day, they are business people who want to build their businesses, and the best way to do that is to listen when someone is providing them with expert advice. Be gentle when you deliver awkward facts, of course, but keep in mind that a realistic assessment and accurate feedback are part of what clients are paying you to give. We are comfortable informing clients that they have boogers. Can you say the same?

by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president

A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ve all heard and probably used this adage. In many cases, this is absolutely true. Photos can communicate messages and feelings in a way that words can’t. I can sit here all day and describe a sunset to you, but with one well-shot photo, you immediately see what I’ve been yammering on about.

However, I’m also here to point out that some photos aren’t even worth a single word, and in some cases, they aren’t worth the change you find in your couch cushions. A stock image of disembodied hands shaking or puzzle pieces coming together fall into this category for me.

With that admittedly rambling introduction, we’d like to share our thoughts and a few tips for using photography on your site. In most cases, we recommend that you have a professional take real photos of your real staff so when people visit your site or pick up your brochure they see a proper representation of your firm. It is nearly always the best way to go. But in some cases, quality stock photography can be a good second option. It’s readily available and a well-phrased search can turn up nearly any photo you might want. As veterans of marketing, we have a few tips that might just help you make the impression you want and communicate the right 1000 words worth of information.

Since we could have used any standard licensed, royalty-free photo for this post, we decided a staring emu was best.

You get what you pay for. Yes, there are quite a few free stock photography websites out there and some of their images aren’t bad. There are even more reasonably priced sites that have more selection and higher quality images. Then there are the really great sites that have incredibly composed images taken by photographers that really know their stuff. There is a time and a place for all of these options. For something like a blog post, the free or inexpensive photos are a great option. The shelf life of a blog post is typically fairly short and you don’t necessarily want to spend a good deal of your budget or time looking for images for that purpose. For your website or other online communications, we recommend you stick to the mid or high range of images. You don’t want to have the same image as your competitor down the street or the billboard selling Viagra, and I’ve seen both happen. Finally, for anything that will be printed, go with higher quality images and make sure you purchase them in a size that will reproduce properly. Photos that are too small or simply not well composed will cheapen a printed piece and your firm at the same time.

Know the language and the rules. It’s tempting to just run an image search on Google to find the right photo for your website. But not so fast! Many of the images that you’d like to use for your marketing often have restrictions on where and how often they can be used. It’s not as simple as just “purchasing” an image, either. When selecting images, make sure to check the licensing agreements associated with it, as licensing may be different from one image to the next and different across stock photography sites. Is the license standard or extended? Is the image approved for commercial use or editorial only? Is it a public domain, royalty free or one time use image (rights managed)?

Be honest. This is where I think it pays to hire a professional to take some shots. I would be willing to bet that the people in your office aren’t a perfectly groomed, culturally diverse mix of people walking down a hall or sitting around a glass conference table. Why not have photos taken of your real staff? They might not be as pretty as the stock models, but when clients come to your office, they will know what to expect. Same thing goes for your office space. If you work in a suburban market and your office building looks more like a town home than a glass sky rise, don’t use a photo of super-modern building on your contact page. The main point is to remember that photos do communicate and make an impression on visitors, so they should be as honest as possible to avoid confusion and the impression that you are trying to be something you are not.

I could go on, but I would like to hear from you. What have you seen work? What are your personal pet peeves? Any photos that you think should be permanently retired to stock photo purgatory?

by Sarah Warlick, copywriter and editor

Ever get the feeling the internet is stalking you when you see the same ad over and over, and it’s actually something you’ve been researching lately? Here’s why it happens.

It’s called ad retargeting, and it’s a common practice among internet marketers. Companies that identify you as you surf the web will peg you as a prime candidate for their products or services and proceed to target you for online advertising. The result is that you are served ads based on your recent internet activity – sometimes the same ones, over and over. It really can make you feel like you’re being stalked!

Don’t worry; no one is looking over your shoulder as you go about your digital day. Not literally, anyway. But ad retargeting does serve as a reminder that you’re being tracked online. The very fact that marketers know what you’re interested in these days should make the point that someone is watching your movements.

Here’s how it works: You go to a website for whatever reason, and some entity places a cookie or web beacon on your IP address. They’ll do this because their market research indicates that if you went to that site (or they are the owner of the site you visited), you might be a potential customer for what they offer, and they’d like to convince you of that fact. They then track your future online activity via the cookie or beacon and serve you ads in the hopes that sooner or later you’ll give in and check them out.

It can be inspired by things you think about buying, as indicated by a trip to Zappos or an abandoned shopping cart on some site, or just from general surfing that gives marketers an idea of what you might be interested in. This information then gets tacked to your digital profile and used to feed you ads wherever you go. For example, Bonnie recently did some work that involved researching a client’s competition. Since that time, she’s been constantly bombarded by the same attorney’s ads, complete with his grinning face. It can definitely bring out the paranoia!

The idea is that by paying attention to what individual people are doing online, marketers can create a profile that lets them target ads these users are likely to respond to. It makes sense, and it works. Reminding you about stores you’ve visited or things you’re considering for purchase increases the likelihood that you will return or finally buy the item in question. The internet advertising industry states that only 2% of online shoppers actually buy on their first visit to the site, and Foresee conducted a study that indicates some 40% of internet users would rather see targeted ads than generic ones.

The trouble is that besides being slightly creepy, the practice doesn’t usually take into account the fact that you may have already met that need (the shoes are on their way) or that the ad doesn’t actually reflect your interests (as in the case of Bonnie and the lawyer who’s so desperate to woo her as a client).

It can also backfire when internet users get annoyed by seeing the same ad over and over. Most ad servers place limits on the number of times they’ll deliver the same ad to an individual per online session, but when several ad companies have all tagged you as the perfect candidate for an ad, you may end up seeing it a dozen or more times at a sitting. That gets old fast, and can turn a person off a company that might otherwise have held interest.

The ad retargeting industry is getting more sophisticated, which should let advertisers minimize the risks as they use better methods of tracking and refining their targets. At the same time, internet users are increasingly installing apps like Don’t Track Me and AdBlock to make it harder, if not downright impossible, for advertisers to find them, analyze their behavior and market to them online.

If you’re among the people who find being retargeted annoying, try downloading a few of these apps to minimize the number of targeted ads you see. They’re not always effective, but they do help some. Or you can always have a little fun by misleading ad retargeters with a few judiciously chosen searches for taxidermists and diamond-studded horsewhips. I do both. It doesn’t entirely remove the targeted ads but at least it confuses the profilers and makes me feel slightly less powerless.

by Kelly Lucas, marketing and social media manager

On May 1st, LinkedIn announced the ability to create rich media enhanced user profiles. With this new enhancement, users (in English speaking regions for now) can create a visual portfolio of their work and experience. From LinkedIn:

For the first time, you will now have the ability to showcase your unique professional story using rich, visual content on your LinkedIn profile. This means you can illustrate your greatest achievements in the form of stunning images, compelling videos, innovative presentations and more. From the analyst who makes annual predictions on tech trends to the 3D animator who is looking to fund a new short film, the opportunities are limitless for how professionals can now use the LinkedIn profile to help showcase these unique stories in a visual way.

These new updates are available in users’ “Summary,” “Education,” and “Experience” sections. To learn more about how to take advantage of the visually enhanced profile update, view LinkedIn’s slideshows Visually Enhance Your LinkedIn Profile and Don’t Just Say It. Display It On Your LinkedIn Profile.

This update will be great for creative types to showcase their work, but what about those who do less “glamorous” work? Even if you don’t create art and design, you can still take advantage of rich media to showcase your knowledge. Add presentations you’ve created that focus on your areas of expertise. Been published? Link to your work and include associated logos or cover art. Anyone can create a more visually compelling LinkedIn profile. So what will you add?

by Sarah Warlick, copywriter and editor

Language gives us the power to share thoughts, dreams, feelings and observations. It drives business relationships as well as personal ones, and does much to shape our perceptions of others.

Our choice of words can deliver subtle messages masked behind the obvious ones as we talk to ourselves and other people. The words we use to describe ourselves contribute significantly to our self-image. We can say things that aren’t true in addition to using words that reflect our most deeply held beliefs. Language is fluid and malleable; it is a tool that lends itself to describing reality better than any other single human attribute. But in some very startling and real ways, language also creates reality.

Learning to rephrase your self-talk to frame your situation and your options lies at the heart of rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT). The strategy is equally effective in a non-clinical situation. Simply altering the language you use in your mental conversation really does change your relationship with the issue at hand and therefore your outcome, whether you’re thinking of your current challenges, your history or your hopes and fears for the future.

Marketing is communication, and almost entirely based on language. Written, spoken and implied are your only real choices when it comes to sharing what’s best about your firm. The other forms of communication that humans use don’t really extend to your marketing options. At bbr marketing, we are quick to remind our audience often (or harp incessantly, if you must) about the importance of language: spelling, grammar, word choice…these are the things that define you as a company and a professional. Their effects simply cannot be overstated.

You may be wondering why we take such a strong stand. There is a popular argument that spelling and grammar are mere accessories, indicating nothing deeper. A few even claim that focusing on such surface niceties indicates a departure from the egalitarian ideal and smacks of elitism. We disagree. Language is a choice, to a great extent, and while we would never fault anyone for lack of education, learning disabilities or limited facility in a foreign tongue, we do expect people to use the language ability they possess well and judiciously.

It’s not just English majors and dedicated fault-finders that pay attention to your words, either. Wherever you go, you’re being judged by the way you use language as much as you are by the company you keep. And speaking of the company you keep, check out this funny but telling image. Google may not judge, but it most certainly observes the distinctions between people who use language in different ways.

APRIL 25, 2013 – Onepath Systems, LLC announced today that Tim Miller has joined the firm as Account Manager to be based in their Florida market. Tim will assist in the development and implementation of comprehensive sales strategies centered around Onepath’s audio-visual (AV) solutions to increase market share in Florida.

Prior to joining Onepath, Tim served as an Account Manager with a national commercial and residential AV solutions company where he helped clients design and build custom integrated AV systems. He has significant experience working with low-voltage systems and understands how to help his customers integrate these needs with other IT initiatives.

“Tim has a strong background in managing a wide range of AV and technology solutions and is an important strategic addition to Onepath as we continue to aggressively expand,” says Fran Leach, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We’re excited to have him on board and look forward to benefitting from the expertise he brings.”

Tim is equally enthusiastic. “Coming to Onepath allows me to take the next step in my AV career. I have a passion for helping customers with their AV and low-voltage needs, and with Onepath’s  wealth of technical resources and support, I know that customers will have access to the products and services they need to be successful.”

About Onepath Systems Onepath Systems provides voice, data, video and managed network services for nearly 2000 small, regional and nationwide businesses, including healthcare providers, K-12 and higher education, financial institutions and federal, state and local government organizations. The company is a leading provider of information and building technology solutions in the Southeast, engaged in the consulting, design, project implementation and maintenance of audio-visual, IT, fire & life safety, security, structured cabling, access control and underground utility systems as well as network monitoring and management through their Guardian Services. Onepath’s strength is its client-dedicated team that provides unsurpassed quality, products, services and results. For more information, visit www.onepathsystems.com.

by Kelly Lucas, marketing and social media manager

If you think people aren’t really paying that much attention to what’s said on social media, think again. Yesterday, stocks took a brief nose-dive when the Associated Press tweeted out the announcement that there had been explosions at the White House that had injured President Obama. The problem was that the story wasn’t true. The AP Twitter account had been hacked and the tweet was a hoax. Given the still very recent Boston Marathon bombings and MIT shooting, ricin-laced envelopes to politicians and the Texas fertilizer plant explosion, it makes sense that people were jumpy and had a knee-jerk reaction.

But it wasn’t just a few people reading tweets and then panicking. As reported by USA Today, traders in the New York Stock Exchange use computerized trading programs that buy and sell stocks based on information gleaned from social media sites. This just goes to illustrate that very large movers and shakers put a great deal of stock, both literally and figuratively, in the goings-on of Twitter. From this same article:

“This is yet another reminder that social media isn’t simply banal messages about breakfast between teenagers, but that it can have massive, real-world consequences,” says Jeff Hancock, a Cornell University communications and information science professor. “Our trust of social media has reached new levels. (Wall Street’s) response also highlights that humans have a built-in truth bias to believe what others say. Although there is a lot of suspicion about the Internet in general, the truth bias is alive and well with social media.”

So what can we learn from all of this? Even if you aren’t a huge publicly traded company that could quickly lose stock value based on a hoax or disparaging tweet, you could still lose reputational value in the eyes of a potential client. If there are negative messages being sent about you, regardless of whether they are true or not, they can have an enormous impact on your firm. It’s important to pay attention to the messages being sent about your brand and try to stay in control of it as much as possible. A couple of ways to stay on top of what others say about you include:

Twitter Connect: Regularly check the “Connect” function located at the top of your Twitter page to see if you’ve been mentioned by other Twitter users.

Google Alerts: Set up a Google Alert for your name, your firm’s name and the names of partners and key players and have them sent to your email. This will notify you when your names are mentioned online.

The days of rolling your eyes at, or acting above, social media are over. It pays to know what is going on and what people are saying about your firm. If you need help, let us know.

by Sarah Warlick, copywriter and editor

Your firm’s marketing style makes a real difference in the way your audience thinks about you. Marketing techniques may share a goal, but their effects on your audience vary based on your choice to use an inbound or outbound approach. Both exist to draw new clients, enhance firm reputation and increase business. But the approaches are more than stylistically different. The fundamental divide is one between giving and taking. And by pursuing their respective tactics to create a similar end result, inbound and outbound marketing bring about very different feelings in their audiences.

In outbound marketing (let’s use advertising as the specific tactic for the purposes of this article), firms deliver a message by making a claim, and sometimes accompanying it by an offer. “We do this well,” is the kernel of communication that lies at the bottom of almost every advertising message. “Please give us your time to listen while we tell you that you should use our services.” In well crafted advertising that’s not a terrible burden since the message is accompanied by some entertainment value and hopefully, some supporting evidence. Even so, it boils down to taking time and attention from people to convince them you’re the right provider, and promising them that it will be worth their investment.

With content marketing (blogging, for example), this equation is turned upside down. The firm isn’t taking – it’s giving. Offering information that is freely available to be read by those who want to. Without asking for anything in return, bloggers are sharing news, industry insight, commentary and advice with anyone who finds that information valuable enough to commit their limited time to reading it.

Readers become educated and in the process, they may decide that the firm sharing this valuable content is the best provider for their needs or the best source to turn to for help determining those needs. Good content marketing seeks to shape this impression, to be sure, but the conversion from reader to client is perceived to be an internal one.

Another advantage of content marketing is the built-in transparency. When readers observe you in conversation, answering questions and weighing in on issues, they can see how you think. Your firm’s responsiveness and flexibility is right there in front of them, in real time, as is the scope of your knowledge. Even personal style comes through to some degree, which gives readers a sense of what it will be like to be your client.

Outbound marketing is telling people – on their time – to use your services; content marketing is showing them – on your time – why they may want to do so. This difference creates a subtle but important distinction in the feelings of clients who come to you by the two strategies. Content marketing conversions have normally convinced themselves that you are knowledgeable, competent and trustworthy. They have often already decided that you are an individual and/or a firm they can work with comfortably. Those who succumbed to advertising are quite willing for you to prove these things to them, but still wary. You’re in a far better position with the former group.

Marketing Ideas for CPAs, a marketing blog focused on the accounting industry, was recently named to a list of the Top 50 Accounting Blogs by Masters in Accounting. A creation of bbr marketing, the site was created to provide tips, analyze trends and share ideas that help accounting firms and the people who work to market them. Whether a reader is a marketing professional, a partner or a sole practitioner, the website encourages feedback and fosters discussion of ideas that translate across the industry.

“We have selected our top accounting blogs based on a review of the quality of content and usefulness for professionals in the accounting field and students who are looking to get started in an accounting career,” said Charles Sipe, executive editor of Masters In Accounting. “We also consider if the blog is recommended by other accounting blogs as a valuable resource.”

Found at MastersinAccounting.info, the site is a free resource focused on providing the best information for prospective Masters in Accounting students researching degrees, programs and schools. The site also provides research information on items such as career outlook, guides to becoming a student, potentially available scholarships and more.

“We selected Marketing Ideas for CPAs because it shares useful information for CPAs and accounting professionals who would like to promote their business,” Sipe continued. “Since many accounting professionals own their own business, understanding marketing best practices is key to their success.”

Masters in Accounting describes the sites it recognizes as varied and practical: “Our Top 50 Accounting Blogs reflect the blend of traditional principles, modern perspectives and revolutionary technologies that is shaping the profession and its industry today, frequently busting staid stereotypes in the process. Find a variety of viewpoints, straightforward advice and updates on issues that affect everyone with an eye on the bottom line.”

Along with creating and sharing marketing ideas on the primary site, Marketing Ideas for CPAs can also boast a very active LinkedIn group with nearly 350 members. In this professional but friendly environment, accounting and marketing professionals ask questions, share expert advice, tips and tricks and offer one another support and encouragement.

“We are honored to be included on this list of the top accounting blogs. When we originally created this blog and LinkedIn group, we hoped to make a community where the accounting marketing industry could learn and interact with peers,” says Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president of bbr marketing. “When we conceived of the idea of creating a productive conversation space, we thought it was a good plan. In reality it has been more fun, more educational and more popular than we ever imagined.”

On the Marketing Ideas for CPAs site, the most popular posts include What NOT to Do on Your Website, 5 Painless Networking Strategies, Trends in Content Marketing for Your CPA Firm and Come on CPAs…Show Some Personality!

New Software Aids Medical Offices to Get and Stay Compliant With New HIPAA HITECH Changes

Decatur, Georgia – April 15, 2013 – While nearly all industries have some sort of compliance issue they have to address, the healthcare industry has especially stringent guidelines as specified by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Recently, additional updates were made to HIPAA through the HITECH ACT. Specifically, any business that provides services to, or works with, a medical provider and has access to or stores any confidential information must also be HIPAA compliant. That list can get pretty lengthy and includes vendors like attorneys, accountants, payroll companies, transcriptionists and many more. Not only do many of these business have no idea that they are required to follow the same rules as medical providers, but the HITECH Act places the responsibility for informing these businesses on the medical providers or they too can face potential fines.

For example, if a CPA provides services to a doctor’s office that gives him access to patient information to generate refund checks, he must be HIPAA compliant. The doctor, or someone in her office, must inform their CPA of these requirements. If the CPA decides to ignore the rules, the doctor must find and use a new CPA if possible. If not, she must report that the CPA is out of compliance but explain that he is the only option for her business at this time. This report will likely trigger an audit, and both the medical practitioner and the CPA can face hefty fines if they are found to be out of compliance.

In response, Atlanta-based technology firm Kardon Technology, which has worked with medical practices and their business associates for more than 25 years, partnered with software development firm Blass Consulting and Compliance to create K-Comply Powered by ComplyAssistant. This new proprietary software allows medical offices to perform due diligence assessments, document their findings and create compliance plans for internal implementation and to help BAs stay compliant under HIPAA HITECH.

“We’ve grown with the industry and have witnessed the changes that have transformed it,” says Donna Grindle, president and senior consultant with Kardon. “HIPAA compliance is complicated enough and then you add in the new HITECH changes and it can be downright confusing. Our goal is to help clients figure out the answers to these updated compliance questions and then determine what needs to be done so they can continue operating with as few disruptions as possible.”

Gerry Blass, president and CEO of Blass Consulting and Compliance is equally excited about the possibilities with K-Comply. “When Kardon approached me to partner with them on this software, I immediately recognized the amazing possibilities. There’s nothing like this in the industry and it will make a big difference in helping practices identify key areas and their BAs that need help with the latest in HIPAA compliance.“

K-Comply will be officially launched at the GMGMA 2013 Expo at Lake Lanier Islands Resort in Buford, GA, running April 21 through April 24. To learn more about the event, visit: https://m360.gmgma.com/frontend/event/schedule.aspx?EventId=69797

About Kardon Technology Kardon Technology offers outsourced specialized information technology services designed around the unique needs, requirements and regulations of medical practices and their business associates. From basic technology consulting to IT management to HIPAA and HITECH compliance and everything in between, we are dedicated to assisting professionals in the medical field stay compliant and be successful. To learn more, visit www.kardontech.com.

About Blass Consulting and Compliance Blass Compliance is made up of a talented team of developers and user experience professionals working together to change the way compliance is managed and documented. We strive to create powerful, well-designed, and user-friendly software that our clients love to use. We are continuously innovating and looking for ways to make the management and collaboration of compliance activities easier to do for organizations of any size. To learn more, visit www.complyassistant.com.