So as most of you know I am #ontheroadtofulltime with my event planning business. With that being said my schedule is pretty full. Monday-Friday I work from 7:30AM – 3:30 PM for the University of South Carolina ~ Go Gamecocks!! So that means ALL the other hours of the day are spent either eating, sleeping, loving on my hubby and clients and of course doing ALL the things it takes to run a small business.
Today I am sharing some of the apps/programs that I absolutely love and make this journey to full-time a little less hectic.
Evernote – Y’all already know how I feel about Evernote, but if you don’t definitely go read about all the goodness. If you’re someone who regularly get frustrated by the redundant nature of having so many different communication platforms, Evernote is sure to be your new best friend! I use Evernote to host ALL of my blog posts, client notes, and tons of business documents. No more stickey notes, notepads or carrying around folders with client information. I love this program because all of the information is always right at my fingertips. Want to learn a bit more about Evernote, well go check out this post and then be on the lookout for something great coming up.
Later (formerly known as Latergramme) – Once I got this tool… can we say hello 2 weeks worth of Instagram posts DONE! Later allows you to schedule your posts ahead of time. I love this because I batch this task. I take an hour or so and schedule all of my posts in one day that way I never feel frantic about not having content. You can also load in all 50,000 hashtags you want. The only thing is it won’t post automatically for you, but hell the hard work has been done.
Canva – This software makes me feel like a graphic designer! It allows you to create images that are perfectly sized to social media proportions. You can also great flyers, styled guides, EVERYTHING! You can also create templates, so you don’t have to wear yourself out trying to recreate the same design over and over again. So all I have to do is change out the picture and some wording and I can upload pictures for blog posts and Instagram posts in a flash. And if you are on a budget, this is a tool that you definitely want to use because it is FREE 99.
Trello – I use Trello for all my business workflows – editorial calendar, processes and links, wedding clients, meal planning, and work scrum board. Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. It lets you know what’s being worked on, who’s working on what and where something is in the process. I happen to be a very visual person, so I love being able to see what is going on that needs to be worked on and being able to move items seamlessly from one board to the next.
Zapier – This tool allows you to connect apps you use every day to automate tasks, which saves time. You create what is called “recipes” to make life easier. For me I have my initial questionnaire that potential clients fill-out, once completed a zap sends the client a thank you email, sends me an email, which let’s me know that they completed it, and then zaps all the info to a spreadsheet, so that I can have all the information in one place. I will REALLY be digging into this app to get more things automated. The best part is it super easy and most of the “recipes” are already written you just have to add a bit of information to get it all setup. These zaps save me oodles of time.
The most common trend is almost everyone one of these programs is that is allows you to create templates and templates are a LIFESAVER!! So tell me what programs do you use to help you get more done?
