If you want to know more about what Twitter is all about I’ve posted a few items to my blog which you may find helpful. Originally I wrote about why Accountants need not bother with twitter: Twitter is not for accountants.

Of course some are interested and I have since written:

• A twitter case study and intro for professional advisers
• The biggest misconception about twitter
• Getting started on twitter - for accountant type twitter virgins
• Twenty top tips for using twitter – Key Do’s and Don’ts I’ve collated over the last year or so

[Edit Jan 2010]: Originally I created a league/listing of UK accountants and tax people on twitter here.  That listing has largely been superseded by a new listing facility on twitter. I have now created the uk accountants and tax twitter list and add all those of whom I become aware. I also maintain a separate twitter list of top uk tax commentators (IMHO).  There’s a link near the top left of each list if you should want to follow them.

How I use Twitter – Mark Lee

If you’re still reading it’s probably because  you’re thinking of following me on Twitter. Thanks for that.

To help you I’ve set out how I use Twitter and what you can expect from me in the way of ‘Tweets’ if you decide to follow me.  I’m not saying it’s the best way or even that it’s the right way; it’s just the way that I use it.

My approach

Firstly be aware, I probably tweet 5-20 times a day. That can seem a lot if you don’t follow many people.

By the way if you want to know more about me, there are links to my websites, profiles  and blogs on the right of this page. Or you could just check out the ‘About Mark‘ page on this blogsite.

What do I tweet about?

When I’m out and about I sometimes use Twitter as originally intended to provide  real time status updates of meetings I’m attending, who with and where. I tend to do this in advance using  a service called SocialOopmh (previously known as Tweetlater). There are alternatives to this such as Hootsuite and BrightKit.

When I’m in my office I use Tweetdeck or Seismic on my Macbook (previously on my pc) to keep track of incoming and outgoing tweets on my pc. When I’m away from the office I use Twitterfon or Tweetie on my iphone.

I also use Tweetlater to ensure that Twitter gets a link to each of the new posts on my 3 blogs:
- Accountant jokes and fun – just to keep it separate from the next one!;
- Ambitious Accountants – tips and advice, much of it relevant to all professional advisers; and
- TaxBuzz - the Tax Advice Network blog  (and this has it’s own twitter account too: @TheTaxBuzz )

Beyond all this I post links (and I ReTweeet items and links) that I think are special and worthy of a wider audience .

I also publish my ponderings related to Twitter and to other items of interest. And I comment, reply and help others in reply to Tweets where I hope what I add will be of value.

My main interests on Twitter

These are: UK Accountants, UK tax matters, online networking, referral marketing, public speaking and Magic. Also certain TV shows, films and sundry other things.

If you follow a lot of the same people that I do, you’ll see every @ (reply) message that I send to them, and that they send to me.

And if you’re accessing Twitter through the website rather than using a client such as Tweetdeck, then it could get a bit annoying. You do get used to it after a while though, I promise!

In May 2009 I asked on Twitter what 3 words came to mind when people saw my name. Replies included: Accountants, tax, seminars, knowledge, common sense, speaking, training, sincere, feedback, books, informative, entertaining.

So that’s how I use Twitter, and what you can expect if you follow me.

Will I follow you back?

Sorry, but I don’t automatically follow back everyone who follows me. I fear that could really clog up my inbox of tweets to read/scan.

Having said that, I do try to follow back accountants and tax people – at least until and unless their tweets cease to have any relevance or value to me. And every few days I do check the profiles, pictures and recent tweets of new followers. If there’s no picture or no profile I rarely follow back. Beyond that if the person is new onto Twitter I also rarely follow back immediately unless their first few tweets inspire me to do so.

If someone is very new and has only been posting basic status updates (ie: using Twitter as it was originally envisaged)  I rarely follow back as these do NOT generally inspire me I’m afraid.

I also use a tool called Tweepler every week or so to see who has followed me recently. If they look interesting I will often look at their twitter page and recent tweets. I will then decide whether or not to start following them.

Beyond that I may follow someone if an RT or reply from someone I follow motivates me to check out a stranger’s twitter feed and it looks like it might be of interest. And sometimes I may see an intriguing reference or link in the media. Again I generally have a look at recent tweets before adding anyone.

That’s all folks!

Hopefully if this hasn’t put you off, and you’ll be sending me a “Hello” message @BookMarkLee very soon!

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