#AICPAENGAGE selfies

One benefit of being active and well-connected on social media is that people know who you are, despite spending little or no time with them in real life. Still, good professional relationships can grow when you share good content and help other people. A really fun thing happened at this year’s AICPA Engage conference – several people said, “I know who you are… can I take a selfie?”  It’s a great feeling to be treated like a celebrity for a brief moment, even though I know I am not. It’s kind of like the feeling I get when my six year-old, when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, responds that he wants to be a dad. It’s a fist pump moment. Here I am with Hubdoc, which fetches all my financial documents in one place, and makes my accounting so much more organized and easier: Allison Ball from Intuit said hi!  She’s a fun person to follow on Twitter, even if you’re not an accountant. Some friends at Receipt Bank asked for a selfie when I stopped by. The monster-sized phone for demonstrating their app is so clever! I saved the best for last: Here I am with the awesome time tracking software Tsheets after I won their drawing for an Apple Watch!  Thanks a ton Tsheets!

Goodbye, Google Reader – Hello, Flipboard!

I felt a great disturbance throughout the Internet, as if millions of blog readers suddenly cried out in terror.  I was shocked to read that Google Reader will be retired on July 1, 2013.  I’ve used Google Reader nearly every day for the past several years to read the news, follow my favorite blogs, and subscribe to many helpful RSS feeds.  It’s my most frequently used app on my phone and tablet.  What will I do without it? Twitter conversations immediately commenced in search of a replacement reader app.  Flipboard was highly recommended. Flipboard rocks After I read that tweet, I decided to rethink my life.  So, I went home and downloaded the Flipboard app. I signed into my Google Reader account via Flipboard and was pleased to see all of my subscriptions there in a beautiful newspaper-like format.  The app makes it easy to go from one article to another with a “flipping” motion similar to flipping the pages of a book. The below screenshot shows what my blog looks like in Flipboard.  On both my Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note II, I’ve found it to be an impressive reader app.  Most impressive. Flipboard Screenshot Another reader app that I plan to test out is Feedly.  If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment.

Do you put social media links on your invoices? It’s easy with Xero

A creatively designed invoice can be so much more than a collection tool.  Links to social media websites are simple additions to electronic invoices providing opportunites for increased visibility and contact with customers.  Plus, they add a little color and fun to an otherwise boring document. While I was exploring settings in Xero, the social links area caught my attention.  When activated, it adds Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ icons to online invoices.  This is one of Xero’s many new invoicing features introduced in December 2012 and is a small step into the exciting world of Social Accounting. Social Media Links in Xero  

How to handle a LinkedIn connection request from someone you don’t know

A couple of years ago, I wrote LinkedIn Questionsabout the LinkedIn connection dilemma I face when I receive a request from someone I don’t know.  Back then, I would just hit the “ignore” button because I have no idea who John Doe is, nor do I know any tire salesmen across the country in Maine. I have taken a different approach after reading a few blog posts by Joel Ungar in AccountingWEB.  Joel is a principal with Silberstein Ungar, PLLC in the Detroit area and a CPA who really understands social media. Like me, Joel sometimes receives LinkedIn connection invitations from people he doesn’t know with the generic text, “I’d like to add you to my professional network.”  However, he doesn’t ignore all of them.  He has a rule for requests from the Detroit area: if he meets them first, he’ll accept.  He replies to invitations (without initially accepting them) to explain his rule and suggest meeting for lunch, breakfast or coffee.  Joel says that he has developed some great relationships from this rule. Be sure to read Joel’s excellent advice for how to make a connection on LinkedIn.  He also has several examples of how NOT to make a connection on LinkedIn (sales pitch, not taking time to learn about a person, and starting a relationship with a falsehood). Many of his replies to LinkedIn invitations go unanswered, which is unfortunate.  He is a nice guy and fun to talk to.  I met Joel briefly last year when he came to Las Vegas for a conference and look forward to meeting up with him again next month. If you’re ready to make a LinkedIn connection the right way and you’re willing to meet in some shape or form, you can find me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinwheeler.

Consuming content on tablets with Google Currents

For a guy that enjoys new technology, I entered the realm of tablet computing a little late.  I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 with a 10.1 inch screen. The tablet fills a unique role among the other devices I own.  It is more portable and boots up faster than my laptop.  The larger screen makes it a much better device for viewing web pages and PDF files than my phone. Unlike my desktop and laptop computers, the tablet is not an ideal device for working and typing.  It is not as portable as my phone, which follows me everywhere like my shadow (my tablet won’t be so lucky).  However, its characteristics make it my preferred device for consuming web content.  Up to this point, I have used my tablet primarily for reading news, books, blogs, and other social media. Although I use Google Reader for most of my online reading, I have discovered Google Currents to be an awesome app as well.  Google Currents puts my reading material into a newspaper or magazine-like format, adapts the content to the screen size of a tablet, and makes it available offline.  See the below screenshot of one of my favorite tax blogs, the Roth & Company Tax Update Blog by Joe Kristan.  How do you like the layout, Joe? Google Currents Screenshot

Why Google Analytics is so much fun

While I’m not a power user of Google Analytics like those who track e-commerce and advertising performance, I know my way around it well enough to discover fun and interesting facts about my blog’s visitors.  Below are a few insights into my blog’s statistics:
  1. I love maps!  The Demographics-Location screen shows that my blog has nearly spanned the globe.  It’s no surprise that the United States is the darkest shade of green, which means that it is the country with the most number of visits.  The countries in grey have yet to make a visit.  I am still waiting for Greenland to turn green.  If you have friends there, send them my way. Google Analytics map
  2. It is always interesting to see the search keywords used to get to my site.  “Should I…” is a very common search phrase.  Sure, I can explain how to enter credit card charges correctly into QuickBooks, but don’t expect too much more from me.Should I
  3. Below is a graph showing the value of my investment portfolio.  Just kidding!  The graph shows the number of daily website visits.  It is satisfying to see an increase in web traffic over time.  This is a good lesson for people just starting to blog to not be discouraged by low numbers.  Loyal readers, links from other sites, and search results accumulate over time, so don’t give up!Web Traffic Graph
 

Craigslist searches in Google Reader

Not long ago, a friend told me that he hoped to buy a certain piece of used equipment on Craigslist.  He said that he frequently went to the Craigslist website and searched for the name of the equipment he wanted to buy. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I use Google Reader to pull content from all over the Internet and read it all in one place.  My friend’s situation made me wonder if a Craigslist search could be pulled into Google Reader.  Indeed, it can be done and it is very easy. For example, after selecting my location (Las Vegas), I can go to the For Sale – Computers section and search for a tablet (not that I’m looking for a used tablet on Craigslist, but it makes a good example for this blog post).

When I scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a small RSS button on the right side. Craigslist RSS button After I click on the RSS button, I copy the resulting page’s URL.  In Google Reader, I click on the subscribe button and paste the URL. How do you use Craigslist for business, if at all?  I am curious to know, so please leave a comment below.

Following Pinterest boards in Google Reader

Pinterest, a rapidly growing social networking site, has a fun pinboard-style layout for sharing photos.  Although I am not Masturbazione e bodybuilding? qualita boldenone undecylenate con spedizioni allenamenti e routine di bodybuilding suck per costruire muscoli! currently an active user of Pinterest, I created an account and am experimenting with it.  You can find me at http://pinterest.com/dustinwcpa. I don’t log in to Pinterest often, so I follow my friends’ boards in Google Reader.  I use Google Reader to subscribe to blogs, news websites, and other RSS feeds.  It’s my way of consuming social media content all in one place. Subscribing to Pinterest boards in Google Reader is a simple process.  For example, to follow my Tax & Accounting board, copy the URL of the board (http://pinterest.com/dustinwcpa/tax-accounting/).  In Google Reader, click on the subscribe button and paste the URL into the box.  Then, type “rss” at the end of the URL and click on the add button. Some of the accounting related boards I have subscribed to are Jody Padar, Bill Sheridan, FreshBooks, and the CPA firm of Alpern Rosenthal.

Social media fields in the QuickBooks 2012 Lead Center

I have been experimenting with the new features of QuickBooks 2012 and was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the new Lead Center contains optional contact information fields for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Skype. Social Media in Lead Center Apparently, Intuit has recognized the value of these social media tools for marketing and added them as a means for QuickBooks users to connect with prospective customers.  It is cool to see accounting software become a little more social.

Sweet! I made it on the #pstech Tweetcloud

This week, I attended the AICPA TECH+ conference and used Twitter to share a few useful pieces of information with the hashtag #pstech. Below is a screenshot of the most common words used in tweets by everyone at the conference that included the hashtag.  The words with the larger letters were used more often than those with smaller letters.  I am honored to be in there, thanks to a few of my tweets being retweeted by others resulting in multiple mentions of my username.  Also listed are many other people worth following in the accounting profession.  Jason M. Blumer, whose name is in big letters, is an awesomely popular CPA dude. The words in the tweetcloud give hints to what the conference was all about: iPad, app, blogging, changing, management, mobile, and cloud (referring to information and applications on the Internet, not the puffy white things in the sky).