Brand Interview – Justine Lackey, Good Cents Bookkeeping | Branding YOU Better!

Brand Interview – Justine Lackey, Good Cents Bookkeeping

By Susan August 15, 2011 Blog, Brand-Interviews No Comments

Brand Interview – Justine Lackey, Good Cents Bookkeeping

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
I have been providing bookkeeping services for over thirteen years. I officially incorporated in 2008 and began hiring staff. My company’s mission is to provide high quality bookkeeping services to small businesses and self employed individuals. This year I started focusing on bringing financial and accounting education to entrepreneurs in a way that is fresh, fun and highly informative.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
I personally donate to charities as often as I can, and very often I promote other people’s fundraising efforts using social media. As a mother, and someone who is very connected to her family, I give most to disaster relief funds and children’s charities.

One of my favorite charities is the Fresh Air Fund run by the NY Times; I give to them faithfully every year. My daughter is a budding animal rights advocate; this year together we set up a page on the World Wildlife Federation site and together we raised over $250 for the protection of endangered animals. It was a great lesson to teach her in terms of helping her world, and setting a goal and reaching it.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
I didn’t know which typeface to use; I left that to my designer Prim Chuesumran. Our goal has always been to keep the palate and design of Good Cents Bookkeeping clean, tidy and sophisticated. This is how much people want to feel about there money – they want things to feel “in order” and they want to feel “sophisticated.” Using the Cents sign in the logo was just naturally made “cents.”

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
I originally worked with Richard Pandiscio of Pandiscio Design Co which was well over a decade ago. He had the genius idea of keeping the green palette to match the color of accounting ledger paper. Most people believe the “Good Cents” green is connected to money, which of course it is, but the original inspiration came from accounting ledger paper.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
I was working as Richard’s bookkeeper at the time so it was natural to ask him. He has an incredible professional history and was very well connected to my “target market.” It was perfect fit, and the project just unfolded organically. When I was ready to develop a web site, Richard had moved into a place of working with very large scale projects. This time, I turned to my close friend and one of Richard’s former employees, Prim Chuensumran to take on designing and building my web site. I have worked with Prim every since and consider myself very blessed to have such a synergistic relationship with my designer.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
I started with my service the old fashion way – through word of mouth and nothing else. By far my strongest method of marketing is the positive referrals I receive from clients and my close professional relationships to CPA firms.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
I still find social media tricky to use for my particular brand and business. Money is an intimate issue and most people do not yet look to social media to find financial professionals.

This fall I am launching a bookkeeping webinar for entrepreneurs, virtual assistants, and self employed individuals. I am very interested to see the “return on investment” for marketing this particular service via social media.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
I strongly believe in research and continuing education so I engage regularly and often in all types of webinars and teleclasses.

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
No.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
As I said earlier, I find using social media and internet marketing a little tricky for my current bookkeeping business. I might have a different response to this question after launching my bookkeeping webinar which I plan to market using google ads, facebook and twitter.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
I have worked with Phoenix Design and Print in PA starting with my first round of business cards over a decade ago. I have used only them for everything I have printed since: letterhead, envelopes, notecards, holiday cards, postcards everything. I value supporting other small businesses and believe in branding loyalty to the “little folks.”

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
I looked at samples – on the advice of my fabulous designer. When the card stock I originally used became unavailable I printed a round of branded materials without reviewing the cardstock first. Never again. The card stock was too light and I had to reprint the whole lot to achieve my desired results.

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Good idea for next time! But to date I have not.

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
N/A

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
I am ready, and excited, to launch the educational services piece of my business.