The choices are overwhelming and the opportunities to communicate are virtually unlimited. And Twitter has suddenly become the hottest fad since madras shorts. It is a way of connecting with other interested followers via 140-character messages. It might seem that everyone is taking advantage of these tools and you’ve probably heard that many people have built their practices around them. Are you feeling the pressure to join the fray?

Geni Whitehouse, CPA.CITP, CSPM (Countess of Communication at Alliott Group member firm Brotemarkle, Davis and Co) introduces the seven things you need to do before you write that first 140 character “tweet” via Twitter.com :

1. Know your firm.

Who are you? What makes you special? Are you buttoned up and professional? Are you casual and approachable? What’s your tone?

Now prove it.

If I go to your website, what message will I get? What colors have you chosen? What words do you use? If you think you are approachable and your website is bright red, with screaming large fonts, big words and code section citations, you might need to find yourself an expert marketing person – immediately. Or worse, if personable and communicative are your intent, and your website features a bunch of black text on a white background, you need to reconsider your positioning. And if you think you are buttoned-up and you link to accounting cartoons on your site, I would venture to say you are sending out mixed messages.

This concept of staying true to yourself is what marketing professionals call positioning. It is the first step in any marketing communications activity.

And if you want to see good positioning at work, check out www.taxgirl.com (@taxgirl on Twitter) for an example of being true to your positioning.

Your positioning should drive everything you write on Twitter – your tone, messages, style, and the items that you choose to retweet*.

*Retweeting is the act of repeating someone else’s pithy tweet (with attribution) to all of your followers. It is the ultimate compliment and allows them to reach a new audience.

2. Focus

This is the next step in any marketing activity - identify your ideal customer. This applies doubly in the world of Social Media, because if you don’t focus, you can waste a lot of time and energy connecting with the wrong people. Figure out who you are trying to attract to your firm and then target your message accordingly.

3. Create a profile on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a professional networking tool. If you aren’t already out there, go to www.linkedin.com and create an account. Then connect with your co-workers and business contacts. But here’s why I want you to start there - by creating your LinkedIn profile, you will have a chance to practice creating a brief bio. You will need to be able to make your bio even shorter when you register on Twitter as it is limited to 160 characters. And, as an added bonus, once you have a LinkedIn profile, when you start tweeting you can add a special “#in” notation on your tweets to have them also update your LinkedIn status. That’s called killing two birds with one tweet.

4. Invest in a Content Management System (CMS)

Twitter is extremely valuable as a tool for sending people to content that resides elsewhere. That means you have to have something in digital form that exists somewhere- preferably on your website. And your information needs to change. If your website includes a content management system, you can add content to your website without a programmer’s help. These kinds of systems are the equivalent of electronic working paper tools for financial statements. They create a structured place online for you to store the content that is displayed on your webpages (just like those working paper files support and link to the information that ends up on the trial balance.) Done correctly, these systems can be maintained by your firm and updated with new, fresh content, without impacting the overall design or structure of the website. The best systems include a separate administrator’s dashboard and feature easy navigation and straightforward editing tools.

Check out the downloadable resources on this CPA firm’s website http://www.bdcocpa.com/resources_download.phtml which reside in their Content Management System.

If you don’t have a website, don’t read any further. Go create one, now!

5. Hire professionals.

I know, we’re a frugal profession. But there are two places you can’t afford to scrimp if you plan on promoting yourself or your firm on Twitter:

• Have a professional photographer take your picture.
• Have a professional designer create your Twitter background – you can hire www.Twitart.com for less than $100 to create a custom background based on your inputs. They provide quick turnaround and do a great job.

6. Listen

Watch what your clients and others are doing with these tools. Connect to them on LinkedIn, become their fan on FaceBook and use www.Twellow.com to see if they are on Twitter. Once you identify clients or potential clients who are using the tool, learn from them. See what they are talking about and comment on their blogs. Take the time to listen. The best way to form a relationship with someone is to demonstrate that you care about them – that applies whether you are connecting in person or via the web.

You might also want to survey your existing clients to determine which tools they are using and to see if they need your help in measuring the results of their own social media investments.

7. Start a blog.

If you have to choose between tweeting and blogging, choose blogging. Blogs provide enough room for you to showcase your talent, your style, and your personality. They allow you to share information on a regular basis and they allow your readers to comment. Tweets are a great way to share those killer blog posts with other interested parties. If you don’t have anything to say, there is nothing to share on Twitter. So get some content on the web first. Many people use Wordpress for blogging, but you can also create a free website that includes blog pages using www.weebly.com.

Ready, set, TWEET. Now you are ready to create your account on www.Twitter.com. Sign up, create your username (using up to 15 characters), and update your profile. Follow a few accounting related Tweeters until you get the hang of it. Join the conversation.

This artical has been previously published on AccountantsWorld.Com

Article Date: 18th March 2010