That being said, it never hurts to take some advice from someone who has been there, done that. At QuickBooks Connect, 5Crowd founder Bram Warshafsky shared his top five tips for building a successful business.

1. Fail forward

Failing happens. It doesn’t have to define who you are or what your business is.

Warshafsky shared a story of taking on a project for a client in the early stages of his business. Although he completed the project, he wound up losing a lot of money on it. It’s a disheartening experience that many entrepreneurs can relate to — when you put your time and effort into something that turns out to be unsustainable.

Meanwhile, the project itself turned out so well that the client asked Warshafsky to take on additional work. Warshafsky turned the offer down, but the experience didn’t end his business. Instead, working with this “founding customer” taught him which types of projects he shouldn’t pursue. This led him toward better ways of marketing his business and skills.

It’s natural to want to be perfect when you try something new. But in entrepreneurship, “good enough” beats perfect — because “good enough” keeps you moving forward. Said Warshafsky: “If you ever find yourself whiteboarding something to death in your office, just get out and take action.” When it comes to making concrete progress, trial and error is more productive than strategic thinking.

Ultimately, the best thing you can do while getting your business off the ground is to embrace those small failures. Warshafsky recalled how he made a thousand small pivots in the early stages of his business. Those pivots didn’t stop him in his tracks; they helped him find the right direction. And in the end, that’s the best way to learn the ins and outs of your industry and identify where you fit in.

2. Listen to the market

In order to build a successful business, you need to fulfill your customers’ needs. But in order to get to that stage, you need to understand what those needs are.

Warshafsky described how when he first started out, he tried a lot of different pitches to explain what his company did. But eventually, he realized that his potential clients didn’t care what he did. They cared about what he could do for them.

As a result, Warshafsky stopped announcing what he did and started asking his clients what their problems were. From there, he could simply showcase how he would solve those problems. “The people who close the most deals do the most listening,” he noted.

By listening to what your customer needs before jumping in with a sales pitch, you can identify what type of selling will resonate with them. There are three different levels of selling:

• Level 1: Solving a technical problem
• Level 2: Solving a business problem
• Level 3: Solving an emotional problem

Not surprisingly, emotional sales are the most powerful. Warshafsky recommends looking at your product or service not just in terms of the benefit it offers, but also how that benefit will benefit your customer. “A good question to ask when you look over your sales material is ‘so what?’ This helps you speak to your customers in a more emotional way.”

Your business wouldn’t exist without your customers. So as you make decisions, remember: It’s not about you. It’s about them.

3. Invest in your team

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to invest time and money in developing your team. Whether that team consists of freelancers, remote staff, or in-house employees, the people who work with your company directly contribute to its success.

In a small business, building a strong company culture is hugely beneficial. Not only does it lead to higher employee retention (saving you time and money on recruitment and training), but it also gives employees a stronger connection to your company’s mission.

Investing in company culture can make some business owners uneasy. After all, it’s difficult to measure the ROI of employee morale — but it’s easy to see the financial impact of ordering T-shirts and hosting events. However, it’s important to remember that these investments will pay off in the long run.

“It’s the kind of ROI that doesn’t manifest clearly, but I promise you it’s there,” Warshafsky explained.

In Warshafsky’s case, his freelancers are spread out all over the world — so he got on a plane and spent time with people in different countries to really understand how they lived and worked. Certainly, not every investment in your team needs to be on this level. But if you’ve already put effort into attracting great talent to your business, you might as well put effort into keeping them there.

4. Know your numbers

Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Cash flow is reality.

When Warshafsky first struck out on his own, he had only ever worked for large companies and didn’t know the first thing about cash flow: “It turns out that’s really important in small businesses.”

Because he didn’t fully understand how the revenue cycle in his company should work, he started hoarding money. He was afraid to launch ideas or reinvest in the business, which can completely stifle growth.

The situation got better once he brought in an expert to build a cash flow model. Being able to see several months’ worth of cash flow projections allowed him to become more comfortable with making decisions and spending money. Furthermore, by looking closely at the data, he could see what type of work was most profitable and could allocate funds appropriately.

In order to set your business up for future growth, you need to understand how it’s performing today. This allows you to reinvest strategically. Warshafsky noted that it’s important to know how you would spend your next dollar — even if you don’t have that dollar yet.

5. It’s all about growth

Warshafsky’s final piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs was that growth is everything: “It turns out that when you grow really fast, nothing else matters.” You can make a few mistakes, but as long as you’re still growing, those mistakes won’t be dealbreakers.

In Warshafsky’s opinion, it’s best to use a combination of methods to grow your business. He offered the analogy of using seeds, nets, or spears to obtain food. “They’re all good ways to eat, but often entrepreneurs just focus on one of these.”

When you plant a seed, you can never be sure if it’s going to sprout. For an entrepreneur, planting seeds might involve networking, attending conferences, and using social media. Sure, some of these activities might blossom into business opportunities — but it’s difficult to tell which ones.

Building a net involves doing something to capture the interest of potential buyers. Not everyone will get close to the net, but a few people may just fall in. In the case of a business owner, writing blog posts or publishing white papers are great strategies to attract new leads.

Throwing spears is the most intentional method of pursuing new opportunities. You might ask a colleague to connect you with someone from their network or find other ways to gain a direct introduction to a highly sought-after client. Warshafsky believes that this is one of the biggest benefits of social media: “There’s no excuse anymore — if you want to meet someone, you can meet them. You can buzz anyone’s phone and I think that’s a really cool thing.”

Conclusion

Every entrepreneur will have their own definition of success and their own timeline for achieving it. Regardless of your goals, it’s important to be persistent and embrace new challenges without fear of failure. And above all, remember why you started your own business in the first place. As Warshafsky said, “Growth should be fun — so have fun!”

Want more #QBConnect content? Check out our full coverage of QuickBooks Connect Toronto 2018!

The post How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur: Bram Warshafsky at QuickBooks Connect appeared first on Method.

The popular session was led by Dawne Leaney Davidson and Tiffany Stewart. As co-administrators of the thriving QB-HQ Facebook community, Davidson and Stewart love supporting ProAdvisors, accountants, and bookkeepers using QuickBooks. Their goal that day was to share some lesser-known features of QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) — and clearly attendees couldn’t wait to hear about them.

Here are their top tips for getting the most out of QBOA.

(Note: This session was tailored for Canadian QBOA users. Some features may not be available in other versions of QBOA.)

Client Overview

The Client Overview tab is an accountant-only view inside a client’s QuickBooks Online (QBO) file. It gives you a summary of the client’s financial situation, including company setup, banking activity, common issues, and connected apps. For new clients, this convenient overview can give you better insight into the pricing you should charge.

Said Davidson: “This is a really great tool if you have a meeting with a client and you’re not sure if you’re going to take them on, and they say, ‘Yeah, our books are really clean!’”

Shared Documents

Davidson and Stewart love this feature, but a quick audience poll revealed that many attendees hadn’t yet tried it. Within QBOA, you can request documents (like bank statements or year-end materials) from your client through a secure portal. After your client uploads the files, you can easily view all of your shared documents in one tab. Hooray for no more back-and-forth emails!

Team Tab

The Team tab in QBOA is your one-stop shop for all things team-related. You can easily add or remove users, as well as manage each user’s access to your firm’s administration and books.

ProAdvisor Tab

Not surprisingly, the ProAdvisor tab in QBOA contains a wealth of useful information. View your ProAdvisor tier and contact information for your Intuit consultant, download your certification badges, and access resources and training modules. You can also stay informed about upcoming product updates, which is key for keeping your clients in the loop — “because some of them will go ‘WHAT JUST HAPPENED?’ otherwise,” advised Davidson.

Work Tab

The Work tab is QBOA’s built-in practice management tool, allowing users to manage all of their tasks in one place. But when Stewart asked the audience if they were using it, responses were mixed. Several attendees said they had tried in the past but found it too frustrating.

Luckily, the tool continues to evolve. Said Stewart: “For [Intuit’s] Rich Preece, this is one of his babies and it has come leaps and bounds since he first introduced it a few years ago.” Users now have new options for creating and managing workflow templates — so it may be time to give the Work tab another chance.

Tax Returns Tab

After a year and a half in beta, the Tax Returns tab in QBOA is now live for general use. Said Stewart to the audience: “Who prepares taxes? You need to get excited about this!” This feature allows Canadian users to e-file T2’s directly to the Canada Revenue Agency. Users can also sign up for a beta that will allow them to e-file T1’s.

Apps Tab

Davidson and Stewart are both huge fans of enhancing the QBO experience through integrated apps. “We have clients with very specific needs and QBO isn’t always a perfect fit — but chances are there is an app that will solve the problem,” explained Davidson. Stewart added that she has 17 apps connected to QBOA: “I might have a problem.” Luckily, the Apps tab in QBOA allows users to easily find and manage apps for clients as well as their own firm.

Accountant Tools

The Accountant Tools drop-down menu gives QBOA users convenient access to a variety of tools and shortcuts. (“This is the fun part!” said Stewart.) Some of Davidson and Stewart’s favorites include Close Books (which is pretty self-explanatory), Reports Tools, and Workpapers.

With Reports Tools, users can set a default date range for all reports and tools, rather than having them open with the client’s default settings. It was clear that this feature will be a game-changer for the audience; Stewart’s demo was met with plenty of applause.

Meanwhile, the Workpapers feature speeds up the year-end adjustment process for Canadian QBOA users. Add notes and attachments for each client, make multiple adjustments in the books, and save all your work in the client file. Then, generate a tax return in just one click.

And there you have it: an insider’s guide to some (not so) hidden gems in QBOA. Test them out for yourself, or head over to QB-HQ to share your own tips with the QuickBooks community!

Want more #QBConnect content? Check out our full coverage of QuickBooks Connect Toronto 2018!

The post Making the Most of QuickBooks Online Accountant: QB-HQ at QuickBooks Connect appeared first on Method.

Even just a decade ago, companies could rely on TV commercials, radio ads, and roadside billboards to reach their target consumers. But consumer behavior has changed.

As entrepreneur Bram Warshafsky pointed out at QuickBooks Connect, many people now watch Netflix instead of TV, listen to Spotify instead of the radio, and walk around looking down at their phones instead of up at the world. The key takeaway for companies: “Good luck advertising to me,” says Warshafsky. Instead, it’s time for modern businesses to focus on reaching consumers in a new way.

That’s where content marketing comes in. Warshafsky explained that the best way to stand out from your competitors is to build a strong brand — and content marketing is the key to brand-building. By creating valuable and relevant content (that isn’t just a sales pitch), you can establish yourself as a trusted resource while building relationships with your target consumers. Not a bad deal.

To help the audience get started on their own content marketing journeys, Warshafsky outlined five key steps.

1. Start By Listening

The first step in creating engaging content is to determine what your audience finds engaging. What are they searching for online? What problems are they trying to solve?

To start off, Warshafsky suggests Googling your main keyword (i.e. the product or service that you sell) along with the word “community.” This will help you identify where your target customers spend time online and what they’re talking about. Browsing online communities like Quora, Reddit, and Yahoo! Answers is another great way to scope out your customers’ pain points.

Finally, don’t forget to listen to what people are telling you about your existing content. If you use Google Analytics for your website, take a look at your exit pages. An exit page is the last page a visitor views before leaving your site entirely. If you notice a trend among all of your website visits, that may be a sign that a particular page isn’t telling people what they want to know.

2. Answer Questions for Your Community

Now that you know what questions your community has, it’s time to start answering them. Again, Warshafsky recommends turning to Google. By searching for your keyword plus “write for us,” you’ll uncover websites that are looking for content on your area of expertise. By publishing guest posts on these sites, you can start to build your brand reputation as well as link back to your own site.

Quora is another great platform for sharing your wisdom. Browse existing questions related to your industry and answer as many of them as you can. Or, if there aren’t any questions that speak to you — “just anonymously ask your own question and then answer it!” suggests Warshafsky. Look at Quora’s analytics to see which of your answers were well-received by the community; this will tell you what to focus on when creating more involved content.

3. Invest in Evergreen Content

You’ll need to invest some time and effort (though not necessarily a ton of money) into creating valuable evergreen content. This is the content that is continually relevant to consumers, rather than being tied to a specific occasion or season.

One of Warshafsky’s favorite types of evergreen content is a short animated explainer video: “You’ll start to find that when you meet with potential customers, they already know about your business.” However, the possibilities for what you can create are endless — videos, blog posts, case studies, ebooks, and more. Put the content on your website and make visitors fill out a form to access it so you can engage with them.

Not sure how to create content around what you do? Warshafsky has the solution. “If your business is kind of boring, consider doing a whiteboard animation. I don’t know why, but everything in this medium is so interesting.”

4. Use Your Blog to Win Long-Tail Keywords

When you create content, it’s important to include keywords that are important to your business. This is what tells search engines to display your content when users search for those keywords. But the more generic and popular a keyword is, the harder it will be for your content to rank in the top search results.

Enter the long-tail keywords. These longer queries are searched for less often, but provide opportunities to create very focused content. As an example, consider the difference between the keywords  “CRM” and “CRM that integrates with QuickBooks Desktop.”

Long-tail keywords are great starting points for blog posts. And while “writing a blog is more of a marathon than a sprint,” says Warshafsky, it can turn into a great long-term sales strategy. Of course, not everyone who visits your blog will have a need for what you sell. But the more visitors you attract, the more of them you can eventually convert.

5. Focus on Content Distribution

The final piece of the puzzle is content distribution — making sure your content reaches the people who want it. There are plenty of tools that can help you give your content the best chance of being found. For instance, you can ensure that Google has the most up-to-date view of your site using Search Console, while HubSpot’s Website Grader can help you identify weaknesses in your site.

Next, focus on getting as many eyes on your content as possible. Warshafsky suggests syndicating your posts on Medium and LinkedIn and linking back to your site to build its authority. Your email signature is also a great place to include a link to your latest piece of content.

Finally, you can use social media to distribute your content — but don’t forget about the “social” aspect. Says Warshafsky, “People complain that social media doesn’t drive sales, but that’s not really the purpose of it. The purpose is to be human.” Rather than shouting your business’s merits from the rooftops, focus on truly engaging with your audience. As you build relationships and reputation, the payoff will naturally follow.

Want more #QBConnect content? Check out our full coverage of QuickBooks Connect Toronto 2018!

The post Growing Your Business Through Content Marketing: Bram Warshafsky at QuickBooks Connect appeared first on Method.