Using Social Media to Grow Your Business -- Town Hall

Please join me as we launch Long for Success meeting in the Small Business Town Hall on Thursday, June 25 at 9:00 am PT (12:00 pm ET). The topic will be ‘Using Social Media to Grow Your Business’ and my guests will be

· Scott Wilder – Small Business Group at Intuit
· Chris Kim – Senior Marketing Manager with Intuit
· Dante Layton – Owner of Dante Layton, Inc.
· Ruth Perryman – Owner of The QB Specialists

We’ll introduce Social Media (Twitter, FaceBook, Linkedin), discuss how to utilize social media for effective marketing, how to use an RSS reader, search for key terms and hear success stories from Dante and Ruth before opening it up for about 30 minutes of Q&A and discussion.

Using a webcam (about $20) you can join in to speak or you can type a question or comment in the chat window if you prefer.

Here are a couple of links to join, but I’ll post again next week as a reminder.

http://community.intuit.com/small_business_town_hall Click Under Small Business Experts -- Long for Success

http://apps.facebook.com/smallbiztownhall/Home.aspx?auth_token=4b41dfb9c5fa6cceea9469e5e023dfdc

We’ll be having many town halls in the future, so let me know what topics you want to discuss and possible guests to join me!

There is no need to sign up, just type in your screen name to enter the room. When you enter the room, it may ask if you want to allow access to your web cam and/or mic. You can Allow or Deny. If you Allow access, then you can click on 'Request to Speak' and you'll be put in the speaker's que. When you're finished you click on 'Stop Speaking' at the bottom of that window and the it will go to the next person in the que.

If you don't want to speak up or use a web cam, you can type your questions or comments in a chat window on the right side.

Feel free to go into the room whenever & check it out. You can even try out your webcam to see yourself & how it works!

I'm looking forward to it and think it is a great way to have discussions and Q&A with others!!!

Thanks so much!

Michelle

Creating an Effective Profile

It is surprising how many people do not complete their profile for the Intuit Community Forums. The forums are a great resource for both users posting questions and contributors providing answers. Completing your profile can enhance the benefit you receive from the community forums. Let’s consider it for both the user and the contributor.
When someone reads a question posted by a user, it may be helpful if they could go to your profile to get some additional information and insight about your business. This can help them offer a better answer or suggestion for you. Also, users often request to be contacted, but fail to complete the contact information in their profile. (You should not include contact information in the post itself.) For example, profile information you should complete includes:
· Line of business
· Description of your business
· Years in business
· Top selling product or service
· Website
· Best way to contact you
· Fun facts about yourself (optional)
In addition to the above information, if you are a contributor on the community forums and an accounting professional, then you should also complete information on your accounting practice, including:
· Professional designations
· Services provided
· Products supported
· Industries served
By contributing answers you are demonstrating your knowledge to others and often they may want to contact you for additional help or consulting. Contributing on the forums is a great way to enhance your reputation and get some new clients. You want to make it easy for people to find out more about your practice and to contact you. It is against the community rules to post links to your website in your posts, but you can post a link to your profile instead (which can include a link to your website).
So invest a few minutes of your time, complete (or update) your profile and enhance the benefit you receive from the community forums!

Saving & Restoring QuickBooks Data Files

I don't understand the techie reasons, but you are always supposed to save files to/from the hard disk before going to an external drive (CD, USB, external hard drive). Initially I thought you just needed to do this when going between the PC and Mac. However, I've since learned that you should always do this to avoid problems.

So, if you're getting an error message when trying to save or restore a file and you cannot seem to resolve the issue, try going to/from the hard drive first! If you cannot get a file to restore, you may need to have the file saved again--to the hard drive first.

Another quick note, when you're trying to restore the data file, make sure to determine what file type you are restoring (QBW, QBB or QBM). It does make a difference which button you'll choose when you restore.

Also, to send large data files to others you can use a file transfer service (many offer a free service) such as www.SendThisFile.com or www.YouSendit.com or others. Make sure the file requires a password and do NOT send the password in the message with the file--send it separately! :)

Join me at "Scaling New Heights" in May

I wanted to let everyone know that I will be presenting at least one session at the upcoming conference called "Scaling New Heights" - Advanced Training for QuickBooks ProAdvisors & Intuit Solution Providers. I’ll facilitate a discussion on topics related to my book "Successful QuickBooks Consulting” – including new content that I'm currently developing for my next book - "Beyond Successful QuickBooks Consulting." We’ll discuss how ProAdvisors across the country are growing their consulting/accounting practices (even in an uncertain economy), how to leverage social media like LinkedIn and Twitter, how to effectively manage your practice, and much more. I’d love to have you join us!

I strongly recommend this event for anyone who consults on Intuit software. I’m sure even the most experienced advisors will learn much from the advanced curriculum Joe Woodard has designed for this conference - including me!

You can get more information and register online at http://www.ScalingNewHeights.com. What a great conference to increase your skills, obtain CPE, network with others and launch your business to new heights!

When you register, tell them you heard about the event from Michelle Long to get a free copy of "Joe Woodard's Top 100 QuickBooks Tips, Tricks and Workarounds" with your registration!

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope to see you there!

Michelle

You need to use Remote Access!

I think remote access is GREAT! I installed Logmein (the free version) on the computer in my office. When I was on a ski trip and needed something, I could log into my computer to access it. As long as the computer is turned on, I could access anything on it as if I were sitting right in front of it! So, if you want to access QuickBooks from home (or Outlook or anything), just leave the computer turned on and you can get to it.

In my business, I use remote access to work with clients nationwide. I help them with trouble shooting QuickBooks, setting it up or training clients on the proper way to enter transactions. I usually use WebEx (from within QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition) and have meetings with the client. I'll send them an email invite, they click on a link to download the application and grant me access to their QuickBooks. Since I'm using their QuickBooks, I don't need to worry about whether I have the same year of QuickBooks or not. When our remote session is over, I no longer have access to their system. It works great!

Once, I had a client who really wanted a training session (she was going to have a baby REAL soon and need to get some things done), but I was on vacation. I needed a break from the beach and sun, so I went in to the condo, logged into her computer remotely and was able to have a consultation with her. She was thrilled and I was glad that I could help her! Remote access makes it possible to serve clients from anywhere you have an internet connection!

If a client is using QuickBooks for Mac, then I have them install Logmein Free and use my name as the password so that I can log in via their account. Then, when we're finished with our session, I have them change the password back so I no longer have access--this protects me and reassures the client.

In addition to Logmein, you could use PCAnywhere, GotomyPC or a number of other remote access services. But, I encourage you to try remote access--it can make you much more productive and efficient. If you have access to 2 computers, have a 'remote' session with yourself so you can see how it works and feel more comfortable using it. Once you get used to it--you'll wonder how you lived without it!

Accountant's Copy improved in QuickBooks 2009

There have been a lot of improvements in the Accountant's Copy over the past few years. New for 2009, if there are a few 'bad' transactions, the other 'good' transactions will still be imported. In prior versions, if there were bad transactions the entire import would fail. Now, we can feel more comfortable using the Accountant's Copy to work with our clients.

The Accountant's Copy allows the clients to continue working in the data file for the current year (after the dividing date) while we (the accountant) can work on the data file for the prior year (before the dividing date). Then, we can export our changes to a file for the client to import our changes. With a backup or portable file, the client cannot work in the data file while we have it our they will lose their work.

So, if you haven't used the Accountant's Copy in the past, this is a great year to start using it! Don't forget that you need QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition to work with an accountant's copy.

Kauffman Foundation Launches National Entrepreneurship Training to Kick Start Job Creation in the Face of Growing Layoffs

I'm thrilled to be a Coach for the FastTrac NewVenture Program at the Kauffman Foundation. They just announced a $1 million initiative to offer FastTrac LaunchPad entrepreneurial training programs in communities nationwide that have been hit hard by layoffs and the recession. Here is the link to the full article with details: http://tinyurl.com/bjxx95