The tools I use to run my business
How often have you actually thought about all of the different software programs and apps that you use to run your business? Do you have everything listed in one place, along with the relevant information for each?
I recently went through this exercise with my OBM and I found it very helpful. In this post, I’ll share how I did it, why I did it, and which programs I use frequently in my own business. I’ll also share some affiliate links in case you want to try any of them out for yourself.
How to do it
There are several ways to gather and hold all of the information about the programs you use, so figure out one that works best for you. I chose to do it using a spreadsheet, but you can also do it in a project management software (I’ll tell you more about this below) or in a basic notebook (not recommended for passwords/security reasons, but it is an option). I would recommend using a password to access the file, or saving it somewhere secure. My spreadsheet includes:
The app/software name
What each app/software is used for
The website to log in
My user name and password (and any other needed login information like security questions
The price and payment frequency (if it isn’t free)
The account type I’m signed up for (in apps or software that has different membership tiers)
Who has access (which team members have their own access so I can adjust when my team changes)
Why to do it
Why is it important to have all of this information in one place? First off, it helps you keep track of all of the different apps, passwords, account types, payments, possible affiliate links, and other important info. A big benefit to this “database” is so you can quickly review it, budget for your paid apps and software, and delegate relevant tasks associated with any of the programs out to members of your team.
The apps and software platforms I use in my business
Social media
No surprise here that I use the popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. My team does, however, use an additional program called Tailwind to help me schedule my social media posts for Instagram and Pinterest though.
Project management and organization
In the past several months, I’ve begun using Asana to keep my business, tasks, and team organized. We currently use the free version, and it has been a game-changer. I have all of the tasks associated with all aspects of my business in here. I have mine broken out into topics like Money Makers, Podcast, Active Clients/Programmes, Blog Posts, Marketing, 2022 ideas, and CEO tasks. Each task I enter can have subtasks that typically take less than an hour to complete each. Each task and sub task can be assigned to myself and/or others on my team and assigned a due date. This makes scheduling my work so much easier and holds everyone accountable. My team also uses the chat/comment features in Asana instead of emailing back and forth.
Another important part of keeping things organized is my Google Drive. All of my files that aren’t stored within Asana are stored and organized in my drive so that everything is easy to find. My team also has access to this so we don’t need to constantly email files to each other.
Email and marketing
I use Google Workspace, so all of my business correspondence goes through GMail (which is managed within my website domain so the email is “branded” with Share Impact).
My email marketing and newsletters are all handled through Convertkit (affiliate link). There are so many options out there for email marketing, but i use this platform to track my newsletter subscribers and various email marketing sales funnels.
I use Facebook Ads to help in my marketing efforts as well.
Podcast
I use a few different apps for producing my podcast. First, I record an ddo basic edits on each episode using a platform called Alitu (affiliate link). Then we upload the finalized podcast episode to Audioboom, which is the site I use to host and distribute my podcast. A large part of sharing snippets and info about my podcast comes from a third program called Waave. Waave is great for creating audiograms (short audio clips) from each episode that we can share on social media or share with our podcast guests so they can market their podcast episodes on their own social media or blog platforms.
Design and Website
My team and I use Canva for the majority of our design needs. We use templates we’ve created with the business branding to create everything from our social media graphics to our programme workbooks.
I host my website and blog on Squarespace and have recently redesigned and upgraded to Squarespace verison 7.1. It has worked great for my team and I enjoy how (relatively) user friendly it is.
Education
Lastly, I use Teachable for hosting most of my courses and programmes. With it, I can build out all of my courses with recorded videos, workbooks, and all kinds of other information to help my course participants be successful.
I challenge you…
Sit down and make a list of everything you use in your business, especially those apps or software programs that you are paying for. What are you not utilizing very well that can help your business run more smoothly? What are you not using at all that you can terminate your account with? Review your list every few months and see how understanding the tools you use can help you be more productive and organized in your business!