Cool tools to use for you business.
Mobile Business Tools and other cools online and off line tools to get you working around your family.
As Mum of 2 and trying to run a very busy house hold with very little help from family and NO nannies or Aupairs - I'm constantly on the move and have to work on the move ! Below are some great resources for you to use to keep your business mobile and 21st Century ready and help with making your business look bigger than it is ! I always say FAKE it UNTILL you MAKE it BABY ! People like to think they are working with a pro and here are my tips on how to make them think that and give you the upper hand to juggle it all!
1. Google is King pin for me !
Storage, apps, Email, OFFICE 365, File sharing !
Storage !
This can be quite a mind field - where do you keep it all! NOT ON YOUR PC or MAC
Storing things to cloud be it Dropbox, Icloud, Google Drive - Where every you store it - store it on the cloud. But on a cloud based business that is not going to disappear over night with all your work!
I find Dropbox clunky and has not moved with the times... Office 365 and Google drive are great storage solutions and help you access your work as long as you have internet - job done! They also make it really easy to share with collaborators.
Google has a great email and storage suite and is very easy to use the mailboxes are cheap enough to run and connect well to most mobile devices be it phone, ipad, tablet or computer. Pay the extra and get a professional google email address - the one that does not have sue@gmail.com at the end but Sue@suesmith.com at the end... Make yourself look serious and get a decent email address - again making your look the part!
Also if you have one Gmail login you can access your Adwords, and google analytics, google for business and any other google products and it really helps with your SEO ( search engine optimisation )
Using a great mailing system ( no not just your outlook ) is a great way to monitor how your customers respond to your mail and what works and what doesnt work. I love being noisy - and mail chimp gives you great insight into your clients! It shows you when they open their mail and how often and what they click on and what they are interested in. Now with the new GDPR consent form and having to have visable trackable evidence if you every have a problem - Mail chimp makes it very easy for you monitor and regulate this. You need not worry you simply flick a switch in the mail you are creating and everyone is happy. Mail chimp will also automatically unsubscribe any mails that are problematic.
I've tried many many different task tools - But ASANA is awesome in terms of functionality - and its basically free unless you want just a few more tools - which you can live without ... I've tried tasks in on the Microsfof out look and several others such as 17hats.com but this is the best in terms of getting things done!
You can even add team members to projects and bat work between them and there is great satisfaction in ticking things off your list ! I love the upload feature for documents and photos' So easy just drag and drop!
5. Canva - design
I love Canva - another very easy tool to use for when you want to make quick eye popping snippets to use for marketing on social media! No training required. Great drag and drop image tools. Very clever using png files. If you are not a graphic designer this will help you make it look like you have a massive graphics team helping you! AGAIN FREE!
6. Best Business Cards for businesses
Your card says a lot about you. If you have a business that has a high volume of cards that need to be handed out i would advice using vista print... They are cheap and always have a good deal on. They will print your card it will be great but not wow! Their delivery costs are a bit higher than i would like and take a long time to arrive. However you can pay to have it delivered faster - but this is quite a bit more expensive.
MOO: For low volume business card or high distribution and you are trying to make an impression with the end user - especially high end client I would recommend Moo. Their cards are very unique looking - as in unique shapes and the print quality is amazing! I use these for my high end clients who i want them to remember me and keep my card... You can even make photo cards or book mark business cards.
They promise next day delivery, and even have an eco business card made from old t-shirts! How amazing is that! Wow.
Their website is easy to use and helps you produce the most high end card passible and stops you from making an awful looking card.
