Ummbrella: The Growth Agency

No…this is not a million dollar artwork. It’s just a boring photo. And guess what? That’s ok. It doesn’t matter. The reason for posting is that I speak to plenty of people who fear posting on LinkedIn - as they’re concerned with how they’ll be perceived. There’s a belief that people will judge you harshly and therefore your LinkedIn posts need to be perfect and ultra professional. Well, I think that’s ‘bananas’!! You see, it doesn’t matter if I get 2 or 100 likes on this post - it’s just a post. My world is not going to change from sharing a boring banana photo.🙂 If you’ve been worried about posting on LinkedIn, I hope this helps. I encourage you to not overthink it and to commit to posting something (anything) this week. Go well. 👍 * Note: If someone from Sotheby’s has a billionaire buyer for my banana photo. I’m open to outrageous offers.

Researching accountants, auditors, and advisers with large LinkedIn followings - we found 'top-voices'; firm founders and leaders; Instagram-style content producers; freelancers; tech evangelists, and much more. There's a fantastically diverse mix of personalities, approaches, and content - which is obviously resonating with audiences. Do your LinkedIn feed a favour and follow: Adam Powick, Deloitte (34,943)  Joseph Owolabi, Rubicola (32,535) Michael Hutchens, Modano (31,393)  Jason Andrew, SBO Financial & Arbour Group (26,309)  Gavin Bottrell, Chartered Accountants & Financial Services (26,907)  Thomas Caldow, Grant Thornton (23,386)  Heather Smith, ANISE Consulting (21,925)  David Hill, Deloitte (18,529)  Tyler Caskey, TheBeanCounters (16,696)  Simon Chhoeu, Bentleys NSW (16,645)  Kev Ryan, KevRyan (15,123)  Christian Miles, Grant Thornton (12,783)  Tim Aman, BDO (12,737) Steven Watson, National Audits Group (12,162)  Terry Paule, Findex (10,944)   Kevin Burrowes, PwC (10,807)  David P Sofrà, KMPG (10,746) Paul Meissner, 5ways Group Chartered Accountants (10,349)  Andrew J Yates, KMPG (9,243)  James Marshall, MWM Advisory (8,871)  Andrew Conway, IPA Group (8,638)  Simon Lu, Trusted Clients (8,579)  Meryl Johnston, Bean Ninjas (8,452)  Brad Turville, Turville Advisory (8,408)  Ainslie van Onselen, CAANZ (8,383)  Greg Keith , Grant Thornton (8,039)  Joyce Ong, Tax Nuggets Academy (7,788)  James Jobson, Nuwaru (7,465)  Paul Robson, MYOB (7,388)  Sam Musgrave, Nine Advisory (7,260)  David Larocca, EY (7,061)  Josh Geelan, KPMG (6,657)  Joshua Tanchel, Deloitte Private (6,601)  Cameron Martin, William Buck (6,471) Laura Elkaslassy, Thriday (6,016)  Darrell Price, Grant Thornton (5,715)  Matt Games, Findex (5,549)  Tracey Dunn, EY (5,444)  Richard Nutt, Grant Thornton (5,366)  Roger Darvall-Stevens, RSM (5,343)  Fahim Khondaker, BDO (5,322)  Ryan Eagle , KPMG (5,293)  Tony Schiffmann, BDO (5,037)  Aletta Boshoff, BDO (4,923)  Tinashe Kamangira, CAANZ & Deloitte (4,873)  Vanessa Bosnich, Spotlight Reporting (4,849)  Paul Milbourne, Milbourne Insurance Solutions (4,807)  Thomas Paule, Visory & Findex (4,658)  Michael Dean, PwC (4,622)   Natalie Lennon, Two Sides Academy (4,495) Gayle Dickerson, KPMG (4,490)  Martin Dougall, KPMG (4,464)  Gary Brown, Hatcher Advisory (4,308)  Graham Killer, Grant Thornton (4,277)  Shannon Smit, Transfer Pricing Solutions Australia (4,164)  Amanda Gascoigne, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting (4,137) Jason Robinson FCPA, Future Advisory (4,089)  Jamie O'Rourke, RSM (4,079)  Sarah Lawrance, Hot Toast (4,027) Hayley Lock, KPMG (3,931)  Sandie Boswell, Grant Thornton (3,849)  Spiro Paule, Findex (3,700)  Edward Huntingford, Fordham Group (3,665)  Nick Jinoh Park, Crowe Australasia (3,623) For those listed, thanks for the great content. Know of anyone we missed? If so, please add in the comments.

Snapchat for the new work headshot. 🤔 Think I’ll keeping working on it. Although I don’t mind the superhero filter. And yes, all photos have a filter!!

Love spending time with this guy* and talking ‘Tech-Powered Growth’ at the ICON APAC conferences. We’re at it again next Tue (29 Oct) in Sydney. Don’t worry, it’s not just us. There’s a great list of speakers. Check out the program in the comments. Would be great to see you there. *This guy = Ben Scott. He’s the one on the right and labeled. I’m on the left. Current photo shown to avoid jibes about my Linkedin profile picture and accusations of catfishing. 😏 —————————- Ummbrella: The Growth Agency Tech-Powered Growth in Professional Services

Anyone else noticed the rising tide of LinkedIn use by family lawyers? Wow, they can teach the corporate teams a thing or two!! 👏👏👏

CRM in professional services. What's needed for adoption and value extraction? This is something I reflected on earlier this week as I submitted a bid for a CRM needs analysis. It's a big question, with user adoption a challenge for 2 in 3 firms - as they face challenges with CRM configuration, data, user experience, and critically - operational maturity.* From my experience, adoption and value extraction requires... Integrating CRM with core business systems (if possible). Embracing a client-centric whole of firm mindset and breaking down silos. Embedding CRM into meetings, plans, coaching, reward and recognition, etc. Building a pipeline mindset. Delivering value to the end-user. **Business needs (e.g. forecasting) can only happen with adoption and adoption requires delivering value. Agreed and documented business rules. Automating, removing, and minimising data entry. Investing in resources for training, collaboration, and ongoing development. Building agreed ways of working via service and sector playbooks. There's plenty in this list, but it's far from exhaustive. Anything you'd add? *Tech-Powered Growth in Professional Services Survey (Ummbrella: The Growth Agency & ICON APAC)

CRM in professional services. What's needed for adoption and value extraction? This is something I reflected on earlier this week as I submitted a bid for a CRM needs analysis. It's a big question, with user adoption a challenge for 2 in 3 firms - as they face challenges with CRM configuration, data, user experience, and critically - operational maturity.* From my experience, adoption and value extraction requires... Integrating CRM with core business systems (if possible). Embracing a client-centric whole of firm mindset and breaking down silos. Embedding CRM into meetings, plans, coaching, reward and recognition, etc. Building a pipeline mindset. Delivering value to the end-user. **Business needs (e.g. forecasting) can only happen with adoption and adoption requires delivering value. Agreed and documented business rules. Automating, removing, and minimising data entry. Investing in resources for training, collaboration, and ongoing development. Building agreed ways of working via service and sector playbooks. There's plenty in this list, but it's far from exhaustive. Anything you'd add? *Tech-Powered Growth in Professional Services Survey (Ummbrella: The Growth Agency & ICON APAC)

❤️ing the nomadic ‘office’ this morning. Great way to kickstart the week.

A few shots from the ICON APAC Conference in Melbourne... Lots of learning and laughs. It was an awesome day. Great work from the ICON APAC team, including Fraser McNaughton, Vivienne Corcoran, Jennifer McGuire, and VIC Committee Members.

What do you see when you look at this chart? For me, I see opportunity. Huge opportunity. For law firms that can improve maturity on the right (i.e. sales, CX, and high-tech marketing activity) - the prize is hyper-growth, stronger relationships, and efficiencies. And the prize is big!! **Data is from the Tech-Powered Growth in Professional Services Report developed with Ben Scott in conjunction with ICON APAC. #ummbrella #lawfirmmarketing #legalmarketing #professionalservices