QuickBooks Connect 2017 is officially kicking off in San Jose today with Day 1 being Accountants Day followed by an evening Welcome Reception for all attendees. In the world of accounting and bookkeeping, this is one of the major events to mark on your calendar for several reasons. Not only will thousands of pros from our industry be on hand to mix and network with, there are plenty of interesting panels and workshops to glean good information. You can add considerable value to your clients by sitting in these talks and soaking up information straight from mouth (and Powerpoint decks) of experts.
This is the event that brings together all of the Intuit Ecosystem – accounting pros, small business owners, and app developers.
We want to give you suggestions for five panels that we feel deserve extra attention. Hit all of these and you’ll have plenty of smart talking points to communicate to clients in the weeks to come.
DAY 1 — WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 15
1:30 PM:
“YouTube is the New Business Card: Telling Your Story Via Video to Attract New Clients”
CPA Hector Garcia has used the world’s #1 video content platform to gather an impressive 15k+ following of subscribers. His most watched video has over 450,000 views. Not only is his content getting viewers, Hector’s YouTube channel is also drawing in new prospects for his accounting business.
YouTube can be an extremely powerful way to generate new leads, but there needs to be a strategy. Hector’s talk will walk newbies through how to get started launching their own channel, finding your own distinct voice, and what sort of metrics count when tracking your hard work. If social media marketing has ever interested you, this is a panel that you can’t afford to miss.
3:30 PM:
“Step into the Future: Taking Advantage of Tax Technologies”
LedgerDocs is built upon using technology to make life easier for accountants and bookkeepers. As software developers of cloud-based solutions for accounting, we’re constantly looking ahead to future tech and approaches to increase value for our users.
That’s why this talk is of high interest to us. New approaches to machine learning software, data analysis, and user interface optimization promise that even more time and productivity can be saved. Staying abreast of the latest developments is key, and we’re eager to find out what presenter Jorge Olavarietta has in store for us.
DAY 2 – THURSDAY NOVEMBER 16
“Accountant Session- Power Panel: A Deep Dive into 4 Popular Niches”
We all love discovering secret opportunities to get more business, right? That alone is enough to draw our attention to this topic, but even better is the format of this talk. Intuit’s David Leary, the company’s Global Small Business Ecosystem Evangelist, will moderate the discussion between four stakeholders with knowledge in the wine and construction industries, non-profits, and churches.
Scheduled to last an hour, we’re certain that the talk will yield some fresh ideas from these speakers that you could apply to grow your own client roster. Heck, you may even identify another industry that’s like the ones being discussed at the talk. Take your notebook and pen and be prepared to take lots of notes.
2:50 PM:
“Small Business Session: Business Owners Share How They Got Funding to Grow”
All clients want to grow their business. The trick is in finding the right path to take, and to minimize your risks. Wouldn’t your clients love to have the benefit of 20/20 vision so they could choose the right decision every single time?
Tag along to this panel and pick up advice from four business owners with plenty to share. Each of them navigated the shark-infested waters of running (and growing) a company. They dealt with heavy decisions like when to take financing and when to pass on the tempting offer for a better one.
This is more information to soak up and send back to your customers to prove your value to them.
DAY 3 – FRIDAY NOVEMBER 17
“Small Business Session: Reaching New Customers with Instagram”
As of September 2017, 800 million people actively use the photo-sharing social platform Instagram. Among those users are small business owners seeking to attract the attention of new customers, or Instagram influencers that have already captured the eye of tens of thousands of followers. Each of those segments need qualified people to help them with money coming in and out. Want to know how to connect with them?
Ethan Arpi from Instagram will lead this talk. The chance to hear from someone intimate with the workings of the Instagram platform is why you need to be in this room. Be wise and open to the possibilities and you may find yourself with a brand-new source of lead flow when you return to your home base.
Those are just five of the sessions that are of interest to us. There are plenty more panels, workshops and keynotes that are worthy of your consideration. Have a look at the Quickbooks Connect 2017 agenda and map out what’s of interest to you. You can use the conference iPhone and Android apps to design your agenda. We’d love to hear what that is, so tell us in the comments below or tweet at us if you’re around and say hello!
