A New Year. A New Start: 5 Tools to Help Organize Your Business
Julia Delk
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Business
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Feb 13, 2017
Everyone has their own way of de-cluttering their lives, for me, I like to find one medium to large sized project to focus on and then work on small ways to improve my current organizational methods. Ultimately, my goal is to get so well organized ( one bit at a time) that after a while, all I'll have left to do is maintain my efforts.
This year, my large project to focus on was redesigning my website to have a new look, contain my portfolio, and house my blog. I realized that the time I spend emailing my portfolio to potential clients could slowly add up. I wanted to give my website a revamp so that I could confidently send potential clients there to review my work and learn more about my services- all without me lifting a finger.
This past year, I was able to take large strides in getting my business in better shape. I found some great tools to help me and this year, I'm looking forward to finding more ways to improve my work routine. The tools you use, and how you use them will vary greatly depending on your needs but below are tools I found to be helpful as a well as a few I'm going to be trying out.
I know I've talked about Passion Planner before but, seriously, this is the best planner I have ever used. Passion Planner is more than just a place to jot down your appointments- it's a place to grow your dreams and achieve your goals. It contains a 3 month, 1 year, and 3 year road map to create goals and track your actions to achieve said goals, weekly personal and work to do lists, monthly reflection questions to gauge your progress, motivational quotes to inspire your week, a weekly focus and "best moment" section, etc.
This is a simple but handy app that I have. It's essentially a simplified version of Microsoft Word for your phone. With some of the work that I do ( copy-writing projects, social media posts, and blogging), it's not hard to imagine that I might find a portable notepad handy. What I love most, I can transfer files that I already started writing on my computer using a different writing tool onto my phone and open them with Wrtiely Pro, continue writing them, and transfer them back when I'm done.
[ Anropid Only- Sorry]
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.writeily
Trello, I haven't used yet but I'm excited to. Between client revisions and ever growing to do lists, I could use some help bringing my work tasks together. For some, Trello is a bit too simple using a Kaban style for listing tasks. For me, the Queen of notes of all kinds- napkin notes, scrap paper notes, sticky notes, and even app sticky notes for my computer- a place to store the insanity that is my day to day to-do would be beyond helpful. Suffice it to say, I'm excited to try this to compliment my passion planner efforts.
Post Planner is a pretty nifty tool. It's like Hootesuite and a few other programs that offer a way to manage multiple social media accounts. Post Planner offers a social media calendar tool, a way to search for trending but relevant articles in your field, and automated posted times. Overall, if you have a lot to manage, this can help you get organized and encourage consistent quality posts.
This one is still pretty new to me but I'm considering implementing it into my website. I thought it might be handy for both current and potential clients to be able to schedule meetings with me at their convenience. No more back and forth emails to confirm availability. Just a simple 4-step form that shows you when I'm available on what dates. Also a great thing about it, it's open source. I always attempt to find an open source solution to my computer tools.
I hope you enjoyed my quick list of helpful tools to organize your business. Happy New Year!
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