Lately I've been full of inspiration, motivation, and creativity. So I've been trying a few new things...
Including a broadcast channel on Instagram where I'm going to be occasionally dropping podcast episodes before they go public, and having other conversations, maybe around things I post here.
We'll see how it unfolds.
What I really want to do is record more YouTube videos (I have so much content I want to share that lends better for video, and is different than what I share on the podcast), but my life dictates otherwise right now.
As I write this, I'm poolside watching my kids swim. It's still warm here in Arizona (even though I'm in the mountains). So I can't really complain about not being able to record videos at the moment.
I also love to write, and did a poll on threads a while back about blogging.
Turns out, people read blogs still.
So I'm going to try out this newsletter thing. It'll be different than my regular weekly emails where I mainly highlight the most recent podcast episode and various offers.
If you're reading this on the web, make sure you're subscribed...
If you end up unsubbing from this, it might unsubscribe you from our entire mailing list... so tread carefully.
What you'll get here:
This will be reserved for:
- Behind the scenes long form content. My opinions, musings, and observations about the accounting industry (and maybe other stuff, who knows)
- Topics I haven't brought to the podcast (yet--or maybe never)
- Things I'm doing in my firm, whether they're working or not
- Basically anything I feel like writing about
So if you're craving the blog format, you like reading, and you're a curious person, this is for you.
I don't know how often I'll be sharing here. Just when I feel like it.
What you won't get here:
- Politics
- AI-generated content
My thoughts on politics in business...
If you've followed me for any amount of time, you may or may not have noticed... I'm not political. I don't care what your politics are, and I won't turn you away for being who you are. And I hope you don't care what mine are. I sort of understand some businesses use politics to attract and repel people intentionally.
But I don't believe my business needs to be a platform like that. My business is a separate entity from me. It employs people who depend on it to keep running to feed their families. The economy and the online business model can be challenging enough. We don't need to add that layer.
So I'll leave it at that. You do whatever you want with your business. All are still welcome here. 💙
As for the AI-generated content...
I won't be using AI to write these.
Just like my weekly podcast emails...I don't use AI, but I do use templates from an email marketing membership* (affiliate link)--this content is purely from the heart. My own writing skills... however poor they are. This is a topic for another day, but I don't want this content to feel like everything else on the internet right now.
Yes, I use AI for many things in my business, as I think you should too, where it makes sense. But there are some things I don't want to outsource. This is one of them.
The moment I decide to start usin AI to write these, will be the moment I stop. This is to exercise my creativity, not outsource it.
Ready for today's topic?
Today I'm going to share a story about how I was almost scammed, in hopes of making others aware of how sophisticated scammers are getting, and that many of you could be targets of something similar.
When you're hoping for new clients, you can become more vulnerable to things like this. I've been in a season of building, after 2+ years of just trying to maintain (survive), as I was battling mental and physical health challenges, upheaval in my life, and transitioning to a new normal.
Praise God for a business model like bookkeeping to have recurring, consistent revenue, and a team that can hold it all together.
So like I said, since I'm finally ready to build, I've updated all of my partner listings and have been pouring energy into marketing & visibility for my firm.
I wouldn't say I'm at all desperate for clients, but I am trying to grow. So when I received an inquiry through the Gusto Partner Directory, I was excited!
Even if you aren't a gusto partner, maybe you're a QBO Advisor or a Xero Partner or ... any one of a million other softwares where your information is out there. So this still applies to you.
I got two within 24 hours of each other. Red flag #1🚩
This is what it looks like... I'm pretty sure it's actually from Gusto--that all looked legit. I've been told this is spear phishing.
I always google and verify leads that come in from any avenue to see if they're someone I'm even interested in working with, so I did the same for both. They were both LEGIT businesses. One in Arizona where I’m located. One in NY, but in my specific niche (online business).
I replied to the inquiries (which was via email) and they both had very similar responses about being interested in monthly services but also needing payroll setup quickly, 4 employees. There were certain details bolded in the email which felt very AI 🚩#2
This is one reason I think it's important to use ai, and understand how it works and signs of it.
I sent proposals to both, even though I had a weird feeling. I don't think there was anything wrong with doing this, other than the bit of time it wasted for me to create and send them. I figured if they were legit, they'd want to get on a call to discuss, because I didn't offer to setup payroll for cheap.
They both accepted proposals and signed engagement letters (I’m saving these because they’re signing real people’s names) but when it came to pay the invoice they both emailed back and said they were having difficulty getting stripe to work, could I send a QBO invoice, or that the money would be in my account by Friday so please proceed. 🚩
The first one I didn’t think much of it, (this happened about a day apart) so I sent their intake form in the meantime, knowing full well that I won’t do the work without being paid. They filled it out with a REAL EIN and addresses associated with the client they were pretending to be. Then kept pestering me about when this would be done. 🚩
"kindly" 🚩
Just for funsies I started creating a gusto account with that EIN and it wouldn’t accept it bc that company already exists in their system. So I called Gusto to confirm — they said it does, and has been running payroll. So I had Gusto delete my attempt to setup the company.
This is when I knew for sure it was a scam.
Then I called the number on my intake form — someone with very broken English answered and was driving, very confused. 😆
So then I called the ACTUAL business number I found online for this business and confirmed with her office that they had not inquired about services.
It didn’t go this far with the second one, but I wanted you all to be aware at the level of sophistication out here with scammers.
As soon as they wouldn’t initially get on a call with me, I knew… so I played along. Because I will be submitting all this to the IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center), a division of the FBI. They’re stealing identities of real business owners.
I encourage you to bookmark this page for resources in case something similar happens to you.
Moral of the story:
-
Trust your instincts. I had a hunch initially, especially after I got the second lead, just because I have never gotten a lead from Gusto, in my 8 years in business and being a Gusto Partner.
- Don't work with people who won't get on the phone with you. No real business worth doing business with would give access to their financial data without meeting you.
- Don’t begin work until paid < this may seem messed up to some of you, but especially if the other red flags exist, don't sway on this. It's protecting you not just from fraud/scams, but from unethical business practices.
- Check the email address paths. Most businesses don’t use outlook.com or fastmail.com - they use their own domains.
Alright, that's it from me.. for now. Stay ambitious (and safe) out there!
💙 Serena
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