Meet Seth David, ProAdvisor and Productivity Master

Seth David is a master of maximizing profits and productivity — both within his own business and as a consultant for other accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners.

Recently, we chatted with Seth to learn more about how he built his business over time by tapping into the power of YouTube and social networking channels like Twitter to reach a wider audience and automate his work via online courses and training sessions.

Take it away, Seth!

Name: Seth David

Business: Nerd Enterprises Consulting

Started: 2003

Tell us a little more about your background and how you got to where you are now.

I was a computer science major in college and, long story short, my interest in academics was waning. I'd been doing some acting at the time, and one of my directors said that he would write me a recommendation for a theater arts program in California. 

I left school and planned on getting in my Jeep, driving across the country and working in restaurants. But then I saw an ad for a $10k a month stock broker job.

Next thing I knew, I was on Wall Street. 

The guy who hired me sold me on the idea the being a Wall Street salesperson was basically the same as having an acting job. So, I set aside my plans to be an actor and got really into that line of work for awhile. 

Then, someone suggested that I go back to school and get my degree in accounting. Not long after, I finally made it to California. I only had $1,500 cash to my name and a car that my dad had given to me. I got a job through a temp agency, but realized pretty soon that I just hated working for other people.

By 2004, I started doing my own thing. I compiled data into spreadsheets that I designed, but it made sense to also start using QuickBooks as well. I was getting jobs on Craigslist by posting several different ads across different categories. I was careful to not pigeonhole myself as just a regular accountant. I made sure to market myself as "tech accountant" and I learned how to use HTML so that I could include nice photos with my ads. Back then, that's all I had to do every Sunday night — I'd post ads and I would immediately get calls from people all across LA who needed my services. 

Craigslist eventually started to slow down and I was getting spammed a lot. By 2009, a lot of my business was coming in from referrals and I was pretty content to be a solopreneur and doing my own thing. I was charging $40/hour and the clients were plenty. On Fridays, I'd end my day by 2pm, go watch a movie with my wife, have dinner and relax for the weekend. In some ways, life was better when I was charging $40/hour rather than $250/hour!

Once YouTube and Twitter emerged, I started focusing on how I could use those two platforms to grow my business and expand my audience. Social media allowed me to develop a larger, worldwide audience that consists of accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners, as well as general consultants and technology enthusiasts.

Now, I primarily focus on helping my customers increase their productivity through training and consulting. My goal is help the folks that I work with (and their clients, in turn) learn and get help with QuickBooks and other business productivity software, so they can focus on what they do best — running their business. 

I also specialize in cleaning up financial accounting records and maintaining them for my clients while also managing their financial projections month-to-month. This way, more of my customers are reaching their monthly and yearly goals.

By automating so much of my work through online videos, courses and training sessions, I'm free to spend more time on marketing and bringing in new business.

What are the big challenges that you think about often in your business?

My whole life is about automating business. 

I've created several courses and subscription-based sites that allow me to focus on my main objective — architecting the best systems that will help accountants and bookkeepers who need help with marketing, redesigning their websites and streamlining their processes. 

I'm always looking for new ways that my team can refine how fast we train these folks and where we can optimize our services.

What are you working on right now?

I'm rolling out a course called  Accounting and Bookkeeping Cloud Practice Management that is focused on helping accountants scale their practices. 

A lot of accountants don't understand how to move their firm into the future and they're hung up on value pricing, especially if they are also looking at having 3-4 employees. The key is to work out sharing a percentage of revenue with employees, so they understand that it's an opportunity. When you look at the number of hours that you're putting in, make sure it's not less than minimum wage in your state!

What is the #1 recommendation you have for accountants?

We have to specialize. An accountant of the future needs to learn  QuickBooks Online and they also need to know the industry-specific apps that will help them grow their business.