Connect Mobile App: 5 Ways To Reach More Virtual Clients

Connect Will Help Grow Your Virtual Tax Business

Having a virtual tax business is a necessity for many reasons. It allows you to reach people outside of our market, and provides a convenient way for your clients to do their taxes from home. But before you do that, you need to be able to find virtual clients.

In this post, I've outlined strategies you can use without spending any money on advertising. I'll also include strategies that focus on using Facebook ads, so that you can amplify your reach much faster.

Choose A Niche And Use Facebook/Linkedin

There are many reasons to be niche specific whether in your active tax practice or virtual, but as it relates to virtual, choosing a niche is the secret sauce. Let's say that you wanted to only focus on restaurants as your niche. Here is the strategy of focusing on a specific niche.

1. Easily find potential prospects on Linkedin and Facebook. By simply typing "restaurant manager", I ended up getting close to 2 million search results. Then you have to get to work and properly start prospecting potential clients.

2. Become a tax expert for restaurants. In the case for restaurants, some of them have a problems with payroll and cash flow, so providing tax advice or bookkeeping tips will help create the relationship.

You need to help identify all the tax questions related to restaurants. The goal is to understand the niche well enough to actively find solutions to all of their problems and needs. Once you've figured what that is, there is not a restaurant manager in the world that won't make the time to hear you out.

In these initial conversations, how do you manage to set yourself apart? You can't just say:

"Hey Bianca, I am professional tax expert and would love to help you do your taxes this year. Let me know if you have some time to chat".

Instead of a generic message, think about whats important to teachers. For instance, if I say:

Hey Bianca, I am tax expert specializing in helping restaurants improve their cash flow, without interrupting their day to day activities. Is that something that might interest you"?

3. Once you help one restaurant manager, more restaurant referrals will come. Then, the process to help more restaurants becomes much easier. Since you're focused on figuring out everything about helping restaurants, you'll know exactly what to do.

Just think about the impact you can have on Linkedin and Facebook. By joining groups that are specific to the restaurant niche, you'll start to understand their problems, and how you can serve as a solution. In many cases, you'll be able to post a comment in the group (The post needs to be specific to helping solve the problem NOT promoting your service). Once you've earned their trust, you can start messaging people directly and making them part of your content strategy

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Increase Client Retention As You Approach Tax Season

Retaining your prior year clients is just as important as acquiring new ones. Just because you've prepared their taxes before, does not mean that you are guaranteed to do their taxes again. Throughout the year, it could be the case that other tax preparers have been reaching out to secure that business. For that reason, it's extremely important to stay ahead of it and utilize Connect to ensure you get that business.

Part of the beauty of Connect is the ability to distribute your app with a link...anywhere. You can invite someone to your app via Facebook Message, SMS Text, WhatsApp, or email, and that makes it extremely powerful. Why? Because after you send your unique link to their phone, they'll be able to submit their tax documents in minutes.

Trade In Your Business Card For A Social Media Follow

Connect allows you to treat every encounter as a business opportunity. Just because they live hundreds of miles from your tax office doesn't mean you're incapable of helping them with their taxes. Instead of traditional business cards, try to get in the habit of asking for a friend request exchange on Facebook or a connection on Linkedin. Why?

The benefits of the social media follow is that you're able to market to them for free. Once you become friends, they'll automatically see the content you post. These posts will consist of advice and tips on solving an actual problem, and will carry throughout the year, so that the relationship stays in tact. 

Target People In Your Niche With Facebook Ads

As part of your Connect strategy, you can use Facebook Ads to target people specifically in your niche. Like we discussed earlier, it's more beneficial to focus on a niche, and Facebook even gives you the option to target them directly. For instance, you can target people by their job position, and if restaurant managers is your niche, you'll be able to speak to them directly.

Remember, the ad should focus on you solving a problem for them. Only then, will you be able to break through their barriers. Most ads focus on their service and products, but people care about how it affects them personally. Genuine advice and actionable tips help build trust, the main reason why people buy from you.