Episode 2: The Dual Need for Business Advisory + Digital Marketing, with Ellen Ronalds Keene
“My advice to the industry would be that you’ve got to step up your game in this [digital] arena, because that’s where people are currently getting their information. Not all people, but a lot of people who are sort of thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll go into business for myself, because these Instagram ads seem to tell me that’s the solution to all my problems.”
Sam interviews Ellen Ronalds Keene, founder of Perk Digital and Self-Care for Teachers. Ellen shares her story of moving from a job as a school teacher to being self-employed, along the way learning the things she didn’t know she didn’t know about business.
Ellen’s story is a classic example of why accountants and advisors need to be educating current and potential clients so that they receive the advice they need in a timely fashion and can get ahead of some of the common pitfalls in business.
With Ellen’s expertise in the digital world, she also gives accountants some valuable advice on the opportunities and challenges in the digital marketing space.
Listen to a snippet
What we cover in this episode
Ellen’s background and her story of moving from a job as a school teacher to bring self-employed
The education process (or lack thereof!) that Ellen went through when starting her businesses
Why Ellen didn’t have an accountant when she started her business and what she wishes she’d done differently
What the industry needs to do to support new business owners and get ahead on the education piece
Why accountants need to be educating their clients and playing in the digital space
Ellen’s experience working with an accountant
The importance of human connection and the reason people don’t evangelize about their accountant
What the business accounting industry can learn from the personal finance industry
The problem with the self-limiting belief that accountants are boring
Quotes
“I didn’t have a lot of education [around business] and I didn’t necessarily know that I needed more. There was enough there that made me think that I had it covered.” ~ Ellen
“How do we change this reactivity? Because the actual topic [of tax] itself is not sexy, it's not Instagrammable...even though I think it should be [because] businesses can go down from the protection and compliance piece.” ~ Sam
“[Accountants] need to play the game the digital marketers are playing because I think there's a huge problem with people selling snake oil online, selling “work for yourself” lifestyle business dreams... People who want to break into this space, who want to be really helping people at the beginning of their business journey need to play the game that those [advertisers] are playing because that's where a lot of people are getting their information.” ~ Ellen
“My advice to the industry would be that you've got to step up your game in this [digital] arena, because that's where people are currently getting their information. Not all people, but a lot of people who are sort of thinking, ‘Maybe I'll go into business for myself, because these Instagram ads seem to tell me that's the solution to all my problems.’” ~ Ellen
“We haven’t really had to message [our accounting services]. But the way that the information is being consumed by people now is very different to what we have been used to in the industry.” ~ Sam
“But that human connection is so important, then that can never be replaced by AI. If we could really get that piece right, it could be exciting and people might evangelize [about their accountant.]” ~ Sam
Links to things mentioned in this episode
Scott Pape The Barefoot Investor
You can connect with Ellen on LinkedIn or at perkdigital.com.au
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