Making Connections through Social Media

Source: Tierney Coaching & Consulting

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Lisa Tierney.

There are many discussions going on about the use of social media among accountants. Surely there are folks who don't understand the value of these mediums, mostly due to inexperience in using them. “Why should I go on Twitter and tell someone what I'm doing? Who is going to care?”

To those people I would suggest turning that question around to ask, “When I have just heard a piece of important and timely information that would benefit some of my colleagues, how can I tell them all at once — easily and quickly?”

Social media is simply a new way for people to communicate and connect with others. As a firm, you need to connect with as many potential clients and referral sources as possible. You most likely have identified your ideal client/target audience. The objective is to figure out which social medium they are using and then start communicating with them via that medium. This is why they use the term “Friend” on Facebook, the word “Connect” on LinkedIn…and “Follower” on Twitter. They all imply how you will be able to connect with others who share mutual interests — and that is what social media is about: connections with others.

There is a variety of ways in which we can communicate our value as a professional services provider in today's marketplace — pick up the phone, write on a blog, ask a question or start a discussion on LinkedIn, record your thoughts on something you are passionate about on video and post it on a website, share your experiences about something important to you…it's all about connections.

For the complete article, read “What's All This Talk About the Return on Investment of Social Media?”

From Tierney Coaching & Consulting, www.tierneycoaching-consulting.com.