SOCIAL MEDIA - love it or loathe it, our readers are talking and debating it. More importantly, they are wondering just how it fits into their business development plans. How does it integrate into their marketing and communication strategies?

It all started with an article from marketing expert Kevin Wheeler, who aired some doubts last week about the role of services like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. While conceding that they had some part to play, the thrust of Wheeler's argument was to suggest that the smarter route was to take the well trodden path through face to face events, dinners and seminars, writing white papers and getting published in the trade press.

The response was a barrage of comments claiming he's missed the point. Not least among them Heather Towns, author of a forthcoming Financial Times book on business networking.

In magazine publishing, the issue is to identify the changing habits of readers - knowing how they consume their news and media.

It's becoming clear to us that increasingly people are using services like Twitter as an access point, but also to engage directly with us as writers and reporters for the profession.

We haven't stopped reporting, we haven't stopped asking difficult questions and digging. But the way we disseminate our content is changing.

Perhaps the more important issue here is that the argument over Twitter has got pracitioners thinking about their marketing. How do they professionalise it, capitalise on it and turn it into a coherent plan rather than passively waiting for clients to walk through the door begging for help.

Marketing in many firms is a long overlooked element of running the practice, ignored and left to lone individuals.

Whichever way you go, tweet or eat, marketing is what the modern practice needs to be thinking about.

Kevin Wheeler and Heather Towns will be appearing at the Accountancy Age Best Practice conference on the 23 June. Click here for more information.

SO FAR doing business with China must have seemed like a story applicable to big brands and multi nationals only. For some time however we’ve been aware that this attitude is changing. News this morning from Mitchell Charlesworth, in Manchester, goes some way to underlining the point.

The five office firm has signed a partnership deal with specialist law firm Christine Lee & Co, advisers to the Chinese embassy in the UK.

Together they hope to form a bridge between SMEs in the North West of England and China, encouraging trade in both directions.

Whatever the details of their arrangement the fact is that business opportunities are certainly not restricted to big companies nor only those in the South East of England and around London.  And while those oppotunities might mainly be in sectors like chemical manufacturing, financial services or pharmaceuticals, Mitchell Charlesworth has shown that accountants can exploit the growing links with China too.

I heard an interesting quote yesterday. It observed that US fear of China stems, not from its  communism, but from its capitalism. Proving the point to some degree, Christine Lee speculates that there are a quarter of a million Chinese SMEs seeking overseas investment or partnership opportunities.

That’s a big number and Mitchell Charlesworth will only ever being able to service a small fraction of them. There’s plenty more business to be done for UK accountants - if they want it.

(Photo: David Darlington, Mitchell Charlesworth; Christine Lee, Christine Lee & Co and Chinese embassy consul Wu Xiaomin)

SOME TIME ago Accountancy Age ran an article on alcoholism in the accountancy profession. In the following couple of weeks a number of people emailed us anonymously offering thanks for bringing attention to the issue.

Then, out of the blue, a contact of mine in a large mid-tier firm did the same. I was taken aback. It would have taken enormous courage to make that approach because he was essentially outing himself and his problems.

This week the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association (CABA) revealed that increasing drink and drug abuse, debt and health issues had prompted the body to recruit 10 new staff to handle the mounting workload and the shocking array of personal problems that were emerging in the profession.

The clear implication was that work related stress was behind the worsening situation. On reflection we shouldn't be surprised by  this. Accountancy has always been a profession where ambitious people have pushed themselves. The potential rewards can be great. The cost can be awful too.

Performance targets, long hours, demanding clients all play their part in creating stress. But the financial crisis would have added to this. Employers would have felt forced to ask more of a reduced workforce. Anxiety and uncertainty about job security would have amplified the strains.

Oddly, morale is easily overlooked by employers, but it shouldn't be. Demoralised staff are almost always less productive, almost certainly less creative. A failure to care can also breed resentment resulting in departure at the first opportunity which, of course, brings its own costs in terms of recruitment at best, lost clients at worst. Recourse to drink and drugs can only have the same effect.

Managers need to have morale on their minds. Many of the solutions are not difficult and revolve around making people feel valued and not isolated. Astonishingly many managers fail to spot the need.

In a profession like accountancy and in the age in which we live that's almost unforgivable. Plus if you plan to exploit any upturn in the economy, you need your staff as well as your finance to be in good shape. Professionals in pieces are unlikely to provide the energy their employers might want.

As for me I wish we had written more on stress after my contact came forward. We might have helped him and others a little more. This time will be different.