{"id":7034134,"date":"2026-08-08T20:29:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/accounting\/stop-copying-other-accountants-without-thinking-first\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:29:22","slug":"stop-copying-other-accountants-without-thinking-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134","title":{"rendered":"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Are you ever tempted to follow the apparent example of other accountants you see online or meet at events?<\/p>\n

There is nothing inherently wrong with learning from another practice. The problem begins when observation turns into imitation without first considering whether the same approach makes sense for you.<\/p>\n

No two accountants are the same. We each bring a different combination of background, experience, preferences, clients, training, ability, ambition and available time. Your practice is shaped by those factors, just as the practices you admire are shaped by theirs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth remembering that you may be comparing the reality of your practice with someone else\u2019s carefully curated version of theirs. People naturally share the successes that help build their reputation. That doesn\u2019t always reflect what\u2019s happening behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

The dozens of interviews I\u2019ve conducted for my podcast have reinforced this point. Many guests have spoken candidly about struggles and setbacks that would never have been apparent from their LinkedIn profiles or social media posts.<\/p>\n

All of which confirms that a tactic which works well for one accountant may produce very different results for another.<\/p>\n

Look beyond the visible activity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before copying what another accountant has done, apply the same professional judgement you use every day with clients.<\/p>\n

What factors made that activity successful for them? Do you share those advantages? Are they serving the same type of clients? Do you have the same skills, resources and appetite for the work involved?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see the visible part of somebody else\u2019s strategy. It\u2019s much harder to see the conditions that sit behind it.<\/p>\n

Take accountants who post daily on LinkedIn or other social media platforms. From the outside, that consistency may appear to be evidence of a successful marketing strategy. It may be, but that conclusion shouldn\u2019t be automatic.<\/p>\n

They may genuinely enjoy writing and find it much easier than you do. They may have more time available. They may employ someone to help them.<\/p>\n

They may already have a sizeable network that gives their content greater reach. Or they may simply have different objectives, such as maintaining visibility rather than generating immediate client enquiries.<\/p>\n

Equally, they may be achieving far less than their activity suggests.<\/p>\n

Few accountants publish an honest account of the hours invested, the opportunities missed or the disappointing results. Visible activity can create an impression of success that is impossible to verify.<\/p>\n

And when a particular tactic fails to deliver the clients they hoped for, many simply move quietly on to the next idea.<\/p>\n

Activity is not the same as progress<\/strong><\/p>\n

I saw a version of this more than ten years ago with Twitter.
Large numbers of accountants signed up and were initially very active. There was a widespread belief that this was where new business relationships would be formed and new clients would be found.<\/p>\n

For some, that proved true. For many others, the enthusiasm didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n

After a relatively short period, they discovered that Twitter wasn\u2019t helping them reach the people they wanted to reach. It wasn\u2019t generating the referrals or recommendations they had expected and certainly wasn\u2019t producing the clients they needed.<\/p>\n

The problem wasn\u2019t necessarily Twitter. It was the lack of thought before committing significant time to it.<\/p>\n

Some accountants joined simply because other accountants were there. They confused popularity with suitability.<\/p>\n

A little critical analysis at the outset might have saved a considerable amount of time. More importantly, it might have helped them focus much sooner on activities with a greater chance of producing the results they wanted.<\/p>\n

The same question applies today to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and even Linkedin.<\/p>\n

My podcast interviews suggest that many accountants are active on these platforms because they feel they ought to be. Some even pay others to maintain that presence. Yet relatively few point to a steady flow of new clients that can be directly attributed to their social media activities.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m certainly not against social media. But I do advocate thinking first about what you want to achieve and where your target audience is most likely to engage with you. Very few accountants need to be active across every platform.<\/p>\n

Ask what must be true<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I\u2019m working with an accountant who\u2019s considering a new marketing activity, I\u2019m usually reluctant to answer the question, \u201cDoes this work?\u201d
Almost any sensible marketing activity can work under the right conditions.<\/p>\n

The more useful question is, \u201cWhat would need to be true for this to work for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

You may need access to a particular audience. You may need the ability to produce useful content consistently. You may need patience, because the results will take time. You may need a clear proposition so that people understand why they should contact you rather than another accountant.<\/p>\n

If those conditions aren\u2019t present, copying the tactic is unlikely to create them.<\/p>\n

This is the step many busy accountants skip. They move straight from seeing an idea to implementing it without considering the assumptions on which its success depends.<\/p>\n

Learn from others without becoming them<\/strong><\/p>\n

By all means continue to pay attention to what other accountants are doing. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and there is little merit in refusing to learn from the experience of others.<\/p>\n

But learning and copying are not the same thing.<\/p>\n

At the end of every meeting of my online Sole Practice Club, I invite members to share their key learning points and the actions they\u2019ll take before our next meeting. They are often inspired by each other\u2019s experiences. What they don\u2019t do is blindly replicate someone else\u2019s marketing activity. They recognise that understanding why something worked is far more valuable than simply copying what they did.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the distinction that matters.<\/p>\n

The purpose of studying another accountant\u2019s approach is not to reproduce it exactly. It\u2019s to understand why it may have worked, identify which parts are relevant to your own practice and adapt them intelligently. This also applies to almost every topic we discuss at the Club.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also why, in 1-2-1- conversations I also suggest that before committing time to any new tactic, accountants need to consider the clients you want to attract, the strengths you bring, the resources you have available and the type of practice you\u2019re trying to build. And, only after having done that, to decide whether the activity supports those objectives.<\/p>\n

The right strategy is rarely the one that appears most popular. It\u2019s the one that makes sense for you and your practice and that you\u2019re prepared to implement consistently enough to give it a fair chance.<\/p>\n

Copying may feel quicker. Thinking first usually saves far more time than it costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you ever tempted to follow the apparent example of other accountants you see online or meet at events? There is nothing inherently wrong with learning from another practice. The problem begins when observation turns into imitation without first considering whether the same approach makes sense for you. No two accountants are the same. We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11759],"tags":[12717,79905,1403,5594],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7034134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accounting","tag-accountants","tag-copying","tag-stop","tag-thinking"],"yoast_head":"\nStop copying other accountants without thinking first - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you ever tempted to follow the apparent example of other accountants you see online or meet at events? There is nothing inherently wrong with learning from another practice. The problem begins when observation turns into imitation without first considering whether the same approach makes sense for you. No two accountants are the same. We […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T20:29:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-08T20:29:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\"},\"wordCount\":1145,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Accountants\",\"Copying\",\"Stop\",\"Thinking\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Accounting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\",\"name\":\"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-08T20:29:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Are you ever tempted to follow the apparent example of other accountants you see online or meet at events? There is nothing inherently wrong with learning from another practice. The problem begins when observation turns into imitation without first considering whether the same approach makes sense for you. No two accountants are the same. We […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2026-08-08T20:29:22+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first","datePublished":"2026-08-08T20:29:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134"},"wordCount":1145,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Accountants","Copying","Stop","Thinking"],"articleSection":["Accounting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134","name":"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-08-08T20:29:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7034134#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stop copying other accountants without thinking first"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7034134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7034134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7034134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7034134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7034134"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=7034134"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=7034134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}