Ping.fm Web Site

Using Social Networks to manage your online image can take some time out of an already busy day but not when you use Ping.fm. If you’re unfamiliar with the use of Social Networks you want to read CPA Site Solutions  previous posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Ping.fm is a simple service that allows anyone with Social Networks to post to all of them at once. This means logging into one place and writing something short that posts to Twitter, Facebook, and any other Social Network you use.

Login to One Web Site. This is the main appeal to Ping.fm because if you have Twitter and Facebook you can post to those two areas without having to login to each. Only one password to remember and website to visit.

Long URL Links Are Automatically Shortened. Some links are longer than can be effectively managed. Ping.fm takes and shortens the URL so that it shows up without taking over a lot of room. This is especially helpful with Twitter since there is a 140 character limit.

Leverage Ping.fm to Get the Word Out. Leverage Ping.fm to get the word out to an audience gained from using Facebook, Twitter and others without sacrificing actual content. Although you may need to keep your post down to 140 characters or less because of Twitter, that is only to gain a readers attention. The actual, or expanded, content is within an Accounting blog or firm’s web page.

It is within a blog or web page that information on a new seminar built on your firm’s website or campaign launch can really occur. If a person is on the blog or web page you have their attention and can more effectively relay more detailed and helpful information.

Using Ping.fm brings together all of the Social Networks under one umbrella. Using Ping.fm now can help to leverage time by making it easier to get messages out to your firm’s growing Social Network audience.

Have some comments or ideas regarding Social Networks? Send the CPA Site Solutions team a comment and let us know what you think.

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It is becoming increasingly common to use video to enhance CPA web sites. You can easily use this technique to increase your CPA Website Design Search Engine Presence and keep your clients informed about your services.

We’re going to start out by showing you how to make your video for your firm’s website.

This can get pricey if you do it wrong so let’s skip the high priced director, expensive cameras and actors. We don’t need to make a commercial here. We just need a video for your firm’s web site.

Get a Screen Capture Video Utility.  The trick to making this into a video is using a screen capture video utility. Camtasia works really well, but the price tag is pretty high.  I found an easy to use screen capture utility on download.com called Easy Screen Capture Video for 10 bucks.

Create Good Content. If you don’t have all the expensive trappings there is still one thing you DO need… good content. Give the viewer something for his trouble. Choose a topic that you know about that other people don’t. Choosing a subject is easy if you consider an obvious source, your clients.

You get questions all the time that serve no useful purpose other than to chew into your billable hours. How can I track my return? How can I change a vendor name in my QuickBooks? There are any number of these types of questions. Still not sure check out the pages of frequently asked questions that are included when you have an accounting website with CPA Site Solutions.

Show the Answer to Common Questions on Your Computer Screen. After you come up with a question, then answer it. Make it a question you can answer by showing me how on your computer. Now all you need to do to make a good and informative video is to use the screen capture utility to record yourself answering the question.

Work Slowly. It is more efficient if you work slowly. It is easier to try to edit chunks of screen time out of your video than it is to stretch them out, and if you move your mouse around too fast the screen capture utility may not track it properly.

Careful of Content Already on Your Computer. Be careful what’s showing on your desktop while you’re recording. You don’t want anyone seeing a social security number, credit card number, email address, password etc.

Write Your Script. It is often easier to write it while you’re doing the task. Think of your initial draft as a guideline as you will be tweaking your script constantly as you record.

Get a Decent Microphone. There are a lot of great microphones out there. Try to look for a Podcasting microphone as a normal mic might not give you the power output you need. You could also record from your webcam as some of them will have decent enough sound quality.

Voice Over Your Video. (Screen capture utilities won’t record sound). I can’t get too bogged down on the niceties of making videos (there are whole books on the topic), but I have three words for you: Windows Movie Maker. If you have a Windows operating system you likely already have this program installed on your computer. If you can’t figure it out turn the job over to any kid older than 12. It really is that easy. You can record your soundtrack right into Movie Maker. Everything you need to know is right here:

If you don’t have a windows operating system you’ll need to find some equivalent application. Apple computers come bundled with Apple iMovie.

In part 2 of this series we’ll take the next step to get video on your accounting firm’s web site. I’ll show you how to submit your new movie to video sharing web sites and talk more about how it can help your CPA website design.

Do you already have video on your website? Let us know how you use video and any tips you’ve learned along the way.

In part 1 of this series we talked about the initial creation of a blog. Once you have created a blog and  some ideas start flowing, the next question is how can you efficiently manage the process?

There are many different ways to organize your blog’s flow. Whatever process you use the key to keep a readers trust is by having consistently good information. Even if you were to have a few posts with so-so content, that can be somewhat forgiven, but you will always want to be consistent.

If a reader has come to rely on your blog and to checking it on a regular basis then you want to always have something written for them to look at. If you ever fail to write a blog post it won’t be long before they start looking elsewhere with their mind hungry for information. So rule number one is, above all else, be consistent.

The next step is to come up with a system that allows you to write without pain. One of the best ways to do this is by staying organized. If you have done the brainstorming exercise then you should have a good list of ideas to work from.

Having this list of ideas makes it easier to just sit down and write when you have some free moments. You might consider coming up with a blog calendar that lays out when those ideas will ideally be published. This gives you a guide to work from and allows your blog flow to remain consistent.

Another way to organize is to figure out what sort of messages you want to convey. You might gear your postings to changes that are happening in your firm. You could keep some postings light hearted with pictures of a recent trip you took.

Whatever you post in your accountant blog it is of benefit to your site overall. The more you blog the more fresh content you have for your accounting website. When you mention what you are doing in your firm, some tips and tricks for your clients, that also can help for search engines.

Managing your blog is an ongoing process. If you organize what you want to say, keep the posts relatively short, and consistent you will be amazed at easy it can be to maintain. The key is to start now, start small, maybe one post a week, and go from there. Good luck and happy blogging.

If you are a regular reader of our blog or newsletter you know that we have added the capability of adding a blog to your own website. Although you may have read blogs doing one of your own can bring up a lot of questions. The aim of this two part series is to give a quick introduction into creating and managing your own blog with the first part being on creation.

There are many benefits to starting a blog but one of the primary questions that can come up is what to write about. In general any information that pertains to who you are or what you do is fair game.

Really you can write about just about anything but what you really want to do is write something that will motivate your readers and get them coming back to read more. The more they read of your blog, the more you become a true voice and resource. Beyond this it can be fun to teach or share what you know or what you are doing.

Think of how many times you want to share what you have just read about with others. It is fun to share news or information. If you keep the blog interesting it becomes information or news that people will want to share.

Keeping people informed will help them stay connected to you especially in the “off season”. The more you’re in peoples minds the more they are apt to recommend you when asked by others.

So what motivates you in your daily business? This may be something you could write about. What new things are you doing this coming fall? What kinds of changes might you be making to your business? What about other people in your organization? Many might not only have ideas but also be willing to write about them.

If your having a hard time coming up with some ideas here is a quick exercise that can yield some unexpected results:

1. Take a piece of paper, pencil and timer.

2. Set yourself down and give yourself just five minutes, ignore the clock and let the timer tell you when to stop.

3. The key to this is to not think but just write, unedited content, without stopping for the whole five minutes.

Sounds easy enough right? Well it is and it isn’t, it depends on how much is on your mind at the time. If you start to think about something during this time instead of writing just take a deep breath and keep writing.

What your looking for is to come up with as many ideas you or those you know would find interesting to read about. Don’t worry if the ideas don’t connect to your business, you can figure that out later, in this part all your doing is writing.

When your done take all of those ideas and figure out how many of them you could really write about. Remember that many blogs are meant to be informative but relatively short.

Most of the time readers are looking for interesting or useful information. Blogs are typically written in an informal writing style so you don’t have to worry as much about being a great writer. As long as the ideas or information are useful to your readers your fine.

Even so you may want to consider creating some short guidelines for yourself, and other writers if you have any, to follow. Having a guide that lays out what font to use and such is for consistency rather than having to do with any official rule with how you blog.

If your still looking for inspiration you might try looking at the following resources:

Top 50 Accounting Blogs

95 Accounting Firm Practice Blogs

Accountants Round Up