Are you curious about how The Strategic Bookkeeper Transformation Program can help you create a thriving bookkeeping practice so you can live your dream life? In this post, we'll share everything you need to know about the program.
Why did I create this program?
I've been in practice for about 13 years and prior to that, I was in heavy-duty business operations, as in, I helped grow our family business from 10 million to 100 million in turnover. To this day, I am pretty sure if I asked my father what I did there, he'd go scratch his head and say, "I'm not quite sure."
I had the equivalent of a giant broom behind him, and I tidied up, cleaned up every department as I went, and systemised. The point there being that prior to starting my practice, I had a really great background in systemising and SCALING businesses, and I was also raised by iconic Australian entrepreneurs and world-class in the sales and marketing space as well.
My top two human needs are growth and contribution. When I started out in my practice, I started out little. I was having a baby, and I wanted something flexible, but very soon after, I got an itch to do something a little more, and within a short time,
I knew that one day I wanted to take the intellectual property that I was building
and help others – it was a desire that was sparked early on.
Within five years of starting my bookkeeping practice, I had successfully scaled it into a beautiful little boutique lifestyle practice. What that means is, I had created the SYSTEMS, the TEAM, and the beautiful pipeline, in terms of SALES and MARKETING where enquiries would just come through.
I'd say over the years it's gone from good to great, but five years in, I scaled to a LIFESTYLE BUSINESS. From there, I took a massive sabbatical. I won't go into details here, but that trip heightened my desire to help everyone. But specifically, I'm a woman. So I had this burning desire to help women globally achieve true financial independence for themselves.
The next thing is, early on in my journey, I did actually opt into a system built for bookkeepers and I was really excited and I thought, "Yes, I'm going to use this." And at the time, someone within that organisation said, "If you don't fill up your books within a year, then you're not worth your salt. You're not a good bookkeeper."
While I did quite well with sales and marketing within the first year of getting that system, it was despite their system, not because of it. What that person said was, and could be, very damaging. It frightened me – not as much as it did for every other bookkeeper on the planet, but it did.
I realised that their marketing systems were just terrible. The standard operating procedures were good, but the marketing systems were terrible. I think that sparked a desire to actually give bookkeepers the real message. And this is globally recognised –
The skills and experience required to run a successful business
are very different to those required to be a great technical bookkeeper.
How can the program help?
I've been in practice for 13 years, so over the last 13 years I have built a lot of great systems, a lot of great assets, and if you've read my book, you'll know that I called the first five years the f*ck-up years. Opting into the program is really about helping you to avoid more and more f*ck-ups. I've been speaking to bookkeepers lately and they tell me where they're at and things they're doing, and then I give them some information and some help, and they're like, "Holy cow, I just did not know this." And that is part of the program. It is helping you to FAST TRACK your results by:
telling you what you NEED to know,
by helping you IMPLEMENT what you learn, and
by giving you done for you ASSETS, so you don't have to build them yourself.
Three years ago, I made the decision to invest a whole lot more money in testing, measuring, and refining assets with the knowledge that I would do this, that I would launch The Strategic Bookkeeper Transformation Program to benefit many. That is a big thing to know because what I did is, I invested far more time and money than it would be viable for you to do yourself. If you are using my book and podcast, you'll absolutely kick goals, get gains, and get massive value. I would love to hear about it too. I would love for you to tell me how you're going with all of that. But, it is not viable for you to go out and recruit the team that I have recruited to do the things that I have done, and I would not have done it for just my practice. I started this journey three years ago of my 13-year journey because I knew that I was doing it for the many.
So that's a bit of my story as it relates to how I would like to help you.
Next, I would like to let you know that this is NOT a static course or set of manuals. I want you to know that The Strategic Bookkeeper Transformation Program is a live and evolving program. When you get in there, you're going to get the STRATEGIES and the ASSETS. I always like to remind you that these are two big keys. The strategies that you need are really robust detailed strategies, but also the assets, meaning all the collateral.
Think marketing collateral. If you've read my book, you're going to get it done for your brand. You're going to get done for you menu, you're going to get done for you product. That comes into the attraction step of my seven-step method.
The takeaway here is that the program is not static. It's EVOLVING. While you get all that stuff, you can expect me to be there evolving with you. New strategies and assets, updated strategy and assets – designed not to overwhelm, but with carefully released version control.
Who's the program for?
The program is for BOOKKEEPERS and ACCOUNTANTS in practice, It's that simple. Bookkeepers and accountants in practice, that are either established or just starting out. It will suit either. Basically, no matter what stage of business you're in, the program will suit you.
I've worked my bum off to structure it so that it would suit everyone, depending on whether you are a startup or 10 years in. I'm telling you, if you're 10 years in, I'm still going to give you massive, massive value. I've structured the program so you can use it as a bit of a choose your own adventure.
You've got your seven principles. Let's say you are five years in, and have heaps of clients, but you're like, "I need to squeeze more juice out of the orange." And you might say, "Jeannie, I'm just burning with desire, ready for the advisory part." – which is succession. Then, I can help you with how you choose that adventure.
Let's say you are earlier on and the word advisory makes you freeze up like a deer in headlights. Don't worry, I've been there. You are going to get the support to tackle what's going on for you. That's just an example of tailoring the program. I've built it so I can help everyone in a way that allows you to choose your own adventure, get tailored support, and you're going to play the long game with me. We're going to go on a lap around the sun together.
The problems that the program seeks to solve
If you walked up to me at a restaurant or something or a party and you said, "What do you do?" I might say, "I help bookkeepers with SALES, MARKETING, and SYSTEMS." That's what I might say, and I hope that's helpful for you as an overview of what I'm helping you with.
The problems that it seeks to solve are:
how to find new clients,
how to onboard new clients, and
how to retain them without price as a priority
– which is the heart of your viable business.
And the last problem it really seeks to solve is around FUTURE-PROOFING. Again, some of you might go, "Oh, yeah, future proofing, the emperor has no clothes. What the hell does that mean?" Future-proofing is really just about adapting to the economic, tech, and business landscape. As it evolves, your business, your services, and your productised services need to evolve as well.
A good example of that is you think, 13 years ago, we did a lot more grunt work that now technology does. Over 13 years, we've adapted and evolved our productised services to that changing tech landscape. Now, advisory is a piece of that puzzle, and I would love to help you to move into that space but I am not going to throw you in the deep end. If you come into the program and say, "Jeannie, I never want to do advisory." I can still help you, but I'm probably going to keep tapping you on the shoulder and seeing if I can get you to put your toe in the water, but no deep end. I'm not going to throw you in the deep end.
But this word advisory is a yucky word that has lots of mystery and fear around it. I'm going to demystify it because I've built a system. This is an advisory system built by a bookkeeper for bookkeepers. If you come in and you trust me and you let me hold your hand a little, I'm going to be able to get you to practice some of it to a point where you're comfortable to actually try it with a client. But basically, those are the three problems that the program seeks to solve. Now, everything else that it seeks to solve is more of a symptom of you not solving that problem. For example, "Jeanie, I need to fix price." That's a symptom of something. Why do you need to fix price? This kind of thing. I could play the why game on that, but we'll move on.
As I said, this is about sales, marketing, and systems, and I have given you a full-package solution. The next thing I would like to talk to you about, briefly, is your COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, and everyone needs a competitive advantage. In fact, I would suggest that you are retaining the clients that you have now because of your selling points and your competitive advantage. You might just not really have dived into what they are because they can be quite vast, but when you come into the program, I certify you as a strategic bookkeeper, and you get a badge, and you become a strategic bookkeeper in the eyes of your clients with a set of strategies and assets.
That alone becomes an amazing competitive advantage. We actually list you in a directory as well, but I'm not going to get into that here because, as I said, I want to avoid overwhelm. We are also going to give you other things that give you a massive competitive advantage, which are strategies and assets that you can use and then display – PLUG-AND-PLAY ASSETS. What that means is that you're going to be able to take the assets that I give you and you're going to be able to plug them into your digital ecosystem. For example, your digital ecosystem is your website and your social media profiles primarily. You're going to be able to plug them in, and then I'll give you the strategy on how to use them and go to market with them. All of this is going to give you a massive competitive advantage, selling points, unique selling proposition, which means you have the opportunity to never lose an opportunity to a cheaper competitor ever again.
Now, there's actually ONE strategy that I developed only this year or late last year because I was looking at the business landscape and going, "Wow." Over a few changes. I reflected on my 50 years in business from when my father opened when I was one year old, and there's an old-school strategy that he had, and I never thought that I would renovate it to use in our industry, and yet I did because of the changing business landscape. I've created this strategy, and I actually cannot tell you what it is because it's in the vault for the members of the program. But, this one is such a powerful, incredible competitive advantage – completely transformational that I've made a decision to keep it just for the members of the program, but to rinse and repeat, it will allow you to never lose an opportunity to a cheaper competitor ever again, unless you decide that prospective client is not right for you.
Imagine that a cheaper competitor goes, "I'm cheaper." And that often you face, "This person's cheaper, and it's just bookkeeping. It's a grudge purchase. I'll go with them." I'm giving you strategies and assets to make sure that person comes back to you, values you, and has another conversation with you.
The program structure
The next thing I would like to tell you about, it's more into the details of what and the structure. I am a trainer and assessor. I have a real passion for delivering adult learning. So you will notice if you've met me or you've seen me speak, even on my podcast, you might notice, I can get a bit teachery when you see me face-to-face in events. I am looking and I'm testing to see if you are absorbing knowledge.
The what is the SEVEN STEPS: Brand, menu, attraction, conversion, succession, systems, and team. I've got a file system. As you can imagine, you might call it a server, and it contains all the strategies and the assets. We've got all that there, and it's ready to provide to you to plug-and-play.
It's a 12-month program that is largely SELF-PACED. So there's a structure, and I'll be in there with you. You'll get the course material, and then I'll be in there every fortnight with you doing COACHING and IMPLEMENTATION SESSIONS and making it all work. Because it's one thing to give people knowledge or throw them in a Facebook group, but it's another to actually get results.
My program also comes with a MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Join the program waitlist and you'll get to know more about it, obligation-free. You'll get all the details, no strings attached.
So, the program – you'll move through it super fast. But even if you move through it super fast, here's one thing I will tell you: Any transformation in business or even in your personal life, normally takes a lap around the sun – a year. It's almost cosmic.
When you set a big goal, here's what I see happening: I might set a personal goal, just like a business goal. Often, I kick that goal pretty quick because I come up with a goal action steps and I swing into action. Before you know it, I'm doing really well, but here's what I know: I know that once I've kicked the goal, there's the practice makes perfect or practice makes progress, and there's the bedding that habit down. You've achieved something, but it's about achieving it daily in our lives and actually making it something that's PERMANENT. I really know this with all my heart, and I also know that when I work with my clients, when I get them to have this mindset of the LAP AROUND THE SUN, what happens is on day one, when everything seems like, "Wow, here's where I am now." And you've got questions and all these things, then a year later, after we've worked together consistently, I actually have to remind you where you were because you can't even remember.
Now, that doesn't happen after a week, a month, or three months. It does take a lap around the sun to make that transformation, I guess, from caterpillar to butterfly. It really does take that lap around the sun. Can you move through the program quickly and get results? Yes, as I have structured both the program and the fee – I've structured it so that you'll get a return on investment and kick goals incrementally throughout the year. To get the fee structure, hop on to the waitlist, but definitely, I imagine that within six months you're like, "Yeah, I've got this." And then the last six months is really a lot of just that refinement, tweaking, and testing. After a year, I consider that you have graduated, just like you've graduated school.
There are five things that I believe make this program work in a holistic way to get you results. They are education, assets, implementation, team, and support.
EDUCATION: You need to know what you need to know first. I speak to bookkeepers, and they tell me what they know and I go, "No, can I tell you what I do?" And they're like, "What? I could do that." I'm like, "Yeah, you could." And the impact on your business and life would be massive. I'm going to educate you. I'm going to tell you what you need to know. How am I going to do that? You're going to have access to online course material, and then every fortnight (at this stage), as part of that education, you've got sessions with me – group sessions where I am coaching you, and supporting you, and helping you to implement what you learn.
ASSETS: You're going to get a suite of assets. You'll get the assets, but then what do you do?
IMPLEMENTATION: We're going to teach you what you need to know, give you the assets, and then we are going to show you in both live sessions and in the course material how to implement the assets and use the strategy. That's really important, and that's a big part of that lap around the sun because we want to keep helping you. After you've implemented, it's about the practice makes progress, practice makes perfect. After that lap around the sun, you can't even remember the time that you didn't get it quite right because it's working now.
TEAM: Remember earlier I said that three years ago I made the decision to invest a lot of time and money into a team to help me refine, build, and bed down all of the assets and strategies that I'm now giving you? I have a team that a bookkeeping practice could not conceivably recruit and make viable. What I mean by that is, you could absolutely go out and recruit them, even if you've got, say, 10 on your team. You could go out and recruit them, but the investment in that team – you would struggle as one bookkeeper to get the return needed to make it viable.
SUPPORT: When you join the transformation program, you get my team, and you get them in this way. First of all, you've got me as a bookkeeper coaching you, someone that's been there, done that, and I'm in there in those live sessions coaching you, and I have provided you with all of that education in the course material, but you get me. You also get my world-class marketing strategist. She was the last person that I onboarded into the team, and what I called the missing link. I looked in every country in the world. I recruited globally, and I only got a handful of applicants. That's how specialty her skill is as a marketing strategist. So you'll get me, along with a world-class marketing strategist, and then you've got our branding and graphics person behind the scenes there, building out and updating a lot of your assets. You've also got someone behind the scenes who's narrowly focused on standard operating procedures and team, as I see systems and team as standalone. With systems and team, I have got a dedicated person that will treat that separately and help you to implement the done-for-you standard operating procedures, recruit, and manage winning teams, and she's extraordinary. You get the entire team there to support you.
I've already mentioned the money-back guarantee, and I do think it's better that I give you the details of that when you join the waitlist, but it's pretty simple. Basically, the fee structure for the program – the investment – is so easy to get the return on. In fact, I know that if you onboard just one new client, it'll pay for itself. Or if you onboard one and upgrade one, then it will not only pay for itself, the profit margin fully under managed with the team, it would pay for itself. All you've got to do is achieve that. I know that you've got your money back.
If you can't achieve your return and investment, money-back guarantee. There is so much more I could go into, but I feel like I've given you a really good overview.
I do have some FOUNDATION MEMBERS special offers to celebrate the launch of the program. I'm going to do a separate explanation for this but right now, I just want to really encourage you to jump on the waitlist for The Strategic Bookkeeper Transformation Program, because that does not oblige you to join. What it does is it SECURES your place in the queue, so you don't miss out.
I would love nothing more than to help you become a strategic bookkeeper and thrive in practice, to achieve your dream on your terms through my transformation program.
See you soon.
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