Top 5 reasons to use Web 2.0 / how to get started

1. It is one of the top recruiting tools for the younger generation (millennials).
2. It will reinforce an image of a progressive company, firm or even department.
3. It will increase communication among your team, clients and prospective clients.
4. It will help your team understand their kids (and they will thank you for it) .
5. It is FUN! (And don't we all need some fun in our organizations?)

Photo courtesy of Scott Beale / Laughing Squid under creative commons license

My colleague at the MACPA, Jackie Brown, sent me a copy of the JofA article titled "Woo Candidates with Web 2.0" over the weekend, and I saw it again on Rita Keller's post. (BTW: Rita exemplifies how / why a CPA firm should be blogging.)

The article is based on the latest survey by Robert Half International that showed the technologies that would have the greatest impact on recruiting in the next three years:

• Professional networking sites (like LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.): 62 percent
• Social networking sites (like Facebook and MySpace): 35 percent
• Video resumes (via YouTube): 20 percent
• SecondLife: 7 percent

Still not convinced? This is also a major trend in the small business sector, according to Intuit's research report, "The Future of Small Business, Part 2" and in the latest post on the Small Business Labs blog. In that report, they talk about the emergence of Web 3.0 and mention that no longer is "just a Web site" adequate for customer acquisition and marketing. (They are referring to these Web 2.0 technologies as new must-use tools.)

This is why we at the MACPA have been experimenting and working with Web 2.0 over the past two years. If you want to get started, try our self-directed self-study on Web 2.0 for CPAs at CPA Learning 2. Over nine weeks with 15 minutes a day, you will learn a lot about the latest Web 2.0 tools, including Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and even Second Life!

Then, this morning I saw Michelle Golden's post about how many new blogs by accounting firms are finally starting to show up. See her post, Accounting Blogs Sprouting Up All Over the Place.

One final thought: Check out Seth Godin's post titled, "Memo to the very small," in which he talks about the merits of Web 2.0 for small businesses and small firms.

Then think about this quote used regularly by Tom Peters: "It used to be that the big ate the small. Now the fast eat the slow." -- Geoff Yang, Institutional Investor Partners

Check out some articles and press about our efforts in Web 2.0

• Accounting for Second Life
• "Cool People Apply," in which our efforts on YouTube were covered by The Daily Record.
• See our videos on YouTube by clicking here .

See our efforts on Second Life for CPE, students and educators by visiting our blogs CPAIsland.com and SLACPA.org.

Our other Web 2.0 blogs you can check out are NewCPAs.com and CPALegislativeInsider.com.

Read Rita's prior post on Web 2.0 and millennials.

Tell us any examples of your Web 2.0 endeavors. Are they working?

Comments

[David D'Angelo]

I thought this was an excellent post on recruiting in web 2.0. I referenced it on my blog on Recruiting in Second Life, http://recruit2ndlife.blogspot.com/.