Is there anything you can’t do online these days? Finding the perfect online resource to fit my needs (and budget) is always a fun task. I geek out over a good spreadsheet or trello board. That’s why I’m super excited to share some of these amazing tools with you, in the hopes that you’ll find them just as helpful.
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Your Website
SiteGround & Bluehost
Before setting up your website, you’ll need a domain. Your domain is essentially the address of your website, which you’ll need to own. I personally use SiteGround and love it, it’s extremely affordable and comes with a lot of extras that you would otherwise have to pay for, such as unlimited branded emails.
Bluehost is another popular and affordable hosting platform. You can get purchase your domain for less than $4 on their easy to use site.
Weebly
When it comes to setting up your business website, it doesn’t get much easier than Weebly. Weebly makes it extremely easy to get started with their drag and drop features, no coding required. Of course, sites like Weebly do have their drawbacks, including having limited SEO options, control, and being hosted rather than self-hosted. If you’re looking for help with your website, check out my services page and feel free to reach out.
Canva
Canva is an amazing online tool that helps you create beautiful graphics for your website or social media. You can use their free platform, which has everything you need to get started. I use Canva compuslively, so I have the pro version, but it’s really not necessary if you just plan to use it for regular day to day graphics and social.
Google My Business
Once your website is up, you’ll want to make sure that your potential clients can find you when searching for an organizer in their area. By setting up a free business account on Google My Business, you’ll be able to be found – which significantly increases your chances of hiring clients, right?
Grammarly
Keeping Your Business Organized
Trello
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of online accounts. I currently have 5 emails that I use regularly across my businesses and personal life. I have all of the social media accounts that are used, on top of many of the online accounts mentioned within this article. It can be difficult navigating and organizing information between all of those accounts. That’s why I love Shift. Shift helps you streamline your accounts in a convenient and manageable platform. With a simple click you can toggle between email accounts, your social media accounts, and an endless number of other accounts. Sign up today for a free Shift account, I’m sure you’ll love it just as much as I do.
Client Management
Choosing a CRM
Once the clients start rolling in, you’ll need a way to manage the workflow of clients through inquiry, booking, etc. The major players in terms of CRM (customer relationship management) are dubsado, Honeybook, and Keap. Each of these offers versatile platforms with various options. Honeybook tends to be the most user-friendly, particularly if you don’t have much experience setting up workflows within a CRM. However, Dubsado workflows have more customization options and functionality, but it does tend to have a bit of a higher learning curve. Finally, while I don’t have personal experience with Keap, it seems to be a good alternative if you are managing larger workflows and teams and find yourself outgrowing dubsado, although it does seem to be a bit more expensive. Both dubsado and Honeybook seem to be very affordable.
Quickbooks
There are a number of amazing tools to help keep your books on track and your finances in order. Personally, I’ve found that Quickbooks Online was easy for me to learn and has all the functionality I need to feel confident that I’m staying on track. Even more, when you sign up you recive a handheld kiosk that allows you to take payment in person if you’d prefer. Otherwise, you can easily invoice your clients to accept payment. Quickbooks is currently running a special for 50% off of Quickbooks Online.
Appointy
Appointy is an amazing little tool with a lot of oomph to it. Its online scheduling option allows clients to schedule consults and appointments with you, based on your schedule, all on their own. Appointy’s free plan allows you to schedule up to 100 appointments per month for free. One of my favorite features of Appointy is its text reminder feature, so your clients never forget their meeting times with you again.
