If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to work smarter so you can spend more time doing more of what you love (like chillin’ with your fam, watching Netflix, or curling up under a soft blanket with a book). If you’re not using these tools, you should be! Check out the five free business tools I use on the daily to make my business run smoothly!
Canva
If you typically find creating graphics to be completely frustrating, Canva can help!
Sign up for a free account and gain access to more drag and drop graphic templates than you could possibly need! I love how easy it is to create my own designs, and to customize their templates to make them my own! Plus, they have a great stock photo library filled with free and paid images, but the paid images are only $1 each! Their customer service is amazing if you ever get stuck, and they have an app you can download on your phone when you need to create a graphic on the fly!
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is an awesome way to “set it and forget it” when it comes to the content you want to post to social media. It’s free for up to three platforms, and it SO user-friendly. Again, they have great customer service if you ever have questions. I love that I’m able to schedule content for my Facebook groups, and Facebook page, so that no matter how nuts life gets I know I will still be posting consistently!
Some weeks, I fail miserably at sitting down to schedule posts and decide I’ll just post daily, and I ALWAYS forget to do it.
The more you can schedule in advance, the better! Just remember to check in to respond to people who are interacting with you!
Coffitivity
This is a great one for anyone who works from home and needs some white noise.
I used to binge on Netflix while working, but I have ADHD and found I would either work at a sloth’s pace because I was engrossed in the TV, or I would watch five episodes of something only to realize I had no idea what was happening because I was so concentrated on my work and I’d have to go back and watch the episodes over again.
Same for when I would listen to music. I would usually get so wrapped up in singing my heart out that I’d work slower.
But, working in silence is just plain creepy to me.
So, I LOVE Coffitivity! It brings the sounds of a coffee house straight to your office, so you can feel like you’re out and about without being distracted.
Trello
Gosh you guys. This is the saving grace of my business.
Trello is an amazing organizational tool that allows you to create boards so you can organize everything from your client’s important information to your blog posts, and everything else you could possibly think of!
Here are a few of my favorite ways to use Trello:
- Keep track of passwords for various business accounts (nothing sensitive just in case!)
- Organize published blog posts into categories by attaching the link, and any graphics for social media to make sharing simple
- Write down ideas you want to come back to later
- Organize hashtags you use often on Instagram so you can copy and paste them into your posts
- Create daily schedules of things you need to do each week on the regular
- Keep a list of educational resources
- Store feedback (good and bad) you get from clients/customers
- Create a list of things you want to remember to work on but don’t have time to focus on yet
Really, you can use Trello for ANYTHING! It automatically syncs to your phone, so you always have everything at your fingertips!
If you have someone else you’re working on something with, you can create a shared board so you both have access and can keep track of where you’re at.
If you haven’t tried using it, you’re missing out!
Facebook News Feed Eradicator
This one has been a game changer for me, and I’m SO grateful I found it!
I used to spend SO MUCH TIME on Facebook when I would log in to do something for work. I would get sidetracked by videos, checking out pictures people were posting and clicking on links (usually from Real Simple Magazine or that darn Tasty! website) and before I knew it I had spent an hour messing around and hadn’t actually accomplished a single thing.
Enter the News Feed Eradicator! It’s a free plugin for Google Chrome that turns your Facebook feed into nothing more than a motivational quote. Here’s what it looked like when I signed into Facebook today:
I love that now when I sign in I’m not distracted, and I can just get my work done and get out! My news feed is still there in all its glory on my phone, so when I want to scroll through my feed I can always see it there!
If you tend to get distracted easily, News Feed Eradicator will be your new BFF.
There you have it, my five favorite free business tools! When it comes to business, I’m all about making the most out of every minute and these tools all help with that.
What free resources help you run your business better? I’d love to hear about them so I can try them out!
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