I Love Bookkeeping

Did you have a mentor? If so, are you making the most out of their guiding hand? What have you learned from them so far? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss why they believe having a mentor is key to developing and fulfilling your potential. They also reveal how you can find your own mentor and build a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. Hannah and Melissa both agree on why everybody should have a mentor. Hannah asks Melissa whether she has an official mentor. Melissa reveals how she found her mentor and how she has been instrumental in the growth of her business. Melissa and Hannah explore the difference between having a mentor and a business coach. Melissa describes the three fundamental qualities she looks for in a mentor and she also explains why it’s never a good idea to take advice from just anybody. Hannah breaks down the standout traits that define a good mentor. Hannah and Melissa describe their experience with mentors early on in their careers. Melissa also shares how a m

Does your business need a referral partner? Should you even be building referral relationships with other bookkeepers in your space? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their thoughts on why and how you can build mutually-beneficial referral relationships with other service providers in your space. Melissa starts off by explaining who an official referral partner is and why you need a signed document that clearly states what you'll both get from the relationship. Melissa describes the types of referral partners she has in the painting sphere. She also reveals her process of identifying potential partners and the best places to find them. When asked about her social media marketing strategy, Hannah explains how she primarily focuses on potential buyers and not people who are only interested in her content. Melissa reveals how she landed their biggest referral partner and how they've benefited from the relationship so far. Hannah discusses easy-to-implement ideas on overcoming the fear of reaching

When should you hire an employee and when should you go for a contractor? Co-hosts Melissa Honan and Hannah Robinson discuss what to consider and what business owners can do to build great relationships with their contractors. Melissa discusses the differences between a contractor and an employee. According to Melissa, oftentimes, the first hire is trying to find a contractor for your bookkeeping business. That’s followed by you hiring a virtual assistant. Melissa talks about the subcontractor-based model and the employee-based model, which of the two is not sustainable in the long run, and goes over the approach she uses in her own bookkeeping business. Hannah shares when she believes most bookkeeping businesses are going to need a contractor. For Melissa, welcoming contractors into your company culture and treating them as if they were actual employees is an excellent way to get them to stick around and work with you longer – even if they aren’t helping you in quite the full-time capacity. Melissa breaks d

The Workflow Queen, Alyssa Lang, joins co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan to discuss whether you should be a leader or a boss, and how to build a great relationship with your employees. Hannah asks Alyssa what are some things she does to have boundaries with her employees while also maintaining the fact that Alyssa is the boss. For Alyssa, the biggest tactic is not being scared to be exactly, and authentically, who she needs to be as a boss. Alyssa believes in not wanting to be someone’s boss, but rather their leader, and being a leader that joins everyone’s unique abilities together. Alyssa shares a big challenge she faces from time to time: “Am I a leader or a boss right now?” She discusses the fact that there are days where it isn’t easy for her to be the leader she would like to be, and not a demanding boss. Melissa has had a team member that always came up with big, visionary ideas. Whenever that happened, she used to be quite reactionary; whereas now she uses a different approach to address the

Should you have your camera on or off during zoom meetings? Do the benefits of having your camera turned on in a zoom meeting outweigh the drawbacks? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss a hugely contentious topic regarding zoom meetings: camera on or camera off. They go through zoom etiquette tips to help you decide when it's appropriate to have your camera turned on as well as the pros and cons of turning on your video for zoom meetings. Hannah reveals why she doesn't like turning on video for zoom meetings - and the reason she believes being on camera is taxing, stressful, and unnecessary. Mellisa explains why more than 90% of people keep looking at themselves during video calls. Hannah recounts the never told story of how the first episode of the show was an absolute disaster and how their editors made them rerecord the episode. Mellisa shares her thoughts on why you should always have your video on – and she also goes through some ingenious strategies introverts can use to get comfortable

What should bookkeepers think about and actually do to help their clients save money? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their thoughts, pet peeves, and advice when it comes to saving your clients some of their money. Melissa shares that she’s skilled at being frugal and helping her clients save money. When asked about pricing, Melissa confirms that her bookkeeping business has higher pricing compared to other ones. For Melissa, having a toolbox of how to save clients some of their money is going to have an impact on your pricing. Melissa discusses a service she provides that she refers to as ‘her favorite thing to do’ – this is something any bookkeeper can do without having much tax knowledge. Education people don’t actually implement is one of the biggest money wasters, according to Melissa. Hannah asks Melissa what’s one thing she believes one shouldn’t try to cut corners about. Melissa shares her frustration with people constantly switching CRM tools. Hannah talks about something she often

What should you consider and do to manage expectations, especially during the onboarding process? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss the role onboarding has in the entire sales process, how to share your expectations with existing and new clients, and how to act when things don’t go well. Melissa explains why, in her opinion, the onboarding time is actually the most important time of a relationship with a client – and what you should do during onboarding. Hannah asks Melissa at what time you should communicate your expectations to a client… and her answer is simple, yet, powerful: the entire time. Melissa shares a recent update she made for her proposal at Bookkeeping for Painters. Melissa opens up about the way she communicates her expectations to new clients. Melissa touches upon a question she has been asked a lot lately: “What are the biggest red flags you see in your bookkeeping clients?”. Hannah and Melissa talk about a big mistake many business owners make when it comes to communicatin

How should you go about pre-qualifying sales leads? And why should you do that in the first place? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their thoughts and experiences of the good, the bad, and the ugly of attracting and working with clients. Hannah thinks that narrowing down who’s going to be a good client for you is key, especially when you’re starting out. Melissa strongly recommends against trying to close every single person out of desperation like she did when she started out. Melissa explains how her bookkeeping for painters business has a funnel that, in addition to painters, attracts other professionals like plumbers and roofers. She wouldn’t have but her husband Daniel took the lead in making sure the business only served painters and would send others away. Melissa talks about the red flags potential clients will say when you ask the right questions during a discovery call – but also if you don’t ask them. The biggest red flag, says Melissa, is when a potential client says they have had

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about the 3 key principles of an effective sales process, as well as some tools you can use to make your own sales process a more efficient one. [1:33] Hannah asks Melissa what’s something that each of her sales processes have in common. [3:57] For Melissa, crafting an effective sales process starts with the desire to make sales easy. [6:08] Melissa shares a pet peeve she has when it comes to scheduling meetings. [9:14] Melissa believes that making it as easy as possible for someone to sign up for a free consultation is key. And she discusses what she asks in the form her prospects have to fill out. [11:08] Hannah talks about how she goes about buying and touches upon something that she considers a game changer when it comes to sales processes. [12:04] Melissa talks about the importance of putting yourself in a prospect’s or client’s shoes and actually going through your own sales process to experience it as they would. [13:28] Melissa shares her biggest takeawa

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss how to communicate value, the role your mindset plays, and they share an exercise that will help you better articulate what you do in a way that’s clear and attracts customers. [1:14] Even though, in this episode, the topic of communicating value is addressed from the perspective of entrepreneurs and bookkeeping business owners, Hannah believes that it can be applied pretty much anywhere concerning your workplace and relationships. [1:43] Hannah believes that one of the first things you should do is identify what your value is and identify your promise to your clients. For Melissa, this is one of the reasons why having a niche matters. [2:09] In Melissa’s opinion, the value communication process starts with doing an internal audience. [3:52] Melissa talks about her “features, benefits and check questions” exercise. [7:47] Hannah asks Melissa how she goes about communicating value while looking more confident to a potential client even when imposter’s syndrome

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan go over their favorite children’s shows to have on in the background while working, and discuss Disney movies and characters that have left a mark. [0:42] The children’s show Melissa has on while she’s working is The Octonauts. Hannah is one of those people who can’t stand silence – Law & Order SVU and Grey’s Anatomy are the “comfort shows” she typically has in the background. [1:37] Melissa talks about a couple of moments in which tv shows shattered her heart. [2:32] Melissa and Hannah share their own “toxic traits” when it comes to watching TV. [3:56] Melissa shares a funny little anecdote about living in San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua. [6:50] Melissa and Hannah rank their top Disney movies and talk about Disney princesses and characters. [12:16] The co-hosts go over Disney movies they didn’t like as well as other movies that left a mark on them and that they still think about decades later.     Mentioned in this episode: @BookkeepersDotCom (Bookkeepers.com on I

What are different ways you can communicate in a more effective way? And how can you ensure that, as a business owner, your team members feel valued, and instill a great communication mentality in your company? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss how to communicate more effectively as a business owner in different contexts – including with people you don’t really like. [0:44] Hannah and Melissa – who have been working with a communication consultant for almost two years now – find the topic of this episode to be one of their favorites. [2:14] Melissa believes that the art of communication is something we all constantly work on and have room for improvement for it. [2:59] Hannah breaks down the four main types of communication: verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual. [4:52] The co-hosts both admit to struggling with non-verbal communication. [7:31] For Melissa, communicating effectively and respectfully are both equally important. [7:56] Hannah sees professionalism as key. Whether you’re listen

How can you leverage time blocking and better organize your calendar to “aggressively” defend your personal life? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their top tips and resources you can rely on and make sure that you get the most out of your time for both your personal and professional life. [1:02] Melissa believes that a great way to “aggressively” defend your personal life is to follow five tips for creating a work-life balance calendar and to let technology assist you in that. [1:53] For Melissa, the first step is to create your ideal, so you need to think about your availability for work, then set it in your calendar app (in Melissa’s case, that’s AcuityScheduling). [3:48] When it comes to setting your availability for meetings and running meetings, Melissa suggests having padding on both ends so that your work days start and end at the times you would want them to. [4:40] Creating your schedule is something you need to figure out and take different aspects into consideration. Melissa, for i

In this episode, co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss how to be a better boss – why you should look at your past “horrible bosses,” and what to consider and do to create a company culture your employees will love and that increases their retention. [0:45] Hannah sees this episode being perfect for those looking to expand their practice, as well as for those who already have done or want to do it down the road. [1:26] Melissa shares something she struggles with: she doesn’t like to think of herself as or being called “the boss.” She also warns that if you run a company and think that you’ll just be “one of the guys,” you’re mistaken. You’re the boss and are going to be seen and treated as such. [2:25] For Hannah, having the boss' personality, in the sense of being naturally drawn to take charge of a project, is something that can be seen already from childhood – it was like this for her. Not everyone has that type of personality, though. [3:04] Thinking about the kind of boss you’d want to have a

Parenthood is one of the most life-changing experiences but what does it actually mean to be a working mom? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about some of the challenges of being a working mom and share some tips on how to have a better work-life balance as well as how to feel proud being a mother. [1:16] Hannah isn’t a working mom but Melissa is – she has two kids, ages 4 and 2. She doesn’t consider herself a good parent to use as a case-study for the fact that she’s pretty free-range. [5:33] Melissa shares that it isn’t easy being a working mom and having good balance between work and motherhood, and that she did most of the things wrong, when it comes to work-life balance. [10:07] Hannah believes that a lot of mothers can relate to Melissa’s story. [12:21] Melissa discusses having lost the ability to continue with a thought outside of a 60-second window. If she happens to get distracted by her children, whatever she was thinking about is gone, and it will come back to her a few hours later.

What does it actually mean to work with your partner or spouse? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their thoughts, advice and experience to help you make sure that, if you work with your partner, you keep animosity to the minimum and that you definitely don’t take it home with you. [0:56] Hannah asks Melissa at which time of her marriage she began working with her husband. Melissa shares that she got invited by her husband to join the business after she had gotten very overwhelmed, and unhappy, about a sales job she was doing at the time. [3:13] Melissa and her husband worked together for about a year because she got pregnant and developed some complications. Two years later, her husband deployed for a longer period of time and this pushed Melissa to come back, this time, in a more administrative role, before a set of circumstances led her to step in as the CEO. [6:23] A loud-talker by her own admission, Melissa doesn’t share her workspace with her husband, though they have tried. [7:28] Hannah

In this new episode of the Work-Life Balance Series, co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan touch upon different strategies business owners can leverage to actually set boundaries, protect themselves, their time, and their business. [1:09] Hannah feels as if this Work-Life Balance Series has come at a perfect time, especially since it covers something she’s been struggling with herself. It has been helpful for both her and Melissa. [2:16] For Hannah, the topic at hand is a little controversial and it has shown a generational difference. On the one hand, there’s the older generation who didn’t believe in boundaries as much. On the other hand, there’s the new generation that has the topic of finding work-life balance closer to their heart. [3:24] Melissa sees a connection between setting boundaries and delegating. One of the reasons people don’t delegate is the assumption that they will be seen as lazy if they essentially put their work off on other people. Younger generations see the difference between del

The Workflow Queen Alyssa Lang joins co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan to discuss the role of work-life balance, why it’s a good habit, and the way it has shaped her company and team members. [2:21] Alyssa shares where her passion for great white sharks comes from, and discusses how she hasn’t been able to go shark cage diving, yet. [3:50] Alyssa started her bookkeeping and taxes firm six years ago, before ending it in February of 2020. She started Workflow Queen on Valentine’s Day of the same year when she found out that many other bookkeepers and accountants also struggled with trying to create systems and processes, hiring people, and getting support, just like Alyssa did. In January of 2022, she partnered with her Workflow Queen operations manager to start a new bookkeeping firm. [5:30] Alyssa isn’t sure that she has mastered work-life balance just yet. [6:34] When starting her first business, Alyssa had no idea about the importance of systems and processes – now, though, with her new business, s

How do you go about setting boundaries? When and how should you add boundaries in your business)? Co-Hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan dive into the world of boundaries, share their importance and go over some situations you may find yourself in – and how to navigate them. [0:23] Melissa discusses how she went about things when she got started with her business. [2:13] Hannah talks about something she struggled with in regards to productivity for networkers. [2:54] Hannah asks Melinda what was one thing she wasn't willing to compromise. [3:23] Melissa goes over the first thing she does when trying to work with somebody on time management is having them create their ideal work schedule. [7:32] For Melissa, setting boundaries is something that should be taken care of right off the bat – and she shares an example of how she deals with that in her business. [13:38] Hannah and Melissa touch upon the issue of trying to set boundaries after the relationship with a client has already been established – and the

Processes are something every bookkeeping business needs. But how do you go about creating and leveraging them? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan interview Content Snare Co-Founder James (Jimmy) Rose – they discuss systems, automation, tech stack, and “shortcuts” that will help bookkeepers win time back and better streamline their workflow. [0:41] Brisbane-based Jimmy Rose is the Co-Founder of Content Snare, a software platform that helps bookkeepers collect information and documents from clients. A former automation engineer, he now focuses on helping business owners regain their lives and be more productive. [2:19] Hannah asks Jimmy what made him want to pivot away from running a digital marketing and web design agency. [3:48] Based on his experience and conversations with bookkeepers, Jimmy sees wasted time chasing clients for documents or similar as the biggest pain-point for bookkeepers. [6:07] For Jimmy, even after asking for client documents there may be challenges, as those documents may be f