"Focus on serving your customers or clients" with Linda Abraham
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Linda Abraham founded Accepted in 1994, launched the accepted.com website in 1996, and has grown Accepted ever since from a part-time editing service to one of the most well-respected graduate admissions consultancies in the United States. In 2007 she co-founded the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants and served as its first president. She also co-authored the book, MBA Admissions for Smarties, and hosts the Admissions Straight Talk podcast, which she started in 2012. Media outlets including CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, US News, Bloomberg Businessweek, BusinessBecause, and Poets and Quants have sought Linda’s perspective on admissions.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I am the child of immigrants who settled in Los Angeles, where I was born and raised. I was the first member of my family to graduate college (UCLA ‘76) and obtain a graduate degree (UCLA MBA ‘79).
I’ve been married for 42 years, and my husband and I are blessed with 5 adult children and 17 grandchildren.
What inspired you to start your business?
I had been a writing tutor during my senior year at UCLA and loved the work, but I did not see how one could make a living as a writing tutor or editor.
In the 1980s I was spending most of my time focused on my family. By the early 90’s, my husband and I needed more income to support our growing family. I had friends who were writers, and they encouraged me to try freelance writing. I decided that before I went that route and to supplement that route, I would advertise in the UCLA Daily Bruin, the student paper, and offer to do what I had done as a writing tutor. I started getting editing business and was frequently asked to edit statements of purpose and personal statements for graduate school applications.
Frankly, working on application essays was just much more interesting and fun than research papers. I also realized that if applicants used the journalistic techniques that I was learning in preparation for a freelance writing career, those essays would be more engaging and more effective.
I decided to make graduate admissions editing my niche. By then it was 1994, and I was also experimenting with online outreach via the online services, specifically AOL and CompuServe.
Shortly thereafter the World Wide Web burst on the scene as a mass medium. Realizing that the internet removes geographic boundaries, I launched our first website in 1996. Within a few years, my editing service had transformed into a full-service admissions consultancy guiding applicants from everywhere from Australia to Alaska, Mongolia to Montana.
Where is your business based?
The main office is in Los Angeles.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
Initially (1992-93) I advertised in the Daily Bruin. Once the internet started to become a popular, commercial medium, I put up our website. The early website was key to my little part-time sideline becoming a real business.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
The most effective way of raising awareness is to do outstanding work so that people want to recommend us
The next best way is to provide valuable information and tools so that prospective clients can acquire confidence in our expertise. The information was more effective in the early days of the business because “information overload” or an “information glut” didn’t yet exist. It was much easier to get people’s attention then.
Valuable information in a variety of formats is still effective, but it is more difficult to get attention and keep it. Having content in different formats means that people can consume in the way they like most. As always and whatever the format, high quality is mandatory.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Accepted has been around for 26 years. During that time, the internet has transformed itself, admissions has changed, we have had expansions and recessions, good years and bad. Overall the company’s growth has been fairly consistent, but definitely not a straight line.
Dealing with change is probably the biggest challenge. It’s not good enough for us to do a great job. A focus on excellent service is mandatory, but insufficient to guarantee growth. As the world evolves and changes, my business and the way we market and serve our clients has to evolve and change too. Recognizing and embracing that reality is sometimes difficult.
How do you stay focused?
That is a constant challenge. When I started the business, my children were still young and at home. They ranged in age from 5-13. I was juggling a lot. As the business grew, they usually needed less, but there are still constant distractions.
At the beginning of 2020 I started using the Full Focus Planner to help me with prioritizing and maintaining focus on what matters most to me. It has been immensely helpful.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Here are the primary differentiators:
1. The length of time we’ve been in business under the same management testifies to the quality of our service and distinguishes us.
2. All clients have a consultant who is dedicated to helping them apply effectively and tell their story compellingly. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the client works consistently with one consultant; they are not shunted around. And that individual consultant is backed by a team of colleagues who share experience and insights with each other. Basically, the client has the benefits of a solo shop combined the strengths of a larger entity.
3. Our staff has decades of experience in both admissions consulting and admissions for top graduate programs and universities.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Demonstrating expertise for free so that prospective clients can come to know, like, and trust us before they spend a dime.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Focus on serving your customers or clients. How can you solve their problem, ease their pain, or help them achieve their dreams?
What’s your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
My favorite app is probably WhatsApp. It makes it easy to keep in touch with people whom I want to be in touch with. And it’s super easy to use.
I frankly don’t read a lot of blogs, but I do like to listen to podcasts. My current favorite is Focus on This. It helps me maintain my focus, and I like the hosts’ upbeat and positive attitude along with the practical suggestions.
My favorite book? That’s a tough one. I love to read. My favorite novel is War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. I appreciate the way he weaves the different strands of World War 2 into an amazing narrative. My favorite non-fiction – that’s even harder. I’d say it’s a tie between The Choice by Dr. Edith Eger and Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The Choice provides an empowering message of personal agency and responsibility. Team of Rivals tells the story of a remarkable individual, Abraham Lincoln, from the perspective of his political opponents, who frequently became his close supporters.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
Hubspot. While it is expensive, it’s also fantastic to have our marketing, email, website, reporting on one innovative platform. And HubSpot tech support and service is consistently good.
Who is your business role model? Why?
My father. He tried to treat employees, customers, partners, and suppliers fairly.
How do you balance work and life?
That’s another tough one. I am an Orthodox Jew so the rhythm of our calendar and the weekly Sabbath, where I’m completely, off the grid are tremendous helps.
However, that still leaves the other six days of the week. I could do better, but setting limits and prioritizing is key. As I mentioned earlier, I started using the Full Focus Planner at the beginning of 2020, and it has helped me to balance my various interests, commitments, and responsibilities.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
I love to walk, and I love to read – not simultaneously. I decompress with both activities. Spending time with grandchildren is also a great decompressor, but thanks to COVID we’re doing less of that.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
1. Continue to grow Accepted.
2. Hopefully in six months, we will be able to travel to our children and grandchildren who live elsewhere.
How can our readers connect with you?
They can email me at lindaATaccepted.com or call 310-815-9553 .