INGenius Podcast: Recent Episodes
Ingenuity Marketing Group
The InGenius Podcast: a snapshot of future B2B marketing trends and use-it-now tips. Do you want to be wildly effective in professional services? Each episode features experts with new ideas for your branding and competitive success.
All things CPA Firm Marketing! Marketers wear a lot of hats. You have to know SEO, email marketing, social, PR and more. With only so much time to plan and execute, what are the top simple to advanced strategies you can prioritize? Listen to this roundtable discussion on our favorite CPA Firm Marketing strategies by Team Ingenuity. Align your marketing with business goals… and keep your sanity.
Stay ‘til the end! We wrap up with some of our favorite “long Minnesota good-byes.”
On this episode: Communications Consultants Shannon Bohnen & Christine Nelson, Design Consultant Robert Wasiluk and Principal Dawn Wagenaar.
Thanks for listening!
Ingenuity Marketing Group – https://ingenuitymarketing.com
In this episode of our Ingenuity Masters Series, Dawn Wagenaar, principal of Ingenuity Marketing Group, chats with Steve Silverman, founder and photographer of SILVERMAN Be Remarkable. Steve travels all over the US and Canada to take professional photos of both commercial properties and headshots for companies. He uses his talents as a photographer to create visual narratives with his photographs. What he creates truly is remarkable.
Listen as Dawn and Steve discuss his tactics for creating images that match the client’s brand story and core values, as well as how he makes people feel at ease in front of the camera. We hope you enjoy this latest episode of our Masters Series!
In this latest podcast of our Ingenuity Masters Series, Dawn Wagenaar (principal of Ingenuity Marketing Group) interviews Pete Machalek, a founding principal, coach, and facilitator at SagePresence. Pete and his team at SagePresence focus on helping professionals sell their services — with a combination of Authenticity, Story, and Emotion. He has had quite a journey to get to where he is now and has harnessed a plethora of wisdom and tips to help professionals in all fields.
Dawn and Pete discuss many things throughout this podcast, please feel free to use the chapter notes to skip ahead or re-listen to any portion!
In this episode of Ingenuity's Master Series, Dawn Wagenaar interviews Kate Harry Shipham, of KHS people on the topic of job title confusion and improving job title structure.
Kate moved to the US from Australia in 2012, and founded KHS People. She uses the skills she has acquired both as an attorney and as an avid “people observer” in the search business to understand the needs of her clients and candidates. Both clients and candidates work with Kate because of her deep understanding of the market and her ability to relate based on her attorney and search experience combined.
In this podcast you will hear Kate talk about overcoming obstacles and hurdles with job titles and she delves on how standardizing job titles (with clear-cut job responsibilities) can eliminate both confusion and frustration within the workplace.
Meagan Hayes is the marketing director for Haskell & White, one of the largest independently owned accounting firms in Southern California with offices in Orange County and San Diego. Meagan started her career in private industries before joining Haskell & White in 2008, and she brings her focus on analytics and results to the firm’s variety of marketing programs.
Dawn begins the podcast by asking Meagan for a couple of tips on sustaining marketing even during a period of fast growth. Simply put, Meagan believes in focusing in the infrastructure of the marketing department, and making sure the firm's marketing priorities are in order. She brings up many good points about infrastructure and prioritizing and also delves into the importance of having a functional business development pipeline.
The podcast wraps up with Meagan sharing what she is loving right now, and she shares that it has been very enjoyable to have "in-person" events back and to be re-connecting with people face-to-face again!
In this episode of One Question, Two Tips, Donna Erbs does a fantastic job providing inspiration for accounting marketers to think like owners and how they can focus on being the firm of the future.
Donna Erbs, a partner in Strategic Growth at Anders CPAs and Advisors, has been instrumental in the firm's growth for nearly two decades. She is a connector who brings together staff, clients and the community to create synergies for the firm. By aligning overall vision with solid growth and service initiatives, she has helped to create a marketing culture that is respected throughout the accounting and advisory marketplace. Since joining Anders in 2004, Donna has continually raised the firm’s profile locally, regionally and nationally through Best Places to Work, Top Workplaces, Firms to Watch, Best of the Best and other recognitions for innovation and culture. She is proud of her work in the advancement of women at Anders and throughout the greater St. Louis community. Donna is a frequent speaker and panelists for a wide variety of organizations, and was recently a keynote for the Association for Accounting Marketing conference, and a panelist for the Rainmaker Companies Nicheworks Conference.
Dawn starts out the podcast asking Donna to provide two tips for inspiring other accounting marketers to think like owners; focusing on the firm of the future, and she gives the following tips:
- Know that marketing is part of the business strategy, and understand how is the marketing going to work for the firm- young leaders need to be the change
- Make sure you understand your audience and don't forget the human element
Toward the end of the podcast, Dawn asks Donna what she is loving in her life right now, either professionally or personally, and Donna is just overjoyed to be able to finally see her two grown children during the holidays after all of the pandemic's pandemonium. Donna is also excited to attend a leadership retreat where she and Anders' marketing director get to mastermind with other marketing professionals.
In this CPA Influencer series, Dawn Wagenaar (Principal at ING) interviews David Bier, the COO of Anglin Reichmann Armstrong. David provides insightful tips and necessities for young professionals looking to become niche leaders within their firm.
David's responsibilities at Anglin include strategy, growth, succession planning and operations excellence, which grow from building a sound business culture. David has not only improved the foundational operational aspects of the firm, but also focused heavily on firm culture, community relations and merger & acquisition strategy, and he played a vital role in the successful merger and integration of Anglin’s Pensacola office.
Dawn starts the interview by asking David this question "We understand that Anglin has done a great job with promoting smart niche leaders from within to help your firm grow independently. Can you provide two tips for making that path less intimidating and more exciting for younger professionals? "
Throughout the interview David expounds on these two tips:
- Have to have support at the highest leadership levels (including partners, managing partners, etc)
- Build a team with at least one or two younger people who want to drive the niche business, set aside time each year to learn, train, and grow within the niche
The interview ends with Dawn asking David "What we're loving now," something either professional or personal within David's life that he is loving.
His response is again two-fold, and both tie into professional growth and success. Tune into the podcast to hear his insights!
In this CPA Influencer Episode, Dawn Wagenaar interviews Caren Rodriguez and they discuss communication and strategy needed within a company during acquisitions and mergers as well as integrating new team members during this time.
As Chief Marketing Officer at DMJ & Co., PLLC, a Top 300 accounting and business consulting firm, Caren manages firm-wide marketing and business development initiatives that span three office locations across North Carolina. Her responsibilities include communications, public relations, brand development, strategic and industry partnerships, marketing strategy, and digital media efforts.
In this CPA Influencer podcast, Dawn Wagenaar interviews Margie Craig, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer with Whittlesey which is the largest Connecticut-based CPA, technology, and consulting firm. Margie has over 20 years of experience, including brand management, digital marketing, business development, and strategy.
Margie starts out this podcast by stressing the importance of having a good foundation and going into interviews with the mindset of service. Also, to make sure that your objectives are in alignment with your media sources' audience, so that you can serve them at a local level by serving up good, quality content that educates the audience, which will make your firm stand out from the others. Know who the reporters and editors are- follow them on social media to get to know what they're covering, "like" & share their content, and be of service to them...build that relationship!
Dawn's first question, "When crafting the public relations strategy that gets your managing partner and other leaders consistently in front of local business media, especially during this time of remote or hybrid working, what two tips can you offer to other marketers?" gives Margie a chance to share these insightful tips as well as a few basics for managing a firm's message.
Timestamp (2:40) 1. Get to know your market plights and emerging issues so you can position your business leaders as subject matter experts and problem solvers
Timestamp (4:02) 2. Work with your strategic partners and CIOs (centers of influences) to pitch stories together in webinars and speaking gigs
Dawn ends the interview (timestamp 6:58) with asking Margie, "what is she loving now, either in her professional life or personal life." In her personal life, Margie stresses how much she is loving the fall season, with the changing of leaves and cooler weather, while on a professional level she is loving the hybrid work environment!
In this CPA Influencer podcast, Dawn Wagenaar interviews Becca Johns, Director of Practice Growth, of Rea & Associates, located in Dublin, OH.
Becca oversees the firm's marketing and practice growth efforts, focusing on building relationships with the firm's principals, helping them identify opportunities and providing them with the tools they need to grow their practice while developing new offerings and solutions for their clients.
In this podcast, Dawn asks Becca for two tips on how to help marketers stay creative and imaginative while tying their efforts to practice growth. Becca provides and expounds on two brilliant tips:
#1 Be fearless and fail forward
#2 Collaborate and look for inspiration everywhere
Since Becca joined Rea and Associates in 2005, they have won over 20 awards, and Becca describes the path and efforts that it took to achieve this!
The podcast ends with Dawn asking Becca "what we're loving now," giving Becca the opportunity to share something in either her professional or personal life that is really lighting a fire under her. She goes on to describe how she is loving change and mentions a book called Necessary Endings that has inspired her and her team to "prune" their workload and how that has helped the firm make room for growth.
New CPA Influencers Series: One Question-Two Tips. In this episode, Ingenuity Marketing Group Principal Dawn Wagenaar interviews Nicola Fleming, Director of Marketing for Perkins + Co. in Oregon. Nicola talks about the rapid and difficult decisions at her firm following the sudden death of Partner Peter Kwong in the summer of 2021. She shares her experience for managing internal and external communications... all while dealing with her own personal grief.
We hope that no marketer ever has to experience this crisis, but Nicola urges teams to have a plan with the right people at the table, including marketing. She also emphasizes the importance of giving people time and space to grieve in the midst of their work. This is a must-listen episode for leaders and marketers to help you plan as much as possible for the unexpected.
Bonus feature: Later in the episode, what Nicola is "loving now" to stay in the moment and move forward.
In this episode of the Ingenuity Master Series, Communications Consultant Christine Nelson interviews Katie Tolin, Chief Operating Officer at CPA Growth Guides. In this interview these marketers discuss how marketing in professional services is changing. Technology is shaping the way we approach marketing in accounting, as well as other professional services. Gain tips to improve CRM, digital ads, content marketing and virtual networking moving forward.
Virtual networking opportunities are more common than ever before. Christine Nelson, Lead Communications Consultant, and Brooke Visser, Digital Communications Consultant, discuss various ways that professionals can connect with potential clients online through virtual networking tools, such as social media groups and online advertising.
Marketing and business development can easily fall through the cracks for busy professionals. In this episode, Christine Nelson and Dawn Wagenaar discuss convenient ways to nurture current client relationships and build a referral network in less time.
In this episode of the Ingenuity Master Series, Communications Consultant Christine Nelson interviews John Krapek, Education and Outreach Director at American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Minnesota.
Listen to their conversation for communications tips and strategy ideas which have helped John and his team maintain their connection to members and add value in a more virtual environment in 2020 — and possibly beyond.
Few of us in professional services were trained or educated to sell or produce new business, but it has become part of our daily approach to firm and association growth. In recent months, we've realized just how vital those networking opportunities and relationships are to stay in touch with clients, referral sources and our prospects. In this third and final episode of Your Digital Business Development Toolkit series, Communications Consultant Christine Nelson and Ingenuity's Principal Dawn Wagenaar discuss the secrets of successful sales professionals (which ultimately aren't so secret, but require discipline and a change in mindset to reach your goals). We discuss getting started, following up, and applying these tips to professional service firms, to associations and to different professional roles within those industries.
In this episode of our Your Digital Business Development Toolkit series, Natalie Klein and Christine Nelson, Communications Consultants at Ingenuity Marketing Group, discuss some of the myths of firms and associations seeing digital ads as an easy fix to online business development when in fact it's a complex, yet still effective approach when you have strategy behind it aligned with your goals.
In this episode of our Your Digital Business Development Toolkit series, Natalie Klein and Christine Nelson, Communications Consultants at Ingenuity Marketing Group, dive into the big topic of SEO. They discuss why SEO is so vital to your content and the tragedy of what happens when it's not optimized. They discuss:
- What keywords are and why they matter;
- What makes up a strong SEO strategy;
- Creating the user experience on your website;
- Target audiences and personas and more.
In this episode of the Ingenuity Masters Series, we are joined by Art Kuesel of Kuesel Consulting based in Wisconsin. Art was named among the Top 100 Most Influential People in Public Accounting by Accounting Today, and he is the former secretary for the national Association for Accounting Marketing. Interviewed by Dawn Wagenaar, Art shares his insights about what's happening in the accounting industry today, including barriers to firm growth and the role of people vs. technology . Hear about his latest concoction in the kitchen!
In this episode of the Ingenuity Masters Series, we are joined by Melissa Seburg, Senior Marketing Coordinator at TKDA, an employee-owned provider of engineering, architecture, and planning services headquartered in St. Paul, MN. Melissa is an active member with SMPS-MN and is also the incoming president. Interviewed by Dawn Wagenaar, Melissa shares her insights on marketing trends in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, the benefits of membership in industry associations and why a network is so important to career success.
In this episode of the Ingenuity Masters Series, we are joined by Virginia McCoy, Regional Marketing Specialist at H.B. Fuller and President of the Society for Marketing Professional Services – Twin Cities through 2020. Interviewed by Dawn Wagenaar, Virginia shares her insights on marketing trends in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.
In this episode of the Ingenuity Masters Series, we are joined by Christina Camara, master journalist and all-around accounting trends influencer at The Platt Group and INSIDE Public Accounting. Interviewed by Dawn Wagenaar, Chris shared her insights on media trends and how firms leaders can gain visibility and attract talent. Her one big tip? Keep focusing on firm culture.
Following up with your leads and nurturing the relationship is sometimes the area where people fail to indulge. In this episode, Natalie Klein and Dawn Wagenaar discuss the importance of relationships, what to do to continuously nurture them and how you can be most effective in this area.
1:29 The challenges of lead conversion
2:40 Ways to get to know people
3:25 Making time for business development
4:30 Tips for lead conversion
5:23 How to have a conversation with your prospects
6:34 The importance of coaching and sales training
8:42 Digital tools for lead nurturing
In this episode, Natalie Klein and Robert Wasiluk discuss graphic and back-end design. Because people process images faster than words, your communication must be beautiful as well as persuasive. Learn more about current color trends and why the back-end design such as meta descriptions, alt tags, is just as important as graphic design to set you apart from other professionals.
2:00 Importance of page titles and meta descriptions
2:32 Website maintenance, updates and backups
3:02 ADA compliance
4:07 GDPR compliance
5:05 Why you need to clean up that emailing database
5:50 Color trends
In this episode, Natalie Klein and Christine Nelson discuss the search engine optimization (SEO) must-haves and how they pair with delicious content. Learn how SEO is incorporated into content, including ads, eblasts and articles to win eyeballs. Integrating your keywords (you’ve done your keyword research, right?) is what triggers your SEO. No, SEO isn’t dead and you need to be actively participating in the outcomes for healthy SEO.
Referrals online are called social proof. Natalie Klein and Leah Spielman discuss the power of reviews, testimonials and other socializing that create the appetite for your services and yours alone.
Show notes:
1:00 The importance of testimonials and online reviews
2:15 Asking for referrals
3:05 How client surveys can help align your brand promise and client perceptions of your brand.
4:20 Responding to a negative review
5:25 Using testimonials to drive perception
8:03 Getting online reviews – their importance and integrity
12:50 Using reviews to internally assess and improve your customer service model and processes
14:30 How reviews help with talent recruitment