Edgar User Spotlight: Cathy Iconis of QBOChat.com

We could talk a lot about Edgar but it wouldn’t mean much at all if we couldn’t talk about the people who make Edgar possible -- our users.Edgar was started by a small business owner and made for small business owners and we wouldn’t exist without solopreneurs, small business, freelancers and side hustlers who dare to live the dream of being their own boss.And we’re just going to come out and say it --- our users are really freaking cool.They are building incredible businesses, creating valuable content, building fascinating communities and sharing their unique talents and skills with the world.They inspire us non-stop so we wanted to share that inspiration with you. We wanted to share how entrepreneurs and solopreneurs use Edgar to master social media, reach new customers, grow their businesses and find more time.Today’s Edgar User Spotlight is: Cathy Iconis of QBOChat.com. We first met Cathy on Twitter and she wowed us with her hustle and business smarts.Cathy shared with us how she used Edgar to share valuable resources, build a thriving community (her Facebook group has over 1,700 in just 8 months!) and find new revenue streams.Without further ado, meet Cathy Iconis of QBOChat.

Tell us about a little bit about you and your business.

My name is Cathy Iconis. I’m a CPA and founder of QBOchat, a resource and community for QuickBooks Online users. I started my bookkeeping business 9 years ago, fell in love with QuickBooks Online, and used social media to build my client base.I was very involved in Twitter and had the idea almost 6 years ago to start a weekly Twitter chat for QuickBooks Online Users, #QBOchat. I’ve been hosting the twitter chat faithfully all this time every Thursday at 3PM Eastern/12PM Pacific.From the weekly Twitter chat, I grew a community of accountants, bookkeepers, and developers that used or integrated with QuickBooks Online. Since then, I’ve been building a business around QBOchat to provide resources, community, and training on QuickBooks Online.

How do you use social media to grow your business?

My business started and has grown because of social media. I started with just being an active Twitter user, which turned into hosting a weekly twitter chat. In 2018, I have focused on building QBOchat on Facebook as well. I have grown the followers on the QBOchat Facebook page and started a private Facebook group, Build Your Best QBO Practice. The Facebook group has grown to almost 2,000 members in under a year!I’ve also started using Facebook groups as a revenue stream. I provide my Master Courses in private Facebook groups. Once someone registers for a course, they are invited into the group. It is a month-long course, where I do 6 live Facebook sessions, provide templates to students, and answer questions to provide support to all the students throughout the month. Then, I allow students to stay within that private Facebook group for a year, so they can re-watch the videos at any time.

What made you try MeetEdgar?

I have used a million different methods to try to automate my social media efforts without losing the personal touch with my audience.It’s a really hard balance to try to keep. One day, I noticed that one of my college friends, Kristi Dosh, had been using MeetEdgar to help automate her social media. She has done an amazing job growing her business, Guide My Brand, so I love to check out anything she is using. It was an easy buy once I tried it out!

How does Edgar make it easier for you to manage your social media?

One of my biggest concerns has always been that I’m not able to share all the content I have with my audience effectively. We have so many articles on QBOchat and then want to share other great content from other QuickBooks Online Influencers. But, how did I do that in an organic way and not strict scheduling of content every X period on differing days?MeetEdgar has taken away all of my anxiety about when to post what. I just keep on adding content to my library and know that it is doing its job for me based on the schedule and settings I set up.I’m able to go back to see how effective something I shared was and pull it out of rotation if I want. I can also limit content in rotation with a cutoff time. So, if I am sharing holiday content, I can just tell MeetEdgar to stop sharing that at the end of the holidays.I finally feel like I have reliable automation of my social media without having to micromanage everything and waste hours every week.

What results have you seen using Edgar?

Some of the most important results are peace of mind, less anxiety (I have bad anxiety issues), and time saved.My quality of life is better with MeetEdgar! As far as my community, I’m able to be a consistent voice.I posted some Facebook page results from my first month of using MeetEdgar, when trying to share that social media automation isn’t ALWAYS bad.Both my engagement and reach were up, simply because I was able to be consistent.My page likes have increased, and I just feel far more connected with my community because I’m sharing content that I think will help them in their businesses.

Isn’t Cathy amazing? Are you inspired to start a Twitter chat or your own Facebook group yet? We know that we are!

Curious as to how Edgar can help you grow your business? Try Edgar for free for two weeks here.Already an Edgar user? Share your story with us at Support@MeetEdgar.comDon’t forget to follow Cathy and QBOChat.com online:WebsiteTwitterQBO Twitter ChatFacebook PageFacebook GroupLinkedIn ProfileLinkedIn Company PageInstagram