Tag: Bicknell Business Advisers

Bicknell Business Advisers – Now on VoIP

We like to implement the latest technology so that we can work in better ways with our clients and to make communication better we have just installed RingCentral.

Our new main office number is 01202 025252 but we also have all the other great features of RingCentral including Video calls, Conference Calls and messaging, on all our devices. Take a look at this video to find out more about RingCentral.

SteveJBicknell Blog gets 450,000 hits with over 9,000 followers

Yes, its true, our blog has been read over 450,000 times, keep reading and help us to reach the half a million mark.

We now have over 9,000 followers and we have made 804 post.

Google has become our best friend and is the source of around 94% of our visitors.

That’s pretty impressive for a blog about accounting and tax!

What’s more, we don’t pay to boost posts or use any other ways to gain advantage, we just post content that our followers and readers value.

Our blog was started to help business owners resolve common issues, its purpose is to help people and to explain how tax works and where the problem areas are. Its designed to give complete answers, rather than ‘here’s a problem, now contact us for the answer’ . We want readers to be able to resolve basic and common problems themselves for free and if their problems are more complex or they need extra help then to contact us or their own accountant.

We don’t ask subscribers and followers to pay and we don’t sell advertising.

So why do we bother?

  1. We really do want to help people, why should tax and accounting be a black art, lets help everyone to understand it
  2. By helping you, we also increase our own knowledge and understanding – so we all learn together
  3. The 804 posts are a huge resource for anyone seeking the solution to a problem
  4. Our blogs are a great reference source as we generally have links to the specific HMRC rules and helpsheets, we often quote our blogs when our clients ask about an issue they face
  5. We enjoy writing them

What lessons have we learned from blogging?

  • Always have a picture
  • Choose a good title for the URL
  • Post regularly

Did you know…

  • There are more than 1.5 billion blogs
  • The majority of blog readers are aged 18 to 36
  • Most people read more than 5 blogs per day
  • Most bloggers share their blogs on social media

steve@bicknells.net

 

What is your plan for 2017?

Business Diagram

Now 2017 is in full swing, its time you thought about your business plan.

Before you do anything, sit down and think about

  1. How and where your income will come from
  2. What your Costs and Profit will be
  3. What your cash requirements are
  4. Which business structure will work for you and assess what tax you will need to pay

If you have a plan statistics show you are likely to make 20% more profit!

 

accountants-smaller

steve@bicknells.net

Where can you find a trusted professional?

An overworked office worker

The internet is full of sites that allow you to search a list of ‘trusted’ experts and get quotes.

But you are choosing from a select few who have decided to pay for leads, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best choice.

Most organisations will have google recommendations and feedback which does help although some sites only show positive feedback.

I have recently came across http://www.bark.com

The Association of UK Accountants has recently partnered with Bark.

“People turn to Bark every day to find pros to help them with everything from lawn mowing to legal representation,” says Bark cofounder Kai Feller. “We’re committed to finding the highest quality professionals for our users, and this new partnership with the Association of UK Accountants will make it even easier for us to help entrepreneurs throughout the UK find quality business accountants.”

Bark How it works

 

There are lots of great things about Bark

  1. It shows Google Reviews
  2. Its not limited just to a select few who have paid to be on the list
  3. You get multiple quotes and a price guide

Bark BBA

steve@bicknells.net

 

10 reasons why 9,966 people read this blog last month?

Blog Technical Squares

I have been blogging regularly for a few years now and last week http://www.stevejbicknell.com reached a staggering 200,000 hits and its growing in popularity every day, here are the Statistics for 2015, these are monthly numbers of views and the number that came to blog via a search engine.

Blog Stats

I think its impressive that most of the hits are driven by being found in search engines, thank you Google!

I also have a large base of followers who get my blogs by e mail or follow the blog on wordpress.

So why do people read my blog?

  1. Useful Content – I learned a long time ago that if you want followers and readers you have to write about things that will interest as wider audience as possible. My blog is about Accounting and Tax, which you might think is boring but it does affect everyone, we all pay tax! and there is plenty to blog about.
  2. Accurate Content – Its important to get the content right but even if you do make a mistake you can bet your life someone will tell you. Fortunately most readers are very helpful and will also contribute suggestions.
  3. Regular Posts – you have to post regularly, I post 2 or 3 times a week, I prepare them in advance and schedule them
  4. Variety – I try cover a wide variety of topics and my audience appreciate it, I even get special requests
  5. Pictures – Blogs without pictures, charts and graphics are boring
  6. Share – Post your blogs every where on Social Media and encourage others to do the same
  7. Pick a good title – The title will be found by search engines so try to think about what someone might search for
  8. Video – You Tube has plenty and most people would love you to link to their video as it will increase their hits as well as yours
  9. Infographics – I love infographics and I try to create my own when I have time
  10. Keep it simple – Lets face it Tax is complicated, so I try not to make the blogs too complicated otherwise I will lose followers

steve@bicknells.net

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