Copyright American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Aug 2009| [Headnote] |
| Brief messages leave powerful impressions. |
Twitter has taken the Internet by storm, like linkedln and Facebook, Twitter hosts a growing community of CPAs and financial professionals, but unlike its social-networking peers, the microbiogging Web site limits users' messages, questions and conversations to 140 characters (including spaces). To put this limit into perspective, this paragraph has 425 characters - more than three times Twitter's, character limit for posts.
Despite Twitters requirement to "keep it brief," CPA firms, practitioners and state societies are using Twitter to market uheir organizations and reach potential clients and members. Here, CPA practitioners and state CPA societies share why and how they're using Twitter and what benefits uhey?rc reaping from their social media investment.
CPA PRACTITIONERS
Donna Bordeaux, CPA/PFS Bordeaux & Bordeaux CPAs PA, Lake Wylie, S.C.
twitter.com/CharlotteCPA
* yourcpapartners.com
"We utilize Twitter to keep current on the pulse of what is going on locally and in our industry. It is a fun and easy way to meet new people who could someday be your clients and may not know you exist. We have obtained two new clients by their awareness of us in Twitter and have received a few mentions in blogs based on our social media presence.
"Our Tweets aie a combination of business and personal comments. If you always post about business, you seem like you are always wearing the 'selling hat. Twitter and mother forms of social media are really for awareness-building rather than direct sales. To be authentic, you really have to show all facets of yourself.
"I always suggest -thai my clients get involved slowly into the social media formats. We suggest Linkedln, Facebook and Twitter - in that order. Just like you would at a large meeting, listen and learn a bit before diving in. Stan following some interesting local people and people in your industry Pick up some interesting tidbits and then add in hashtags, direct messaging and re-Tweets."
Donna Bordeaux and her husband, Chad (active on Twitter at twitter.com/CLT_CPA), also maintain the "Beancounter Ramblings" blog at yourcpapartners.com/blog.
* Byron K. Patrick, CPA/CITP Hosted Solutions, Baltimore
twitter.com/byTon_cpa
* goapps.us
"Through Twitter, I'm more informed about today's news and issues than ever. 1 am able to follow the people whose opinions I respect and no longer need to hunt for the information I want. It's delivered right to me. It's also a way for me to be in front of the people that potentially could be clients or referral sources without being too disruptive. I can build trust even before 1 have ever worked with them.
"Twitter is different than the other social networks. Others like Linkedln and Facebook usually require a prior relationship before you connect. Twitter doesn't require that prior relationship, and it allows for trust and respect to be earned with colleagues that you have no prior connection with. Personally, I have expanded my network exponentially with very little effort and, hopefully, provide some value to those 1 am now connected with."
* Heather L. Fitzpatrick, CPA MarketFitz, Seattle
twitter.corn/hlfitzpattick
* marketfitz.com
"As a CPA who works as a consultant serving CPA firms, I have found Twitter to be quite useful for my practice. I have found references to articles and other resources that are of interest to clients, and the endorsement of a Twitter peer saves me time reviewing for quality. I have also connected with others focused on managing professional service firms through Twitter, and have seen some interesting ideas surface in those 140 characters. Finally it's been helpful to my volunteer roles within organizations, which also helps me from a business perspective."
"Ive had a surge in inquines from CPA Sims asking how to incorporate Twitter into their marketing initiatives. We have been working with some of those organizations to integrate Twitter into their media relations efforts, in particular. While they haven't necessarily seen a financial return on their efforts yet, they are starting to understand the connection between Twit fer and the traditional press.
* Crystal Knight, CPA Vestal & Wiler CPAs, Orlando, Fla.
twitter.com/CKnightCPA
* vestal-wiler.com
"I joined Twitter because it's a powerful information tool where I can scan the latest headlines, not just the accounting industry but the industries our firm services. In addition, Twitter is a great tool to expand my professional network and make existing professional relationships stronger. If I'm ever stumped on something, I have a whole network of CPAs I can Tweet a question to who can give me an immediate response."
STATE CPA SOCIETIES
* The Ohio Society of CPAs
twitter.com/OSCPA
* ohioscpa.com
"[On Twitter,] news is shared faster than before. Our members and staff are reading business and accounting headlines as they are happening and commenting on how that news impacts their firms, companies and clients. [What] we Tweet about should add value to the community of users and facilitate greater conversation between CPAs and the people who can benefit from their expertise - media, business leaders and the general public.
"OSCPA membership is very diverse, and members like receiving their news in different ways. We continue to reach out to them through traditional, one-way communiqués^ - print and e-mail. But we've also found that integrating our messages through social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedln helps us engage more members in two-way conversations. It is a valuable way to get direct feedback horn individual members about their needs and interests."
* Oregon Society of CPAs
twitter.com/OregonCPAsNews
* orcpa.org
"We decided to join the Twittersphere shortly after activating our Facebook account because it is another way of engaging our members and n.onmembers and providing information we think CPAs would want to know. Not only do we Tweet and re-Tweet news items about or related to the profession, but we inform our followers about upcoming society events and CPE courses and post follow-up items about society events. If we get nonmembers to become interested in the society because they saw us on Twitter, all the better.
"In the spring, we held our annual Strategic Leadership Forum for our core volunteer leaders, and I was able to Tweet about the speakers we were listening to - * including AlCPA Chairman Ernie Almonte - right from my phone."
* Oklahoma Society of CPAs
twitter.com/OklahomaCPAs
* oscpa.org
"Twitter helps us develop relationships with members, peers and media. We've pitched stories using Twitter, reporters have contacted us through Twitter, and we've even had some publicity on local radio stations because of our Tweets. Plus, through some discussion Tweets, we've found new vendors that can provide services to meet our needs.
"We have been able to use the social networks as recruitment tools for student and associate (CPA Examination candidate) members. We have a renewed emphasis on recruiting and retaining younger members. We feel that in order to keep those members engaged with us, we also need to be socially engaged with them on some levels. More than anything, though, we need to be where they are and communicate in their language, using their
* Indiana CPA Society
twitter.com/incpas
* incpas.org
"By using Twitter, the Society has been able to listen to and monitor what is being said about the organization and the profession. It allows us to stay connected in real time with other professional organizations and state CPA societies and use them as a network of resources and collaboration. By creating brand awareness through Twitter and other social media, it helps us to build relationships with the public. It's an excellent way to engage members, network, share information, move people to action, and most of all, listen to and leam what their needs are and how you can meet them."
The Indiana CPA Society's public relations and social media manager, Jenifer Groth, also Tweets at twitter.com/jlgroth.
* Florida Institute of CPAs
twitter.com/FICPA
* ficpa.org
"Twitter is another way to communicate with our members both young and old about accounting information and FlCPA events. We've set up an interview with an FlCPA past president as a result of Twitter. We also connected with an accounting student in South Florida who asked a question about the FlCPA. We were able to respond and created a better relationship with a future CPA."
TWITTER TERMINOLOGY
@Reply: A public message sent in response to a Tweet.
Direct Message: A private message sent to a Twitterer.
DM: Short for direct message.
Feed: Your posts on Twitter are commonly referred to as your "feed." To view users' feeds, visit the Twitter profile page by typing the usemame after "twitter.com/." For example, the Jo/A's feed is at twitter.com/AICPA_JofA.
Follower: A Twitter user who follows your Twitter feed. When someone is following you, your Tweets appear on the follower's Twitter home page.
Hashtags: User-generated tags that denote groupings on Twitter of popular, commonly referenced items such as #tax, #CPA or #jobs. Because of Twitter's character limit, hashtags are often used to reference events that users are Tweeting from or about. For example, Tweets posted by attendees of the AICPA's Tech+ Conference in June included the hashtag #techplus as an alternative to writing out the name of the conference. You can follow these tags in real time at hashtags.org.
Re-Tweet: Reposting a Tweet word for word while giving credit to the original Twitterer. A re-Tweet usually appears as "RT @username:" followed by the original Tweet. For example, if the JofA re-Tweets a post from The Tax Adviser, it would appear as "RT @TheTaxAdviser: IRS releases draft 2009 Form 1040 on its website."
An exception to this is when the post you're re-Tweeting is close to the 140character limit and adding an attribution to the original Twitterer would push it over 140 characters. In this case, it is necessary to edit the original post by abbreviating words, dates, locations, etc. Twitter will not let you post re -Tweets with more than 140 characters. Because re-Tweeting is popular, it's wise to write Tweets that are less than 120 characters to allow for easy re-Tweeting by your followers.
Tweet (noun): A post or message sent on Twitter.
Tweet (verb): The act of posting to Twitter.
| [Author Affiliation] |
| Megan Pinkston is the JofA's online editor. Her e-mail address is mpinkston@aicpa.org. She manages the JofA's Twitter feed at twitter.com/AlCPA_JofA. |
| [Author Affiliation] |
| Megan Pinkston is the JoJAs online editor. She managesjournalofaccountancy.com and develops articles and other content for the Web site and print magazine. She also manages the JoJA1S Twitter feed at twitter.com/AICPA_JofA. She is a former Jq[A assistant editor and is a graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
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