advertising options for new tax business

Can anyone share your experiences on effective and cost efficient advertising options for a new tax business?
I tried google ads, yelp, etc. but they are so costly and not much result.
Thank you so much!

When I first started it was before internet and e-mail so it was mainly news paper ads and yellow pages. BUT the best advertisement for your talent is "centers of influence" and referrals. Also the quality of your prospects will be much better.

I have tried internet advertising with disasterous results

Yelp - reviews is really good in this area. Not the paid option.
The real reviews - go get 20 or so - 5 stars.
Ask all your clients.
Send them a link - make it easy for them.

Thank you all for sharing your suggestions.

Buy The Referral Engine by John Jantsch and read it. It's $14 on Amazon for the paperback. Money well spent.

BUT the best advertisement for your talent is "centers of influence" and referrals. Also the quality of your prospects will be much better.

I agree with everything ATSMAN said. In my opinion, paid advertisement for professionals is like blindly firing a shotgun in the air hoping something falls from the sky. I've advertised twice in my career and all it did was create phone calls from other business people looking to get my business. A waste of both time and money for me.

I would work existing referral contacts and begin developing new ones. Bankers, lawyers, financial planners, and, depending on what area of expertise you may have, contacts within that specialty. Go to trade shows, ask to write a column in a local or regional newspaper or media outlet, offer to speak at events. Become known as an expert and leverage that with the "centers of influence" for that industry.

As the saying goes one hand feeds the other. Try to develop business relationships that is "mutually beneficial" with Financial advisers, attorneys, insurance agents etc. These people often get asked a question that may be bordering on "tax advise or interpretation". In the old times my boss used to say your name should be on top of their Rolodex. Wonder if those still exist?

Most of my CPA friends use referrals. Some give seminars to small groups, some cooperate with real estate sales agents.


Sometimes, I feel the entrepreneurship is by nature, by blood, by genes.

I have a friend. He is not good at tax and bookkeeping, but he always find lots of clients. He made so many mistakes, but he always made clients feel it is clients' own mistakes or IRS mistakes, or software mistakes. The clients feel so thankful that he helped them so much. I was so surprised, but it is true. He would like me to help him but never let me communicate with his client. When I listen to him, he always says to his client, "Yes, you are right" "Yes, we totally agree with you, " "Yes, the IRS should take care of it," "Yes, the department of revenue should do xxxx" "however, the tax authorities does not do xxxx" etc.

I think he is really good at marketing. It is by nature.

He made so many mistakes, but he always made clients feel it is clients' own mistakes or IRS mistakes,

There is a term for that:

Shyster /ˈʃaɪstər/ is a slang word for someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law, sometimes also politics or business.

Depends on your target client demographic. Advertising works for some. For the ones most of us pursue, it is a waste of money and we obtain the work through networking and referrals.

Make sure your website appears on first page for search phrases you think prospects would utilize in searching for your services. If someone types in "Hilton Head CPA" to Google, I am typically ranked somewhere between 4 and 5 on first page. I am the first CPA that shows up if someone searches "Hilton Head tax preparer." Check up on this regularly and make changes to website to improve ranking. Adjacent mainland town, Bluffton, has me on page two for similar searches, but that is because I have not spent as much time improving my rankings. That is a project I take on when I am not as busy. I am talking about website rankings for search results, not the local listings you can pay Google and third parties to "boost" yourself (which I never look at unless I need a phone number, and then I am searching a SPECIFIC business name).

Yelp actually does produce meaningful clients, but only by being listed and/or having reviews, not the paid advertisements they push (which cost a small fortune). In my area, they run a listing of "Top 10 CPAs" and I am typically around #2 or #3 (no idea what factors allow that), so that causes prospects to think I am doing something amazing (and I do actually do things differently, but I'm not "amazing"). I agree on the suggestion of asking clients to write a Yelp review, but depending on your client demographic, they may not be willing to do so. For example, I work with a lot of professionals and professionals, in general, refuse to write reviews or recommendations for other professionals for liability reasons. I also feel odd asking clients to ask reviews, though I do have some that I have asked if they are willing to speak to a prospective client that wants to ask an actual client questions about me.

Become involved with a Chamber of Commerce, if it is a decent one that actually strives to connect businesses and individuals for a mutual benefit. I have gained quite a bit of business through one of two Chambers here (I refuse to participate in the other one that is much larger). I am also the Treasurer of their Young Professionals program, so it--absent of COVID--keeps me in front of a lot of people.

Another thing I have found productive is there are usually Facebook groups for residences of a local area, and the site NextDoor. I have obtained quality work from both by simply replying to comments, indicating I am a CPA and would love to discuss their needs. Nothing pushy, and sometimes I'll throw them a bone with some info if they ask a more specific question.

That is my equation for my significant rate of growth.

Thank you so much for everyone's input! Very very helpful! Greatly appreciate everyone's efforts and time!

The closest that I do to "real" advertising is having a web site. It's effective, although it attracts clients and timewasters at about a 50/50 ratio. I spend far more on local marketing, but that's also to do with practicing in a small town. Being involved in local organizations (well, during times that it's possible to be involved), plus having a budget for sponsoring local golf outings, etc. puts your name out in front of people. It helps people to feel like they already have some understanding of who you are so that they're less afraid of the scary CPA guy. Again, small town; I don't expect that this would be as effective in downtown Chicago.

The real key, as stated before, is referrals. These are the quality connections made and if I provide good service to my clients, they will market for me at no cost! Also, keep track of (and map) your referral tree. This year I got a call that was a referral of a referral of a referral of one of my original clients. It's also a great way to know that your clients still think you're doing a good job if they're willing to recommend you to their friends.

The closest that I do to "real" advertising is having a web site. It's effective, although it attracts clients and timewasters at about a 50/50 ratio. I spend far more on local marketing, but that's also to do with practicing in a small town. Being involved in local organizations (well, during times that it's possible to be involved), plus having a budget for sponsoring local golf outings, etc. puts your name out in front of people. It helps people to feel like they already have some understanding of who you are so that they're less afraid of the scary CPA guy. Again, small town; I don't expect that this would be as effective in downtown Chicago.

The real key, as stated before, is referrals. These are the quality connections made and if I provide good service to my clients, they will market for me at no cost! Also, keep track of (and map) your referral tree. This year I got a call that was a referral of a referral of a referral of one of my original clients. It's also a great way to know that your clients still think you're doing a good job if they're willing to recommend you to their friends.

Great comments! Thank you so much! Very helpful!