There are so many tools out there to use for your business, that it can be overwhelming to know which to use. I love hearing the different tools that other business owners use, so in today’s episode I’m sharing 5 tools that I truly believe make me a better business owner!
Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin is produced and brought to you by Gaffin Creative, a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. Learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com, plus you’ll also find resources, show notes, and more for the Clocking In Podcast.
Don’t forget, through January 31, 2022, I’m offering an exclusive discount to my podcast listeners of $50 off Podcast Launch Kit! If you’re looking to take the DIY approach to podcasting this year, Podcast Launch Kit is for you! Use the code CLOCKINGIN at podcastlaunchkit.com and enroll today!
5 Tools I Use Daily in My Business
While there are dozens of tools that business owners use in their business, today, I’m sharing 5 tools that I couldn’t live without in my business!
Quickbooks
One of the very first tools I signed up for in my business was Quickbooks. I use Quickbooks Self-Employed which is a simplified version of the tool for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It helps track mileage, income and expenses, and even provides me with profit/loss statements each month.
Get 50% off your first 6 months of Quickbooks when you use my affiliate code!
Honeybook
Honeybook is a client relationship manager that allows me to seamlessly take client inquiries and turn them into booked clients. It houses my brochures, invoices, proposals, and even email templates to make my job of securing new clients so much easier!
Get 50% off your first year of Honeybook when you use my affiliate code!
Asana
If you haven’t already set up a project management tool in your business, I highly recommend it. Even though I dove into how you can use a project management tool for your podcast management, I encourage you to use one for your entire business. Asana is my favorite tool, because it’s easy to use and has a really robust Free version.
Flodesk
Flodesk is an email marketing tools that makes it easy to design your email campaigns. Now, while I’m not actively sending out newsletters daily, I am getting new email sign ups and opt ins each day through the opt-in forms and workflows, where I house all of my freebies. This has been a game changer in my business!
Get 50% off your subscription when you use my affiliate code.
Planoly
I don’t know how I ever managed my social media before a scheduling tool—oh that’s because I didn’t. Planoly allows me to plan out the look of my content for Instagram, write the captions, and schedule it! In addition to that, I can schedule out all of my Pinterest content, which towards the end of 2021, I realized just how valuable Pinterest has been in my business for growing my email list!
Try Planoly today with my affiliate link!
Catch the Show Notes
Quickbooks (1:31)
HoneyBook (2:25)
Asana (4:12)
Flo Desk (6:00)
Planoly (7:00)
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
The links included in this blog post may contain affiliate links, which means when you sign up or purchase through them, I will make a small commission. I only share products that I love and trust!
Review the Transcript:
Tools have been essential in building a sustainable business. If you’re not careful, you can get overwhelmed with how many options there are out there and what is actually beneficial to your business. Let’s dive into 5 tools I use in my business everyday in my business to simplify my processes and streamline the work that I’m doing.
Hey y’all welcome to the clocking in podcast the podcast for entrepreneurs and professionals making their way in the working world i’m your host Haylee Gaffin this podcast is produced and brought to you by Gaffin Creative a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com plus you’ll also find resources show notes and more for the clocking in podcast so let’s clock in and get to work.
In past episodes, I’ve shared all about my website and the plugins I use on it, so I won’t be highlighting those tools today, but if you are curious about how I’ve optimized my website to better serve me, make sure you head back to episode 19, where I share about the wordpress based tools I use on my website!
In today’s episode, I am sharing more about the tools I use daily as a business owner that aren’t directly related to podcasting.
Quickbooks
One of the very first tools I signed up for in my business was Quickbooks. I use Quickbooks Self-Employed which is a simplified version of the tool for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It helps track mileage, income and expenses, and even provides me with profit/loss statements each month.
While I’m currently still managing the bookkeeping side of my business, I do have an accountant that manages my taxes. I can simply give her access to Quickbooks and she has what she needs to get my tax prep completed.
If you want to make tax season easy on you and your accountant, make sure you try out Quickbooks! I’ll include my affiliate link in the show notes
Now, Quickbook also has an option for paying individuals and creating invoices, but I needed something a little more robust, so I did go with an alternative for my Client Relationship Manager.
Honeybook
That takes me to my second tool and one I’ll likely spend the most time on… Honeybook.
I love having a tool that I can see at a glance what clients are active or completed, but it also houses all of my email templates for easy communication, brochures so I can reference pricing, contracts and proposals for my clients, and even questionnaires.
Each of the contact forms I have on my site are built from Honeybook and then add to my website. Each form is customized to the page, allows me to segment the types of projects people inquire about, and ask the questions I need to help them.
Those inquiries are then funnelled into Honeybook where I have a brochure or invoice for each project type, along with email templates for easy communication. For example, when a potential client wants to book my for a podcast launch, they get an email that explains what it looks like to work with me, a link to book a discovery call, and a brochure with my launch options. All of this is pre-written, so I can respond to an inquiry quickly and not spend too much time recreating the wheel.
Additionally, I have specific workflows set up for each and every project type I have that helps me with billing, testimonials/reviews, and more!
If you want to get started with Honeybook,you’ll get 50% off your first year when you use my affiliate link. I’ll make sure to link it in the show notes at gaffincreative.com/045.
Asana
If you haven’t already set up a project management tool in your business, I highly recommend it. Even though I dove into how you can use a project management tool for your podcast management, I encourage you to use one for your entire business.
I use Asana for myself and all of my clients who aren’t already set up in another project management tool. I break each of my projects up into different projects within Asana. This means that I have a project for my content creation, my shop, and each of my client’s podcast episodes. Additionally, when I have an intern in the business, I create a project just for them so I can share assignments and everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to work on.
Next week, I will be diving more into workflows for your business and the importance of them, plus I’m sharing an exclusive resource where you can get my upcoming mini course for FREE.
I think the most beneficial piece of a project management tool is that is helps you stay organized in your business!
Flodesk
The next tool I use in my business is Flodesk, which is an email marketing tools that makes it easy to design your email campaigns.
Now, while I’m not actively sending out newsletters daily, I am getting new email sign ups and opt ins each day through the opt-in forms and workflows, where I house all of my freebies.
I usually send out a newsletter every week or two, but with my current marketing strategy, Flodesk is sending emails out on my behalf nearly every single day.
I’m pushing my free content in podcast episodes, on Instagram and Pinterest, and organically in blog posts. When new users sign up for my freebie, they’re added to my newsletter, sent the email to download the freebie, then they’re also dropped into a sequence, depending on the content they’ve opted in for!
This makes marketing seamless. Once I set up the freebie and the workflow, I sit back and let Flodesk do the work!
Planoly
I don’t know how I ever managed my social media before a scheduling tool—oh that’s because I didn’t. Planoly allows me to plan out the look of my content for Instagram, write the captions, and schedule it! In addition to that, I can schedule out all of my Pinterest content, which towards the end of 2021, I realized just how valuable Pinterest has been in my business for growing my email list!
There are tons of scheduling tools out there, but I really do enjoy using Planoly for my own content planning on social media.
Now, those are just five tools that help me be a better business owner. I could go through a full list of 20 more, but I think for any business owner, tools like these are essential for streamlining your processes and making your job so much easier!
This has been another episode of The clocking in podcast. You can find the show notes for this episode and more at Gaffincreative.com. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. If you love this episode, I’d be so honored if you leave me a review in Apple podcast app. Until next time, I’m your host Haylee Gaffin, clocking out.
