65: The Exact Tools I Use to Keep My Business Running Smoothly

When you start a business, no one hands you an instruction manual.

(… would be nice if they did, wouldn’t it!)

Most of us spend quite a bit of time flailing around, trying to figure out how to get our businesses set up, organized, and running smoothly.

But one key part of a business that runs smoothly is using tools that make your life easier.

I often get questions about the different tools I use to run my various businesses, so today I thought I’d share the specific online tools I use to keep my business running and organized, and to market it as effectively as possible.

In this episode, I go through ALLLL of the online tools I use to keep my business organized and thriving, and I’ve broken down the tools into several categories:

• productivity

• administrative

• graphics + content

• social media

• website

• email marketing

• podcasting

I’m linking EVERYTHING I use below, but there’s a lot more information about how I use each tool in the episode itself, so I highly recommend you give it a listen.

Tools mentioned:

• Productivity

  • Focus at Will (sign up for a free trial — if you decide to upgrade, using this link will kick back a little bit of cash to help support this show)

  • Notion (alternates: Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Monday)

  • Google Workspace

  • Calendly

• Administrative

  • Gusto (sign up with this link and we’ll each get $100 back)

  • Loom

  • My Timestation

  • Xero

• Marketing Graphics + Content

  • Canva

  • Adobe Lightroom Mobile

  • Social Squares (free alternates: Unsplash or Pexels)

  • Answer the Public

  • Pinterest Trends

• Social Media

  • Instagram

    • Planoly

    • InShot

    • Mindful Social Club

  • Facebook (and Facebook Creator Studio)

  • Clubhouse (I’m at @laurentilden)

  • Pinterest

• Website

  • Squarespace

  • Shopify (with app Tidio)

  • Google Analytics

• Email Marketing

  • MailChimp (or FloDesk or MailerLite)

  • Klaviyo

• Art

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Adobe Illustrator

  • Adobe InDesign

• Podcasting

  • Buzzsprout (sign up with this link and we both get $20)

  • Adobe Audition (free alternate: Audacity)

  • Zencastr

  • Audio Jungle (alternative: Premium Beat)

Other links & resources mentioned:

• Free workbook to help you come up with content ideas for your marketing

• Free Facebook community for values-based biz owners

• Previous episodes referenced:

  • on Pinterest

    • 62: The Magic of Pinterest for Small Business with Renee Dick

  • on Email Marketing

    • 59: How to Get Started with Email Marketing

    • 15: How to Write Effective Emails (intro to email marketing)

    • 21: The 9 Rules of Writing for Business

  • With Chris Emmer of Mindful Social Club

    • 05: How to Use Instagram to Grow Your Business (and Do Good!) with Chris Emmer

    • 34: Get More Results on Instagram in Less Time with Chris Emmer

VIEW EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
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