QuickBooks Online

The Small Business United blog just posted a recap of the social media conference we attended.  The conference focused on improving your business through the power of social media.

By Monica Appelbe:

As you know, this weekend Intuit sponsored the Chicago think tank event for online businesses - SOBCon 2010. The brainchild of blogger celebs Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker, SOBCon brings together 150 bloggers/online business owners to learn, discuss , brainstorm, network, think, etc. for three days. The format facilitates attendee engagement by following presentations and panel discussions with breakout “mastermind teams” – where everyone talks about the topics/issues raised by speakers in small groups.

The weekend was jam-packed with learning and very lively discussion, so I can’t do the event justice in a blog post, but wanted to share a few themes and lessons we took away:

1. “Fail fast, fail often” (via @scottporad) – Presenters and participants alike strongly advocated to forget failure and take big risks. After all, the worst that can happen is that you fail (which almost every successful entrepreneur has at some point) and then you iterate and try again. Of course, breaking through the fear of failure isn’t easy, but it’s possible. As Becky McCray said, “There’s NOTHING special about us [referring to herself and business partner Sheila Scarborough]. You can do everything we’ve done.”

2. Focus: find your niche – Jonathan Fields opened his presentation with an anecdote about talking to an entrepreneur about his new business venture. When Jonathan posed the question, “who is your market?,” the gentleman excitedly responded, “That’s the really great part: it’s EVERYONE!” To gain any traction with your product or service, it’s so crucial to focus on solving a pain point of a defined group of people. McCray even advised that “the narrower your target, the wider your opportunity.”

3. Your people matter – Even if you’re a one-person show, every small business owner has people who can either make or break the business – whether it be employees who contribute to the dream, loved ones who provide emotional support, or mentors who help provide guidance. Across the board, each presenter in some way addressed the fact that successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with smart, honest, inspirational, team-oriented people. Fields said it’s the people you work with that make you “come alive” as a businessperson.

4. Get to it already! – This theme ties in closely with theme #1 (can you tell the need for speed was hot at SOBCon?). It manifested itself in a couple of different ways. Intuit’s Sharna Brockett spoke as a brand expert, teaching SOBCon-ers about the pressing need to nail your brand when you start to really maximize its effectiveness over time (tip: Start by writing down what you want your brand to stand for. What are its attributes?). Presenters also urged attendees to make the leap from planning to execution. As Chris Brogan so eloquently put it: “Stop collecting recipes. Open a restaurant and start cooking!”

Intuit also had the pleasure of hosting an interactive session where QuickBooks Online Product Manager Kristen Berman challenged the room to invoice the Internet for time sinks and general annoyances using QuickBooks Online. Here are a few of the invoices folks came up with: [insert screenshots]

If you’re interested in seeing what attendees had to say about the event, search for #SOBCon on Twitter. SOBCon’s agenda featured successful blogger after successful blogger, so to hook you up with their content to really dive deep.

Intuit is attending a small business conference in Chicago this weekend (April 30th) with some top bloggers, twitters, marketers and entrepreneurs. The content is rich – we’re learning lots and want to include you.

See the live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6561103

Follow us on twitter:  @Intuit and @Bermster

Follow the conversation from the attendees (it’s pretty engaging): #Sobcon

No need to pay for the conference when there is social media to bring it right to you.  Let us know what you think on twitter or in the comments.

Small businesses are getting tax breaks for hiring employees

We recently published an article about Health care reform and heard from many of you that factual information about new laws and policies was helpful…so we will continue to update you on laws and policies that may affect how you do business.

A few weeks ago President Obama signed into law a $17.5 billion bill, called the Hire Act.  It’s  stated intent is to help  stimulate job creation for small businesses.  Ok, $17.5 billion sounds awesome, I could buy 35 million iPads with that, but what does it all mean for you?  Here’s what you need to know:

Reduced Social Security Taxes: Employers will not have to pay the Social Security tax for hiring someone who has not had full-time work for the past 60 days.  This means you can save up to 6.2% of wages up to $106,800, a maximum value of $6,621 per employee.

Business Tax Credit: If you keep the employee for at least a year, you will also be eligible for a $1,000 business tax credit (the employee’s salary in the last 26 weeks must be at least 80% salary of the first 26 weeks).

Which employees apply? The employee:

• must be hired between Feb 3rd, 2010 and Jan 1, 2011
• was previously unemployed for the past 60 days
• is not a relative
• cannot be fired then rehired

What are your thoughts on the new bill? Will it actually make you consider hiring someone?  If so, what do you plan on spending your tax savings on?

On a side note, Intuit’s most recent Small Business Employment Index reports that 50,000 new jobs were created in March alone, and 175,000 new jobs since June 2009.  As we all know, you are the heart of the economy, so thank you for keeping us afloat!

To learn more, checkout these helpful resources:

• more details about the HIRE Act
• HIRE Act savings calculator
• Intuit Small Business Employment Index

Best Wishes,

Brian Tran

(About me: I’m a software engineer on QuickBooks Online.  He hopes to one day own a restaurant called Bubbo’s, serving different kinds of comfort food from around the world.)

The office needs a little fun.  April Fools day is the best day to do it.  Check out our favorites and these sites for ideas on how you can best “get” your co-workers. And then tell us what you’ve been up to today.

Have a picture of your prank? We’ll post it. (Appropriate of course .

Game On.

—-

A classic computer prank never goes out of style. The desktop image trick has been around for a bit, but rest assured: There are plenty of unsuspecting victims still to be found. Just head over to an unattended computer, minimize all the windows, and hit the Print Screen key. Paste the captured image into any graphic editing program — even Microsoft Paint will do — then save the file and set it as the desktop background. Then, all you have to do is hide the actual icons on the desktop — put them in a folder somewhere — and your victim will try endlessly to click the nonexistent icons, which are actually just part of the background image. For another variation, leave one program open when you capture the screen and watch as the person tries to click on it, type in it, and close it to no avail.

http://www.techcult.com/high-tech-pranks/

Place a small Post-It note with the words “April Fools!” written on it underneath his co-worker’s mouse. When the the prankee attemptes to use it, the track ball is ineffective.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/humanresources/article176430.html

Take a paperclip and make a a few dozen photocopies of it. Mix them up with normal, unused paper. Watch people go crazy trying to find the paperclip that’s stuck in the photocopier.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/ideas/office.html

Is it raining by you? Take any umbrella and fill it with any amount of small objects and place back in its original position.

http://www.funnypracticaljokes.com/office-pranks/office-pranks.php

Put a small radio in a ceiling panel close to the target’s desk. Just have it on loud enough so only they can hear it. When asked, Have you and your coworkers deny that they hear anything. If they mention that they really don’t like a certain radio personality or kind of music – that would be a good choice to turn the radio dial to.

http://www.discoverfun.com/pranks/office.html