The Tools I Use to Run My Business

Now that we’ve gone through all of the softer skills needed to run a business, I thought I’d leave you with a more practical list of tools I use regularly. Depending on what your business actually does, your list may vary a bit, but this should get you started. I tried to get you discount codes on as much of the software that I can, but I want to stress the fact that none of the tools on this list is here because of a sponsored slot. These are all tools I use every day to run my business.

 

---

 

Hosting
Digital Ocean – Save $10
My website is the core of my business and it’s hosted with DigitalOcean. It can seem pretty technical for beginners, but I managed to figure it out so I’m sure you will too 🤓. Their community is also pretty awesome.

 

---

 

Analytics
GoSquared – Save $50
I love GoSquared’s real-time view of my website’s traffic. Think of it as a more user-friendly version of Google Analytics but with more powerful insights into who your users are and where they’re coming from. GoSquared also integrates with other tools like Mailchimp, Drip, Slack, and Twitter to bring your whole freelance empire into one dashboard 😉

 

---

 

CDN
Cloudflare
If you know anything about me, you’ll know I’m obsessed with page speed. My website is routed through Cloudflare. They’ll give you an SSL, DDoS protection, and a massive CDN – all for free.

 

---

 

Newsletter
Drip – Save $79 on Email Mastery Course
My newsletter is sent and administered through Drip. The power of Drip really comes through in their automations and if you’re serious about email automation, there’s no better tool. You can get started for just $1/month for their basic plan which covers up to 100 subscribers.

Mailchimp – Save $30
Mailchimp is a great alternative to Drip if you want to start with something more basic. Their plans start at just at just $10/month and you’ll get 10% off if you use 2FA (which you should). For smaller lists, you can even use Mailchimp for free!

Chimpessentials – Save $20
Get a great start with Mailchimp by signing up for my friend Paul’s class, ChimpEssentials. Basically Paul is THE guy to teach you everything about email marketing and Mailchimp.

 

---

 

Website
My website runs WordPress and my books are sold through WooCommerce. I also have a custom payment page that hooks into Stripe for clients that prefer to pay by credit card.

 

---

 

Essentials
GSuite
E-mail and Calendar is wired through GSuite. To my knowledge, there’s no better email management than Gmail.

Dropbox
I have my entire computer synced and automatically backed up to Dropbox. If my computer would crash, I’d have a new one fully restored within a couple of hours. There’s no price tag on that. In fact, I’ve been doing most of my writing in Dropbox Paper.

1Password
Whenever I get a new device, be it a computer or a phone, the first app I install is always 1Password. It stores all of my password and their 2FA-logins, synced through iCloud. This is a life-saver as it allows me to have custom, full-length secure passwords for every website I use. It’s the one app I don’t think anyone should be without.

Slack
I use Slack to communicate with my team (editor, developer, etc) as well as a couple of clients.

 

---

 

Time tracking
Timely – Save $61
I’m tracking my time since way back into Timely. I love their simple interface and I use it both for tracking time but also scheduling which is perhaps even more important!

Cushion – Save $18
Cushion seems to be onto something truly great by creating a tool that’s built exactly for freelancers like you and me. Their time tracking feature isn’t launched yet, but if you sign up, you can access the beta (which I haven’t had any issues with at all). They’re also offering invoicing via Stripe.

 

---

 

Social
Buffer
I use Buffer to share stuff across all of my social media channels. By automating sharing, I have more free time to work AND enjoy life.

CloudApp
CloudApp is one of the tools I use on a daily basis. So much is easier communicated through a screenshot. CloudApp lets me grab a screenshot and (if I want) annotate it or draw on it. It then automatically pastes a shareable URL to my clipboard that I can paste into any chat or email. CloudApp does only one thing, but it does it perfectly.

Twitter
Twitter is absolutely my number one choice of social media where I make, and maintain, connections.

Zapier
I use Zapier to create “zaps” to automate tasks between two apps. For instance when someone (like you!) purchases my book, Zapier passes some of that information onto Drip. This allows me to better customize messages that I sent out based on previous purchases, read blog posts, email courses etc.

Pocket
Whenever I want to read something, but I don’t have time at the moment, I save it to Pocket where I can read it later. I have it hooked up to my Twitter client (where I find most of my useful reading) and I tag potential links with ‘newsletter’ that might be featured in my weekly newsletter.

 

---

 

Hardware
Usual suspects: MacBook Pro 13” (Touchbar) connected to an LG 5K Ultrafine display. iPhone 7+ allows me to work pretty well without a computer – Slack, Twitter and Google Docs/Dropbox Paper.

DoxieGo
Perhaps one of my best tech purchases is this very slim scanner. I use it to scan receipts that sync to a Dropbox folder (that my accountant has access to). The Doxie Q looks great but I’ve used Doxie Go for years and years and it just keeps going. This purchase has paid itself multiple times over.

 

---

 

Courses
Creative Class – Save $60
If you’ve enjoyed Mastering Freelance but feel you want even more knowledge and the option to connect with other freelancers, I highly recommend Paul Jarvis’ Creative Class. I’ve taken this course myself and although it partly covers some of the same things Mastering Freelance covers, it’s all from Paul’s brilliant mind.

Tiny Marketing Wins – Save 90$
I haven’t completed Justin’s Tiny Marketing Wins course yet but so far I’m loving it. Every week, Justin sends you a video with a short, simple marketing tactic that you can implement almost instantly. Remember, it’s not the big Superbowl ad that’ll get you recognition, it’s the consistent improvement!

Do you have a tool that you think is essential to your work that you want to share? Let me know!