I have mentioned Elaine Clark who runs CheapAccounting.co.uk on my blog previously. Like me Elaine is very active on twitter. Like me she is a big advocate of twitter.

The main difference between us is that I make clear that twitter is no panacea and that you need to make time to understand it before you leap in. Elaine’s approach is to generate enthusiasm first before, effectively, confirming the caveats that I offer. We both do this in articles, blog posts and presentations. Indeed we spoke on the same platform for the ICAEW last year.

I was very impressed by a piece Elaine wrote recently for HSBC’s small business knowledge centre about how her business uses twitter.  You can read the whole thing on the HSBC site.

In her article Elaine explains that since she started using Twitter her website visitors have increased by about 50% per month. And, crucially that this resulted in increased sales.

Here are a couple of other things she says in the article:

My tweets [140 character messages] vary, but I always avoid ‘broadcasting’ – using Twitter simply to say ‘buy me’. The key to using social media is engagement and social interaction. I very rarely post any pure sales messages. It’s about getting people to like and trust your brand.

Elaine’s tweets often include links to her blogs and free advice guides. More often they involve general discussion and chit chat with one or more of her twitter followers. She sees this as simply being an extension of her offline networking. I have also noticed that Elaine sometimes comments on events in the news to add to or prompt discussion.

Just like the rest of your marketing activity, social media requires careful planning. It requires patience and hard work, too – success won’t come overnight. Using Twitter should be fun, so enjoy it.

I think the full article is a great case study and contains some excellent advice. I would add, as I have said elsewhere, that I think twitter works for Elaine for two key reasons:

1 – She uses it effectively – as she explains above; and

2 – The CheapAccounting.co.uk website has a clear focused, targeted proposition. It’s inviting and easy to engage with the business. Were that not the case then the increased business driven through Elaine’s activity on twitter would be much lower – and might not even be measurable.

So here’s my key question: Does your website echo your online messages and, in so doing, convert visitors who have followed links from your twitter account (or other social media sites)? If not, it’s something else you might want to address whilst you build up your profile on twitter.

If you are an accountant with a story that would make a good twitter case study, please get in touch.

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. The main focus will be Linkedin and twitter. Full details here.

My answer to this question is always: “You don’t NEED to be on twitter but you might enjoy it”

This is the second in a series of blog posts that offer NO-HYPE answers to the question ‘Do I need to be on twitter?‘ The first one considered the position of someone who runs their own small practice.

For employed people in large firms of accoutants, lawyers, surveyors etc, a better question is why MIGHT you want to be on twitter?

And the answer then is in two parts: Personal and Professional. And you will also need to ensure that you comply with your firm’s social media strategy (if there is one).

Personal

I shared ten non-business reasons why plenty of accountants enjoy twitter on this recent blogpost. If you’re new to twitter then I strongly suggest that you start here and do not worry about generating any professional benefits until you have got used to it.

Professional

There’s a Catch-22 at play. For a while, hardly anyone will see what you tweet. And yet you will only build up (real) followers if you tweet interesting stuff. You can create the impression that you have lots of readers by chasing new followers, but if they’re not really interested they won’t be reading your tweets, so what’s the point?  The bottom line is that it takes time to build a relevant following on twitter. Even then, when you post a tweet the only people who will see it are:

• Some of those people who follow you on twitter.  Only some of them as few regular tweeters read all the tweets posted by the people they follow. And many of your followers will be people whose sole interest is whether you will follow them back to boost their follower numbers.
• Some of those who follow anyone who ReTweets your comment. Even if your tweets are copied to a wider audience, only some of them will be on twitter and see them.
• Anyone who is searching for tweets with keywords in them. This is how the media pick up on who said what about key news events etc.

Evidencing your interest in key clients

You may find that some of your clients are active on twitter. (‘Active’, not merely ‘registered’ on twitter). You can follow them and how they use twitter, in the same way as you might look out for references to them in the media. You might also be using ‘Google alerts’ to inform you about when they or their business appears on the web.

Such activity may inform your conversations with clients and can evidence that you are genuinely interested in them. You don’t have to engage with them on twitter to achieve this. You can just follow them and read their tweets. You can do this openly through a twitter account in your own name, or you can do it through an anonymous account.

In general the people posting tweets for the client are unlikely to be the individuals with whom you or your colleagues liaise.

What about to generate clients?

I am doubtful that you will generate new clients for your big firm through tweeting. You MAY, over time, build up a following if your tweets are of particular interest to key business owners who are active on twitter. The thing is though that I doubt that many decision makers in organisations that would be your firm’s target clients are active on twitter. If they are and you follow them, they MAY choose to follow you back. But will your activity on twitter really be a catalyst or a clincher for them becoming clients of your big firm? I doubt it. And do keep in mind the opportunity cost of your time spent on twitter too.

How about to raise the profile of the firm?

I would say that is a question for the partners and for the marketing team. Not for an individual.

What about my profile?

Yes, you could do that if you find that you enjoy using twitter. Over time you may be able to build up a following of fellow tweeters who share similar interests to you and with whom you could build profitable relationships. These can be continued offline or kept online. Who knows where they could lead?

I am following some great people on twitter who work for larger firms. They are stuck in the Catch-22 position I mentioned above. They have very few followers and yet unless they do something beyond posting a few tweets, that will not change. But as long as they are happy (and not embarrassing their colleagues) all is well.

Have I missed anything out do you think? Please add your comments/feedback below.

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. Full details here.

There is now an almost daily stream of stories about the way that celebrities, politicians and big brands use twitter. Many of the media stories are ill-informed or naive. It is no wonder that so many non-tweeters then form a distorted view as to what twitter is all about.

There is a similarity with the media obsession with sex. Real life sex, especially as part of a loving relationship, is very different from what many celebrities seem to get upto.  In the same way, real life use of twitter is very different from the ideas promulgated by much of the media. I doubt if many of these stories tempt the non-twitter user to find out more about twitter. On the contrary, all of the well publicised tweets by politicians and celebrities probably act as a disincentive.

Hence my realisation that talking about twitter is like talking about sex.

When an avid tweeter tries to explain what is involved and who might want to get involved it can sound quite unpleasant, messy and confusing…. “Each tweeter reads and writes short email-like messages of less than 140 characters. Each tweet contain views and experiences which are seen by a subset of the people following the tweeter or searching for comments on a specific subject”.

This  is accurate but uninspiring. Just like when we try to explain sex to our children. Even if you manage to describe the mechanics of the act, it doesn’t exactly leave them with any notion about why so many people are so enthusiastic about it.

The analogy can be stretched further.

Most people are a little hesitant at first. They try it once or twice and are not sure whether or not they like it. They’re a bit bemused as to why so many people seem to rave about it.

Some people keep trying and after a while they find that it’s really quite fun and pleasurable. Others give up as they don’t enjoy it at all. That’s their choice, but the rest of us think they are probably missing out.

Beginners still tend to be clumsy until they’ve had a fair amount of feedback, often from tweeters with more experience.

Many people then get to the stage with tweeting where they can’t get enough of it. Frequent tweeters may even snigger at those poor saddos who only tweet occasionally.

You can read or look at all the stuff about sex you want, but if you’ve never had it, you simply have no idea what it’s really like.

It’s best not to tweet when you’re drunk as you can regret it the next morning. And you may get involved in topics you’d normally avoid when sober.

You need to vary your tweeting technique to avoid it getting repetitive and boring.

Sex is not about just getting something from others. You have to give. In fact, giving can be just as good as “getting,” right? Twitter is much the same.  If you just show up and start shouting about what you can do for people you might as well stay off Twitter. But if you go looking to give to others, there is more chance that you will accumulate followers and grow your network.

You know those desperate self publicists at the party who will sleep with just about anybody, but nobody ever wants to take them up on it? There are similar people on Twitter, too. You will recognise them by their tweets which will consist primarily of links to their own blog posts and websites. Most of us choose to stay away from the easy, cheap and sleazy.

Although we tend to think that our efforts will be appreciated, there’s no substitute for good positive feedback.

Don’t try to fake it. If you’re not really into a topic don’t bother pretending in order to please your followers. They can tell the difference.

The analogy isn’t perfect – and I’ve stretched it a little I know. Feel free to add your own thoughts as comments below.

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. One of them will be right for you. Full details here.

Few ambitious accountants have ever chosen a career in sales. And yet, almost all accountants need to be able to generate income. Inevitably that income will come from clients and you will have some, possibly a large, responsibility for helping to generate those ‘sales’.

My friend, Richard White, describes those of us who are in this position as “Accidental sales people”. We didn’t choose to work in sales but it is still an integral part of what we do. Richard’s view is that we will be more successful if we adopt a ‘soft-selling’ style rather than attempt to emulate the salespeople whom we hate. You know – those pushy people who try to persuade people to buy things they don’t want.

We need to ensure that our sales techniques are appropriate and that our prospective clients do not feel we are pressurising them to engage us for services they do not want. For this reason traditional sales training techniques are unlikely to be very effective when trying to help ambitious accountants enhance the results of their networking and client development activities.

I have long admired Richard’s ‘soft-selling’ techniques as they are very similar to solution based selling and consultative selling. These are the approaches that I learned some years ago and still favour. The essence of all these concepts is to work with rather than against human nature. Rather than attempt to push your services, soft-selling demands that you first understand the primary motivations of your clients and prospective clients. Then, and only then, you should be able to make your services seem so compelling that they attract your clients to want to engage you.

The skills you need to develop are less a hard nosed approach to selling and more an understanding of human nature and a degree of patience. 

Last year Richard wrote the ‘Networking Survival Guide – the essential hands-on manual for winning more business and gaining new sales leads’. In it he demolishes the myth of the ‘elevator pitch’ and explains what you can do to stand out and be remembered as distinct from every other accountant. He stresses the power of stories and highlights the benefits of thinking this all through. Spend some time getting this right and you will start to ‘accidentally’ gain referrals and sales from your networking activities. It won’t happen overnight though. But it will happen a lot faster than if you network aimlessly. Richard encourages a clarity of thought that could benefit many accountants whose networking is proving to be less effective than they would like.

The first blog post in this series explored ten non-business reasons for being on twitter.

Many of the hundreds of accountants I follow on twitter clearly enjoy the non-business side of it. Indeed, I’m sure that many of the accountants who find twitter useful from a business perspective first became familiar with it by virtue of the non-business uses. And that’s a key lesson. If you are thinking of twitter as a quick-fix marketing solution, take my advice and don’t bother. You will waste time and effort that could have been better spent more productively elsewhere.

So to answer the question, my simple answer is ‘NO’. Contrary to all the social media hype, you do not NEED to be on twitter. It MIGHT be beneficial though IF you:

• Have EXISTING clients who are active on twitter; – and, even better if they will advocate you on twitter to their followers
• Have a clear niche that is distinct from all of the other sole practitioners and smaller firms;
• Are willing to engage with people on twitter (there’s little point in simply posting promotional messages)
• Can RESIST the temptation to try to gain thousands of ‘followers’ – this is time consuming displacement activity, it doesn’t generate business.
• Can decide on a realistic strategy to build business and referrals over time through your activity on twitter
• Are willing to learn WHAT is worthwhile and what is NOT worth doing on twitter
• Want to have some fun – the first blog post in this series refers

If you run a small practice and have found twitter useful, please share your experiences as comments below.

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. One of them will be right for you. Full details here.

Chatting with an accountant recently he told me he was amazed why so many clients leave their tax returns to the last minute.  He told me he chases clients throughout the year. He sends reminders and prompts. He has recently asked around his business networks to clarify why small business owners and investors do this. It became clear that there are typically 3 reasons:

• They find the collation of their papers boring
• They have more important things to do
• It’s not a priority until the filing deadline is looming

My friend was frustrated by these replies but also satisfied. It’s not just his clients and it’s nothing to do with him.  All accountants struggle to cope with the January tax return rush but at least now he knows why.

WHAT ROT!

There is only one reason for the January tax return rush and, I’m sorry to say but it is entirely the accountant’s own fault. I’ve been saying this in talks for years and offering solutions on how to overcome the issue.

Quite simply your clients leave things to the last minute because you let them do so.  Yes you do. And, yes, YOU could change things. There are three main ways to do this:

1. Reference an earlier deadline and stop drawing your clients’ attention to the 31 January filing deadline. YOUR deadline is (say) 31 October. Treat it seriously and be as forceful around YOUR deadline as you have previously been re HMRC’s deadline.
2. Establish a stepped fee structure whereby clients have to pay higher fees the later they produce the information to enable you to complete their tax returns. And stick to it.

What do you think the third option is?

Related posts:

• “January was hell – and it was my own fault”
• Easyjet pricing by accountants
• Don’t just increase your fees, vary them

How to condense everything you know on a subject into 10 minutes? My approach has long been to use acronyms to give me some focus and structure. Here’s the one I’ll use for this talk:

S – Social vs Anti-Social – As explained here

O – Objectives - Be clear on WHY before you start worrying about HOW

C – Consistency - What will your target audience be interested in?

I – Identify yourself (profile and photo) – See point one on my 20 top twitter tips

A – Advertising is a turn-off – As explained here

L – LinkedIn vs twitter and facebook – I compared them here

M – Marketing – It’s Social MEDIA not Social MARKETING

E – Educate, stimulate, emulate – Entertain is good too.

D – Dare to be different – But, how different do you need to be?

I – Ignore the Idiots – Don’t Interact with them. Unfollow them, Unconnect from them

A – Allow time - It’s not free and you won’t become successful overnight. Is it worth the time?

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two half day masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. You can attend either or both. Full details here.

One that works for you….. and

One that doesn’t work for you

One that you enjoy…. and

One that you find a chore

One that is Social…. and

One that is Anti-Social

One that is random…. and

One that is focused

One where your profile photo enables people to recognise you when they meet you…. and

One with a pretty pointless photo or logo.

One where you determine how best to achieve YOUR objectives…. and

One where you copy other people who may have different objectives

One where your activities are focused on sharing to help or entertain others…. and

One where your activities are focused on selling and promoting your business

One where you follow real world focused advice…. and

One where you act by reference to assumptions made by self appointed social media experts

One where you are genuinely interested in other people…. and

One where you adopt a sales focused mentality

One that integrates with your other marketing activity…. and

One which becomes your only marketing activity

One that reaches your target audience…. and

One that reaches other social media advocates

One that is real…. and

One that is fanciful

One where you can post messages that remain private…. and

One where what you post can be seen by anyone

One that makes you money…. and

One that makes you friends

One where you really engage with other users…. and

One where you give the illusion of engaging with others (and vice versa)

One that involves you pursuing a Quality focused approach…. and

One that involves you pursuing a Quantity focused approach

One where your strategy is well thought through from the outset…. and

One where you pursue a succession of short-term tactics

One that you use to keep in touch with people you already know…. and

One where your main interactions are with people you don’t already know

One  where you ‘get it’… and

One where you don’t get it (yet)

One that is effective….and

One that is ineffective

Do please add your thoughts on this post in the comments box below

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. Full details here.

Until you start tweeting it’s hard to get to grips with what it’s all about. And it’s even harder to decide if it’s something you would want to do.

The media make twitter seem almost ubiquitous and yet you struggle to see why you would want to join in. It all seems so pointless. It isn’t and I’ve addressed this fallacy before.

You may also have seen marketing focused explanations of the (alleged) business benefits of twitter. I will address some of these ideas in subsequent blog posts – without the hype! First though I want to highlight the NON-business reasons you might want to be on twitter. I’ve identified ten of them (so far!) And I would add that many people who use and enjoy twitter do so for one or more of these NON-Business reasons.

Summary

Twitter can be a lot of FUN; you can share views and pick up on interesting breaking news and trivia about your favourite sports, hobbies, teams and other non-work interests. You can also use it to pick up on work/business related real-time news, views and trivia too.

Many people tweet stories that interest, annoy or amuse them. You simply choose to ‘follow’ people who share your interests or who seem to tweet interesting stuff. This lets you fill in the gaps and gain a broader perspective than simply watching broadcast news, reading one daily paper, chatting with friends, listening to the radio/podcasts or reading your favourite website/mags.

Many people use twitter as a real-time search engine for hobby, personal, shopping or business related topics and for tv, film, holiday, travel and local issues. You can follow the tweets posted by local/national/international celebrities (from sports, film, tv, politics, science, business and every other field). You can gain insights and you can contribute to the discussion about such issues. This is often best done for searching for all tweets on a specific subject or that include a specific hashtag (#).

NB: Twitter takes some getting used to and it can also become obsessive. For more of my ‘introduction to twitter‘ type posts follow this link. Remember too that you only see the tweets of people you follow. You choose who they are. And you can stop following someone whenever you like. So you aren’t forced to read anyone’s tweets if they bore you. The list of ten NON-business reasons to be on twitter

1. To find out what’s going on
   • …. in the National news (reports through twitter tend to be faster than more traditional media)
   • ….in your business sector
   • ….as regards a specific topic that interests you – sports, hobby, politics, films, tv shows, radio, podcasts, IT, holiday destination, a specific celebrity, sports person, politician, journalist
     • ….locally
     • ….regionally
     • …at a holiday destination or somewhere you’re loved ones are based
2. To elicit or simply listen to opinions on any of the above or products, brands, films etc. These may be shared by friends you know well, people you have met occasionally, journalists, celebrities etc or simply by virtual contacts.
3. To find stuff out – by asking and getting answers to questions about your daily life (eg: computer issues), your plans or your friends.
4. To be entertained – whether by famous people and their tweets or by your friends or new contacts who tweet amusing stuff either randomly or on topics in which you are interested.
5. To be amazed – Sometimes it’s more than mere entertainment. Many people post tweets containing links that could make you go ‘wow’! You may be touched, inspired or motivated by the tweet or the item in the link.
6. To make new friends – either virtually around the world or closer to home, as you choose.
7. To connect up with old friends and contacts – if you find that they are active on twitter
8. To attract interest to your blog or activities (remember we’re talking about NON-business blogs and activities on this post)
9. To entertain or amaze your followers – SOME of whom will see SOME of your tweets
10. To help other people - locally or more generally – by sharing tips, warnings and problems that you have encountered/resolved and which may benefit them and/or prevent them encountering the same issue. To reciprocate for all that you have gained.

NB: If you find this list helpful you might choose to tweet a link to it so as to help others who may also find it helpful  (Some of the best tweets are those with links to blog posts AND a note of WHY the tweeter recommends the item). What are your NON-business reasons for being on twitter?  Please share your stories and thoughts as comments on this blog post.

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. You can attend either or both. Full details here.

The other day I was asked the following:

I’ve established a group – no members yet, though I’ve yet to invite them!  What I plan to do initially (and see how it goes) is each month to send out say three topical points – and invite comments.  Is it in order then at the end to give the dates of my next seminars and webinars, for the benefit of anyone who might want to give them a go?  Or is that somehow frowned upon, as advertising? It was said to me today that it might be.

Can I find ‘the rules of combat’ anywhere?

Here’s my reply:

Must admit I quite like your plan. The KEY is to ensure that members of the group/messages perceive two things: a) that you are giving away something of value and of interest to them; and b) that the promo message does not overwhelm the helpful/valuable info.

So 30 lines of useful info (3 x 10) plus 4 lines of promo should be fine. Whereas 9 lines (3 x 3) of useful info followed by 15 lines of promo would be frowned upon.

There are no rules anywhere. It’s all down to perception and none of us can predict how anyone else will respond/react.

My advice is to adopt a similar approach to what you might do if you wanted to engage with people at a free evening event. If you spend 20 minutes talking about your paid for seminars and just 10 minutes sharing practical points you wouldn’t make any friends. On the other hand if you spent 20 minutes covering practical points and just 5 minutes at the end talking about the paid for seminars no one would complain. Well, some might but you can’t please everyone.  Linkedin is much the same.

Do you have any related tips?

NB: On 23rd February 2012 Mark is speaking at two masterclasses in London addressing (respectively) The ‘Why bother?’ side of social media and The ‘How to?’ side of social media. Full details here.