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Let’s Hear From the Accountants!
By Ned Steele, MediaImpact
Trying to keep afloat in the flood of recent media coverage about the new tax law deal, I’m clinging to my life preserver and wondering anew:
Why do accountants seem consistently to get less publicity – I’m talking about the good kind, the kind that helps build a practice – than financial planners or lawyers?
You may have noticed the same phenomenon in your own town’s local media. I certainly observed it in my city’s press, and in the national media:
For every accountant who got called on – and quoted – to interpret and explain the tax package to the public, three or four planners and tax attorneys earned themselves some ink. It just seemed that accountants did not get their due chance to handle what you’d think would be a natural topic for them.
After all, in the end – whether it’s business or personal taxes – it’s the accounting profession that clients call on to translate the arcania of tax codes to their own returns. In other words, when the rubber meets the road, clients call on accountants to get the job done. Why don’t the media call accountants more often?
Now, I have nothing against financial planners, who as a group seem to my eyes to be fine human beings, indeed. And unlike some people, I don’t even mind attorneys. Some of my favorite clients are members of the bar. As is my own brother.
But I think accountants can, and should, do better in the press. Particularly if you’ve been following my mantra in this space, which boils down to, “share your expertise with the media, and you’ll get more publicity and ultimately more business.”
I have a few theories about why accountants don’t get more publicity. It’s hard to generalize, but I think many financial planners and lawyers tend to have more experience, and more comfort, in speaking to the public. Some lawyers even earn their living by standing on their feet and talking all day. I suspect this makes them more eager to reach out to the media -- their comfort level is higher.
I think, too, that the media tend unintentionally to stereotype. Their business is words. They assume the accountant’s business is numbers, and numbers alone. And, mostly being salaried or freelance employees, they don’t see or hear from their own accountants except at tax time. What do they think – that the whole profession hibernates for nine months a year?
Whatever the reasons, reporters don’t call accountants for quotes, and accountants don’t offer their expertise to be quoted, anywheres near as often as they should. It’s time to change this!
Let me repeat my mantra: You get lots of favorable publicity when you call reporters, get to know them, and encourage them to quote you as independent experts on whatever topic (accounting-related, of course!) they are writing about. And not only is this publicity free, but it boosts your credibility – and perceived value – in the marketplace. So let’s try this:
- Remember that reporters do want to hear from you. Call up a reporter who covers personal (or business) finance, offering to explain a topic that’s in the news or of interest to her readers, and I guarantee you’ll be welcomed warmly.
- If you start listening closely to the kinds of questions and concerns your own clients raise when they talk to you, congratulations – you’ve just identified the same topics that the media are, should be, or soon will be covering. Don’t wait for them – call them and tell them what’s on everybody’s mind. And if you’re ready with two or three chunks of advice on how to deal with whatever that topic is, double congratulations – you’ve probably just suggested a great story for the reporter to do, and you’ve insured yourself a prominent position in it.
Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to create a business development initiative and build their business. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of “102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice.” To learn more, visit www.mediaimpact.biz, call 212-243-8383, or e-mail him at: info@mediaimpact.biz.
