Here’s why this is important: There are a million and one tools available to help you run your business, but do you know which ones will add the real value and efficiency you need and which are an unnecessary drain on your finances?
Read on to find out what I’ve found to be worth investing in
I was talking to someone the other day about the vast array of online tools available to help facilitate running a business on the web.
“You must have loads of subscriptions, don’t you?”
The honest answer is in fact no, I don’t. I’m really careful with managing the subscriptions that I have and make constant assessments about whether they are valuable to me long-term.
The odd ‘throw away’ €9.99 here and €12.99 there might not seem much at first. But when you’ve got 4, 5, 6 or more of these ‘small’ amounts dripping out of your account on a regular basis, suddenly running a business becomes quite an expensive operation.
I wanted to share with you the 6 things I do choose to invest in and subscribe to on a monthly or annual basis that I honestly believe add real value to my business and are worth the investment.
Squarespace
Squarespace Business: $24 a month or $17 per month if billed annually
This is probably an obvious one but the most basic subscription I have is to run my website.
I use Squarespace and I absolutely love how user friendly it is. I’ve never had to learn to code or hire a website designer. I can change my website any time, add photos, create blog posts or edit copy. If I want to completely restructure how my homepage looks, I can do it all myself.
If I’m ever stuck with something technical on Squarespace there’s a huge bank of help questions and tutorials available. Worst case, there’s always someone online in real time to chat to online to solve my problem.
I bought my domain and email address all through Squarespace too. Very simple and easy to do and keeps everything together.
Zoom
Zoom Pro: €13.99 per month
Zoom is a video conferencing software that enables me to coach my clients online, any time from anywhere.
Paying for a subscription means the sessions can be as long as I want (the free service caps the length at 40mins) and I can record the sessions for my clients to listen back to for reference.
Each client gets their own dedicated log-in link so they know where to access our session when the time pops up in their diary. It’s an essential part of my business so it’s a fundamental investment for me as an online coach.
Tailwind
Tailwind: $9.99 a month if billed annually, or $15 paid monthly
If you know anything about me you’ll know how much I love Pinterest. Tailwind* is the scheduling tool I use each week to get my content onto the platform.
Tailwind* enables me to quickly and easily post my content on Pinterest using a strategy that takes just 1hr a week. As the second biggest driver of traffic to my website, I really value Pinterest and investing in Tailwind is personally a no brainer for me.
If you’re interested in knowing more about Pinterest check out my video on how to get started. I love Tailwind* so much that I am an affiliate for them, so if you’re convinced Pinterest is the right place for your content, give a Tailwind one month free trial a go and so the effect it can have on your website traffic. *
ConvertKit
ConvertKit: $29 a month for lists up to 1k
I recently moved from MailerLite to ConvertKit to send e-mails to my community. I love MailerLite and it’s a really easy to use and free platform up to 1,000 subscribers.
BUT… I wanted a lot more flexibility and tailoring when it came to looking after my community who want business tips. ConvertKit allows me to have different ‘lead magnets’ and different email sequences going to each subscriber, tailored to why they signed up.
ConvertKit also allows me to email select parts of my list using really precise criteria, so I’m really able to talk specifically to the people I know want and need what I’m offering.
iTunes storage
iTunes storage: €2.99 per month for 200GB
This might be an obvious one too, but I pay for a 200GB storage plan for all the files, photos and videos that are on my laptop.
This seems like a no-choice investment for me. For just €2.99 a month I get the peace of mind knowing my files are all backed up so if anything happened to my laptop (I don’t know where I’d be without it!), everything I’ve produced is living in the cloud and accessible to me on the web. And relax…
Wondershare Filmora
Wondershare Filmora: $39.99 for a year billed annually, or $59.99 for lifetime access.
I edit my videos using Wondershare Filmora. I’ve really got the hang of using it as a tool to edit and produce my video content and for such a small investment, I feel it does everything I need.
Video content is often bandied around as the future of what we produce online. I actually feel it’s a format I’m really comfortable with (way more than photos of myself!) and therefore investing in software that helps me quickly and easily edit my videos and get them onto my website is a sensible investment for me.
Prices correct at April 2019.
*Affiliate link. No extra charge to you, but if you sign up to Tailwind after using my link I’ll receive a small commission. Every little helps. Thank you!
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