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The Bookkeeper Who Hates Bookkeeping (And Built Two Thriving Businesses Anyway) | with Heidi Ryder · The Accounting Leads Now Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of the Accounting Leads Now podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are in for a real treat with today's guest.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Bookkeeping is often overshadowed by automation.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Our next guest is rewriting the narrative.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine replacing your entire salary just six months into a new venture and then propelling forward to acquire a leading marketing automation platform.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: This entrepreneur didn't just pivot from a career in teaching, she transformed the paradigm of client engagement in the accounting industry by leveraging platforms like LinkedIn in most ways many can't imagine.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: She built not one but two thriving businesses.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: What insights led to these accomplishments and how her strategies are reshaping industry norms?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Let's find out in today's episode of the Accounting Leads Now podcast.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: We are pleased to welcome to the show the visionary behind Keepful and Healthy Books LLC, Heidi Ryder.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: You made it sound the last what 10 years of my life sound way better than it actually was.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Heidi, you are really downplaying that.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to have you on the show.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: You've accomplished so much.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing some incredible things.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I would love to know right out of the gate, you built a very successful bookkeeping firm that you're currently running.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: What propelled you to go completely off script and also start a marketing company?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's not something we typically see in this space with a business owner running those two companies at the same time.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: I was a little voluntold at the beginning, I will say.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was working with bookkeepers.com at the time while running my bookkeeping business.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: And they were starting the marketing side.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: We saw a real need for it.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: I personally love the admin and the marketing side of the business.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: I know I'm a little bit odd in that case, but I do.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: I found that when I started my bookkeeping business, I really was just doing it because we needed some more income once I had my daughter.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: But then once I was in it, I was like, I love the admin side.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love doing the business owner things, you know, I love leading my team.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also love the marketing side.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So when we started this marketing automation as a joint venture between me and bookkeepers.com, it was a good fit.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was the best of all the worlds, right?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so interesting.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's just I'm thinking of the overlap or the rings as they overlap.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not typically something you see.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: So what is it about on the marketing side that you love?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that again, from speaking to many firm owners, that's typically not the area that they get super excited about.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's one that they don't want to focus on.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: It drains them.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: What is it specifically about marketing, not only just for your firm, but for other firms that you love?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one, it's a creative outlet for me.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: With bookkeeping, you kind of it's pretty set in stone, right?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: You have your processes, you have your tasks, you have to do what you have to do.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: But the creativity comes in when you're designing the websites, you're creating the templates for emails, you're doing the new newsletter, you know, like I love the creativity that I get to kind of unleash when I'm helping people with their marketing and doing marketing for myself.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: The other piece of it is helping people.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the same for both businesses, right?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Where you are really helping people.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I saw with the big need in the marketing side of most accounting firms.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: I really feel like I can help people not only grow their own firm, but also expand their team, which then of course reaches like just the ripple effect of helping people is is good in both my bookkeeping business and in the marketing side of things.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the thing that really intrigues me in marketing is a lot of its psychology, and you get to study people.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's fun to study people, people are interesting.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I do I do find it very intriguing to continue to learn more about marketing, learn more about the psychology behind it.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of tactics might change, but people, the psychology of people doesn't really change that much over the years.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: So being able to kind of study what stays the same is fun for me.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very interesting.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: So you're running two firms now.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: How do you manage the two different businesses?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a juggling act at all times.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to say balance because I'm not sure there is a way to keep a balance when you have I have four children and I homeschool and then trying to do, you know, the business and all of that.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to say it's balance because I'm not sure I'm doing such a good job balancing it, but just juggling to make sure that the important things don't get dropped, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So some days there's more bookkeeping tasks that I have to work on and fewer of the marketing, and then other times it's flip-flopped, and then sometimes it's like not much work gets done.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like this last week, I had sick kiddos and not much work was getting done.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just kind of a constant juggle, I guess.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're so humble, Heidi.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, four kids.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have any of my own, so I can't imagine in one business is enough.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I can't imagine throwing a second business and four kids into the equation and how that works.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So what you're doing is incredible.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say to the firm owner who doesn't share the same passion as marketing with marketing as you do, but they know they need something in place.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: They need to be getting in front of new people.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: If they're not doing it, their competitor is.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: What's your message to that listener who's like, yeah, I know I need to be doing more, but it's I don't like doing it.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: So usually I find the scary thing is the thing we need to do, right?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes just talking, reaching out to someone, asking for help can be a little scary, especially when it's something that you're not very good at or you don't really enjoy.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's super important to find what's working and do that.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of reinventing the wheel or trying to figure it out on your own, reach out, whether it's a community of bookkeepers and accountants.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I find a lot of them are very collaborative.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: So they're willing to talk with you what's working for them, how they're doing things.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then also, you know, people like us, right?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: You and I, we're we're willing to help, we're willing to reach out and help them reach their goals.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: But before you can ask for help, you have to be crystal clear on what you need and where you're headed.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so it can be scary to sit down and think, okay, what are my goals?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: What are my quantifiable goals?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And how do I need to get there?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so this could be, you know, revenue goals or client goals.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Really get crystal clear on what that looks like to you.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then that also helps as you're mapping out how to get there.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: That can help with who you need to reach out to help you reach your goals because there's different strategies to get clients, right?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: There's different strategies that all people take.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: But some things work, some things don't.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So don't go it alone and try to, you know, figure out what's working and what's not.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: But then also knowing who to reach out to for assistance or as the expert really comes down to what you're trying to accomplish.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't know what you're trying to accomplish if you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be my advice would be start with a vision again.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I always say to everybody.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Start with your vision.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: What do you really want your firm to look like?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: What are you really going for?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: What and how to get there, and have someone in your corner to help you get there.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the who not how.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: What is it that's in your firm, Heidi, on the marketing or the bookkeeping side that maybe you're you don't feel as like that's where your strengths are, or you don't like doing?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of just going reverse from the marketing side because again, that's I can't stress this enough.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: It that's typically not what most accounting and bookkeeping firm owners love to do is the marketing.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: You do, which is incredible.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: What's the thing in your business that you don't like doing, or that maybe scares you a bit, or you have just decided, you know what, I am gonna reach out for help with this.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I have, you know, we've hired a contractor, we've outsourced this.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to know what that side of the coin looks like.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Don't kill me for this.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's the actual bookkeeping.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: I do not like bookkeeping.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I can do it.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: I dread it if I have to do it.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: I would not say I'm the best at it.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a team.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: I started out with a team member that I trained and put through bookkeeper launch training, made sure they were trained.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: I can still answer their questions, I'm still their go-to person.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: But if I don't have to be in the books except once a month, I am thrilled about it.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: I was not expecting that as an answer.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna lie.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: What drove you to start a bookkeeping company then, if that's not like there must be something in the bookkeeping space that fires you up minus the actual fulfillment of what clients are paying for.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, I'd love to hear a little bit more on that because that's that's an interesting dynamic that you started with bookkeeping, you don't really love that part, you like marketing, so I'm gonna spin up a marketing company on the side for bookkeepers, but you still don't enjoy the fulfillment piece.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: What when I was a kid, my dad owns a construction company, and I was always like, I'm gonna do your, you know, I'm gonna work with your receipts, I'm gonna help you with your books.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I loved, again, the office admin side of things.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: I always wanted to help him stay organized.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: But I actually went to college to be a math teacher.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I taught math for one year in the suburbs of Atlanta, and it was middle school, and you can imagine it did not go very well.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: They were not necessarily there to learn math, we're excited about it.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: So then when I had my daughter, I was like, well, I do know I'm good at math.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: I do know numbers, like I love numbers, I'll stay in numbers all day.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: What can I do from home that will bring in some income with these things that I know about myself?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I landed on bookkeeping.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have any like formal background in bookkeeping per se.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: It was just kind of the numbers side of things.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: So when I started taking, I also took Bookkeeper Launch for the training side of it, learned how to do the skill, learned how to start the business, got that all up and running.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: And like you mentioned earlier, six months into it, I had replaced my teacher salary.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I realized like, hey, this is a really good business model in the sense of there's not a lot of overhead.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: I can be very flexible around, you know, my kids' schedules.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: This is a fantastic business for me as a stay-at-home mom.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I realized, like, as I started working for bookkeepers.com, I realized I don't want to say the majority, but there's a large percentage of people that are very similar to me in their stay-at-home moms, they're doing it for money on the side, and they're realizing like, hey, this business can actually go somewhere, and they're taking it there.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I love to, again, back to love to help people.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I see in the bookkeeping community, I see a lot of people that are very similar to myself, and I can help them because I understand them, right?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of where I the part that's consistent across both businesses is I love helping people.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I sit down, I like to have meetings with my clients and go over their financials.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's the part that I love is I love taking the numbers and using them for them and explaining like, here's what this means in your business.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Here's how you can, you know, the here's what we want to watch to make sure you reach those goals we talked about last year.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, just being able to really help them use their numbers, because most of them are not numbers people, and help them to understand it.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's what fires me up about bookkeeping.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing marketing for bookkeepers.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Who are your clientele on the bookkeeping side of your business?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Mostly chiropractors.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: I have some other industries that I serve, but a lot of them are chiropractors.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Have you played around with pushing your marketing offer for chiropractors?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've thought about the idea, but I don't understand that side of the chiropractic, like the practices as clearly as I understand it from the bookkeeping.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have grown my bookkeeping business from the ground up.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I understand how to market it.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: I know how to get it out there.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: I know in at least from my perspective, I know what works and what doesn't, what I've done.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you what not to do.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: But when it comes to starting and growing a chiropractic practice, I don't know the first thing.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like I know what the numbers are supposed to look like.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you, you know, what a first to a third year chiropractic practice numbers should be, what your profit should be, but there's no way I could tell you how to get from year three to year ten and reach your goals and sell and that kind of thing.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, interesting.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was just I was curious if there was a play there too.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you bring someone in, you're able to basically have them as a client for two different businesses.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, that makes sense.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're sticking where you're good at.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm trying to do.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very cool.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna be at GrowCon in a couple weeks.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: By the time this episode comes out, GrowCon has probably happened.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be in our rear view.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: This might be an interesting question for retrospective to look back on, but what are you hoping to get out of attending GrowCon this year?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just excited to see my friends.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: We used to do uh every year, I've done at least one bookkeeping and accounting conference.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just it's a great time, one, for me to get away.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of the few times in the year that I get to just focus only on business stuff and not have to be mom and business owner.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a really good time for me to just kind of let loose, hang out with my friends, get refreshed a little bit.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I also really like to sit down and map out what I want the next year to look like.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a goal setting time for me.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's a connecting.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the, I mean, even down to owning Keithful, all of the things, the big changes or milestones in my business have come from in-person conferences like this.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So the people I meet are just incredible.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: The relationships that I'm able to foster after that really are what affect my business in a positive way.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm just excited, I'm excited to meet you in person.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to get to meet and see everybody.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very cool.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's expand on that a little bit more because in-person events for those who attend know how valuable they are.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: For those who maybe haven't had the opportunity to attend any yet, they don't know maybe what they're missing out on.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about from attending as the bookkeeping professional, how beneficial it is to just enhance your craft, but then also attending it as a vendor.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, bookkeepers, obviously, accountants, everyone, they could attend their industry's trade shows to get out there a little bit.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I would you have an interesting vantage point from both sides of the coin as the bookkeeping professional, as the vendor.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear some insight or why people should look at attending more shows, what they can get out of it, but more importantly, maybe from the bookkeeping side, why they should be going to their industry events.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: From a bookkeeper's perspective, how it's beneficial, the connections, the network, business ownership can feel very lonely.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: And on those days when you're just wanting to burn it all down because we all have those, it can be so important to have other voices around that either you can vent to or understand you.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because even if like a friend or a spouse or whatever, like they don't fully get it unless they're in the trenches running a business, knowing what it's like.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: It can take away that loneliness from business ownership, which in turn, in my belief, helps you grow your business.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you don't feel so lonely or uninspired, you are more fired up to get your business growing and improving and offering more services or whatever it is.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: So just from that perspective alone, I think makes it worth it.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: One of the hurdles that I've seen a lot of bookkeeping and accounting people have to get over is the mindset around spending the money for it, because these conferences can be expensive to attend between the ticket and the hotel and the airfare and all of that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: It can get to be a lot.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I challenge you to look at it as an investment and almost track your return on investment.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that like I will go to these events worn out, and especially when I was before I even owned Keepful, and I was, you know, I didn't like bookkeeping, and so just that was my only thing, and I was like lived and breathed bookkeeping.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Going to these events was life-saving for me because it was like I would be so worn out and just tired of doing it all, and then I would get there and one, meet people, have a great time, see different perspectives, and then of course, you know, you have the speakers that are really great at what they do, and some of them are motivational, so it just just all of it can really help with the mindset, whether it's the loneliness or the worn out or any of it, like it and it gives you ideas, of course.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: I always walk away with a notebook of list of things, and then I only do about half of them once I get home, but still it's better than none at all, right?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm thinking I go to a marketing conference once a quarter, approximately once a quarter for the mastermind I'm a part of.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: The book is just full at the end of the three days of ideas and strategies and notes.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be lucky to say 50% of it gets applied after.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not from just not doing it, it's after just trying to really focus in on what are the three to four things that we want to focus on the next quarter.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it is just kind of wild.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Every once in a while I'll go back through those books, and I'm like, wow, that was a that's still a really good idea from two years ago.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I should probably prioritize that, and then something else comes up.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: But that's a piece of advice I'll I'll kind of piggyback on is when you attend those shows, there's so much going on.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: You feel like you're drinking from a fire hose, all the conversations in the hallway, at the lobby, the restaurants, there's so much valuable stuff happening outside of the actual conference room itself.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it's really important to then take a few minutes, be super intentional and think, okay, what do I actually want to do between now and whatever that next date is?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you just have a book full of amazing ideas that never get implemented, and then it was kind of a waste of time and you don't get the ROI.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I like how you were talking about measuring that, taking notes, and most importantly, implementing what it is that you're you're taking in.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things, um, really good point, because one of the things that I like to do right when I get there.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: So before any sessions or anything, I take a minute to think about like what are the problems in my business right now.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because the important thing is fixing the problems first.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can start to implement all the great ideas that you have or that you hear about.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: So like thinking through what are the problems, and then when those are at the forefront of your mind, when you're having conversations with other people, you might not even be talking about the problem that you have in your business, but their conversation with you might spur the solution.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Or they might be sharing, here's what I did with this in my business, and that spurs the solution.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: So just knowing what those problem areas are in your business and what you want solved can really help.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also like to go through the list because a lot of things that are good to do, if they're done at the wrong time or in the wrong priority, they're the wrong thing to do, which is I think what you were alluding to.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: You have a whole book, and then not all of them might be the best thing for your business at this moment.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I like to look through it, the list and see what's actually gonna move the needle in my business and help me reach my goals.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Again, going back to your goals.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if your goal is to increase revenue this year, then look through those items and say which ones of these actually affect the top line of my business.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then inside of that bucket, the ones that are gonna help push you towards your goals, which ones are the easiest to implement.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you start with the easiest ones to implement, you're gonna see some quick wins and it's gonna keep you motivated to keep moving.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you start with the ones that are take a long time to implement, you're gonna feel like you're getting nowhere and you're gonna give up a whole lot faster.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of what I've decided to do is like sit down at the beginning, figure out what are my problems that I want to solve this through either what I'm learning about in the speeches or what when I'm talking to people.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then once you have that list at the end, really being crystal clear on what are my goals and which ones of these actually take me there.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's just about being intentional.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's the biggest thing I'm hearing from what you're saying.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Just be intentional and then be very actionable to get those things done.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, money money loves speed.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is that is that what they say?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is that the expression?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I might be making that up.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: It could it could be something similar.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: We almost need a third party to I need a bug in my ear to say, yeah, that was that was right or that wasn't.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Verify?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'll go chat GPT it later.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: For for people who are attending shows or thinking about which ones to attend, do you have any criteria or kind of a thought process of how to decide which ones to go to?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because you did you did mention like they're not the cheapest things to go to.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: They are a great investment.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you're not going to see that return right away.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: But depending on where you're based in the country, you're talking flights, hotels, could be renting a car, meals, the ticket itself to the event, all the things that are happening afterwards.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: How do you go about deciding one from Keepful, where to invest your money to be a sponsor?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And where do you think about what shows to attend as a bookkeeping professional?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great question, actually, because this also works for anybody wanting to go to a trade show as a vendor.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Really think about the intent of the attendees that are there.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Growcon, they're very intentional about these are owners of the businesses that are really wanting to take their business to the next level.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: These are intentional people.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be in that room because I want to be that kind of business owner myself.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: From the keepful sponsorship side, those are the kind of people I want to help.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know I can help them, and so I want to let them know I exist so that I can get out there and help them.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: I want to work with people that have some goals, that know they're wanting to grow their business.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: They're not just, oh, whatever my business becomes, it becomes, right?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: They want to have that intention.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so if I want to serve those kind of people, I want to be in the room with them.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of how I choose is like a lot of times you'll see, you'll get a feel for the event.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's on their website or their social media output or whatever it is that you can find, or even if you can talk to some people who've gone to them, kind of get a feel for what are the intention of the attendees and is that the kind of room I want to be in?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Are those the kind of people that I want to start to build a network with and go with that?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Great advice.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and you're you're flying in to GrowCon, if I'm not mistaken.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: So from the bookkeeping side of things, as we speak to the accounting professionals uh who are listening to this, personally, I love to build a trip on the front end or the back end or try to get out so I'm not just in the hotel the whole time.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Are you planning to come in a little early, hang around a little bit after?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: I know you mentioned you have four kids, you probably have to rush home to get back to being there, taking care of everyone.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: But when you go away on these trips, do you, if you can, do you try to build in a little bit of pre- or post conference fun?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because that also makes the decision to go a lot easier.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Not just flying to go sit in a hotel conference room for a couple of days and going right back.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: I call it my um deductible vacation.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because a lot of times we don't get a big vacation for the year.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, I do if I can.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of times conferences are like Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday or whatever, right?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I try to get whatever that weekend is and tack on that weekend because typically it's easier to get child care for the weekend than it is for the week, actually.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I do try to tack on the weekends.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: This year I'm my child care is a little bit different, so I'm not able to do as much, but I do think I'm flying in Saturday instead of Sunday, if I remember right.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: I just bought my ticket and I've already forgotten.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, I I actually I've done it both.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: I've stayed a little bit longer after and I've gone a little bit earlier before, and I actually find I enjoy the before better.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: It gives me a chance to kind of switch my mindset from go, go, go, go, go trying to get all the things done to okay, I'm here to be intentional, I'm here for these goals, I'm here with these problems in my business.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: It gives me that chance to kind of take a breath before I jump in.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: And usually at the end of a conference, I'm wiped out.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of times I'm just like, let me go home.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm ready to sleep, like I'm done.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've done both.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of like hanging around after.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: And as I say this, I don't have children at home.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: So very different vantage point from mother of four versus I don't don't have children.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: But the hanging around afterwards, yes, I'm tired, but it's a nice, like I'm not tired and then going to the airport and back into normal life, normal fires of the business.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: I've had a lot of fun hanging around the the area wherever the shows are after, maybe taking some time in the hotel room, going to the beach, going on a hike, just exploring the city, whatever it is.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then I find there's it's a lot more time for all those ideas to soak in.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can still filter through, okay, this was a this still is a really good idea.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: This one wasn't, and you at least for me, that's what's worked, but to each their own.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I think either way, if you can, getting something in there so you're not just fly right in, fly right out, and you're back into the everyday chaos and noise, that I think is uh helps get a ton of ROI from from attending these types of events.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: A hundred percent.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because the hardest thing is as soon as you get back home, you're right back into catching up your emails, doing all the, you know, like you said, putting out all the fires, right?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: So if you can get any time extra time outside of the sessions, I think it is super beneficial.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, Heidi, we're we're changing things up a little bit on the last handful of episodes as we've rebranded from CFO Chronicles to Can Lee's Now podcast.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: I used to always ask our guests, what is the best piece of advice you've ever received?
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you're you're more than welcome to share that.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: However, I am very curious.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: We want to make this extremely actionable for all of our listeners.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: So when the episode's done, they can go implement something right away within their business or their personal life that will propel them forward, help them grow, help them make more money, free up time, whatever it is.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: What would be your one piece of advice that is super actionable for the listeners to go and implement that will better than that will better their current situation by the time this episode ends?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you put me on the spot here.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of pressure.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's okay.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: I would say think through your last week, like the tasks that you've done in the last week.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: What is something tedious, repetitive, or that drains energy from you and list it out?
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: It could be multiple things, whatever.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: What are the things, the tasks that you've done in the last week, any one of those three things, and then see if there's a way to automate it.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because the beautiful thing that we live in today is most things, a lot of things, except laundry for some reason, can be automated.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would say if you can take those little tasks off, even if they're like a second to do or a minute here and a minute there, anything that you can take off your plate that is repetitive will save you time.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: If it's time draining for you, it will you'll see a change in your business if you take those things off your plate.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be my advice is think through the tasks and see what you can automate.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Eliminate, automate, delegate.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Very cool.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Heidi, thank you so much for coming on the County LeadsNow podcast.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to meet you in person in a couple weeks.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know we're gonna have some awesome conversations there.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Excited to share the stage with you as a panelist for the marketing discussion.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be a lot of fun.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: How can people get in touch with you?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: They want to continue the conversation.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: What's the best way for them to reach out?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I do have my calendar on keepful.com.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's a little schedule of chat, and I'm the only one that does those right now, so they can go and schedule a chat with me.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm also on LinkedIn, and that's probably where I'm the most active when it comes to my social media.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: I have someone that manages my Facebook and Instagram, so I'm not on there very much.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: But LinkedIn is usually the easiest way to get a hold of me.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: We'll make sure all those links are in the show notes.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Again, Heidi, thank you for coming on.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate it.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, we'll see you in a couple weeks.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's a wrap on another episode of the Accounting Leads Now podcast.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you got something out of today's conversation, do me a favor, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave us a review wherever you're listening.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: It genuinely helps this show grow.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the bigger this community gets, the better the conversations we can bring you.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the part I actually care about most.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you're running a firm and you're still relying on word of mouth to bring in new clients, I want you to hear this.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Referrals aren't a growth strategy.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'll say that again.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: Referrals are not a growth strategy.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: They're a hope strategy.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you're ready to stop hoping and start building a system that brings qualified prospects to you consistently, go to accountingleadsnow.com and book a call with my team.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: We work exclusively with accounting, bookkeeping, and tax firms.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: We'll look at your situation specifically and tell you what we would do if it was our firm on the line for bringing in new clients.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to go deeper on your own first, I wrote a book called Booked Solid Digital Marketing Strategies that actually work for accounting firms.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's the digital marketing playbook built specifically for accounting, bookkeeping, and tax firms.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: Link to grab a copy is in the show notes.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for listening, and we'll catch you on the next one.