Happy Anniversary bbr marketing!

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president The statistics vary depending on your source of information, but all describe the same truth: Starting a small business is quite a risk-filled endeavor. For those in the services industry, like we are, the numbers I’ve seen indicate that only 35-40 percent of new businesses are still around after…

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Make Your Website Copy Sing

  by Sarah Warlick, writer and copy editor Your website is one of the most important tools you have for communicating with potential clients. If you are a professional services provider, it’s also very likely to be the first place business prospects come into contact with you. The last thing you want to do is squander the…

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Social Media Interaction Leads to More Referrals

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president I’ve been doing quite a bit of speaking lately, primarily on the topic of content marketing and social media. The audiences tend to include everyone from ardent believers (thank you for your nods and smiles) to complete skeptics (I can see your eyes rolling from the front of the room)…

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Disgruntled Employees = Bad Branding

  Published in AccountingToday on July 15, 2013 by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president I read an article recently on AmEx OpenForum that I found profoundly disturbing. It seems that if you aren’t happy in your job, you are not alone. In fact, you are in the majority! This sentence from the article sums up the results of…

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Do Your Clients Know You Want Referrals?

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president I was recently honored to co-present a seminar on content marketing at the AICPA/AAM/TECH+ conference in Las Vegas. One of the great things about speaking at that sort of conference is that I get to attend other sessions and hear some really fantastic presentations. This one included a talk given…

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Happy Independence Day, Y’all!

  by Sarah Warlick, writer and copy editor It’s the Fourth of July, and most offices will shut down for a day or two. We make it a 2-day holiday at bbr marketing (closed Thursday and Friday), but even if you only get one day off, you’re no doubt looking forward to a break. But “Wait!”…

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A Professional Headshot Can Do Great Things for Your Firm

  When our clients need professional photography, we happily recommend Saldivia Jones. We asked them to share their expert advice in a blog post. Enjoy! by Stephen Jones, Saldivia Jones Photography We’ve all seen it: A beautifully designed profile page on someone’s website, horribly disfigured by a poor headshot. Sure, you graduated from Cornell, got…

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They See You When You’re Sleeping…

  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…

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The Best Job Description Ever

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president When was the last time you laughed so hard tears came to your eyes? I have to say for me it’s been twice in the last week. First, for some reason this made me laugh uncontrollably. It seems there’s something about goats replacing Taylor Swift that amuses me to…

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Outsourcing 2.0: What Have We Learned?

  Originally published in Current Accounts, The Georgia Society of CPAs, March/April 2013, Volume 11, Issue 2 by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president, and Sarah Warlick, writer and copy editor Years after the broad outsourcing trend picked up steam, industry segments that rely on it are still refining the technique. The two main drivers of outsourcing –…

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People, Planning and Pampering

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president Last week, we closed the office on Thursday to do our annual planning day. While there’s never a convenient time for this task, it is well worth the effort. The goal is to take a look at what we’ve done well in 2012 and address any areas that need…

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7 Lessons from the Thriving Firm Conference

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend and exhibit at the RAN ONE Americas Thriving Firm Conference in Sarasota, Florida. It was our second outing as exhibitors at a trade show, and it was time and money well spent. Much like our first trade show, the…

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Our Halloween Mailing Is Causing Quite a Stir!

  by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president (zombie on the left) Many of you should have received our Halloween mailing by now and I’m happy to say it’s getting a pretty strong and positive response. I’ve also received quite a few questions about it, which I’ll do my best to answer below. And if you want…

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Tell me Something Good…

  Published in AccountingToday on October 11, 2012 (with slight revisions) by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president We spend our days (and some nights and weekends) helping our professional services clients communicate what they do, who they serve and most importantly, how they are different. We do this through their websites, collateral materials, blog posts, articles, presentations and…

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Observations from the Southeastern Accounting Show

  During the last week of August, bbr marketing participated in its first industry trade show, the Southeastern Accounting Show put on by the Georgia Society of CPAs. While we help our clients prepare for these quite often, this was our first foray into one as a company. We couldn’t think of a better place…

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Can You Keep a Secret?

  Published in AccountingToday, August 16, 2012 by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president A few weeks ago I wrote a post entitled An Argument for Original Content that explained why I think investing in original content can be very valuable for your firm. Some of the biggest arguments against this tactic are skill and time. Professional services…

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