A blog covering technology written by Accountancy Age reporter Rachael Singh
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31 May 2011 Rachael Singh
I RECENTLY ATTENDED the CCH annual conference where I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of work that had gone into the event.
But...
There was a burning issue I felt was missed off the agenda.
Social media.
Everyone talks about how great it is, and at the event speakers were claiming young entrepreneurs are more comfortable picking up a mouse than a phone - so accountants should utilise it.
But no-one explained how.
Should an accountant tweet? If so what about and how often? Should accountants or a firm have a facebook page? If so, marketing what? How much should a firm invest in social media? Should the firm start LinkedIn debates? How do you utilise social media effectively?
Someone out there must be able to show accountants the nuts and bolts. At the moment it feels like accountants are throwing darts at a dartboard wearing a blindfold. Some will hit the target but it's pot luck if they do!
The majority of firms are sticking to traditional methods of finding and attracting clients. About 80% of clients and accountants seek each other out through face-to-face meetings and networking, according to a CCH and YouGov poll.
Someone needs to describe exactly how to use social media effectively while also keeping traditional routes of finding clients alive.
Visitor comments
We recently started monthly training course for (Xero) accountants which among other things covers the basics of how to get going on social media and how best utilise it. But you're correct - there's definitely a huge step between basic awareness of social media and practically how you might implement it in a practice in a meaningful way. Feedback to our training pilot last month was positive.
Posted by: Gary Turner , 31 May 2011
Hi Rachael.
I remember being a bit peed off that I hadn't been invited to present on that very subject ;-(
However I do know that there was a breakout session during which Elaine Clarke of Cheap Accounting explained how she uses twitter. So the subject wasn't overlooked altogther.
Posted by: Mark Lee , 31 May 2011
On a more serious note, not everyone talks about how great social media is for accountants. I think it's very important to manage expectations. I seek to do that in my talks, articles and blog posts on the subject.
I am objective in my approach despite my own enthusiastic and active involvement with various forms of online networking sites. This all led to AccountancyAge suggesting that I was the most networked accountant in the UK ;-)
You'll find all the answers you seek for accountants and twitter on my blog site above Rachael.
I've also provided extensive advice on other forms of online networking too. Just follow the category link on the blogs page.
Posted by: Mark Lee , 31 May 2011
I covered this in my session - see the great write up on Accounting Web here:
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/topic/technology/why-accountants-should-be-twitter/502033
It was a two day event - not sure if you were around on the 2nd day?
Posted by: Elaine Clark , 31 May 2011
I attended the conference and was present at three sessions which covered different aspects of this. One on generation Y's social media skills, one on the use of social media technology within the workplace and the one presented by Elaine on use of twitter/linked in.
Don't think they could have covered much more!
I found Elaine's session covered exactly the issues you raised above. It has spurred me on to develop a social media strategy.
Posted by: Danny McAllister , 01 Jun 2011
Wayne Bartlett on Don't interrupt me
Danny McAllister on The elephant in the Grove
Elaine Clark on The elephant in the Grove
Mark Lee on The elephant in the Grove
Mark Lee on The elephant in the Grove
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