1st year in business? My top 3 must use free tools
1st year in business? My top 3 must use free tools
Are you starting an online business in 2021? There can be a lot involved in getting your business up and running.
Thankfully, there are many free tools available to assist you. I’ve spent countless hours learning about and testing numerous platforms over the last few years, and I want to share my experiences with you.
I am especially grateful for the continued generosity of developers and business entrepreneurs who have made so many useful platforms to assist new startups in streamlining processes and increasing productivity. These contributions have made it much easier to start and manage an online business.
The long list of free tools can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate as there are so many options to consider. Today I’m going to narrow down the list for you. I will focus on my top three must-have tools for your first year in business.
1 | GOOGLE DRIVE for file management and sharing
Google revolutionized business when it’s introduced freely usable and easily sharable document and spreadsheet cloud-based programs. I remember the days of having to wait in line at the college bookstore and fork out several weeks’ worth of tips in exchange for the upgraded version of the MS Office. Ouch!
Today, I can type a document and I don’t even have to save my work (what a miracle)! I can then easily share a link to a trusted friend for editing at the click of a button. I can also easily access documents from any device when all of my work is stored in the cloud. I never have to worry about my laptop crashing in the middle of a huge project!
I use Google Docs for word-processing: to write my blog posts, outlines, and to draft new guides and workbooks. I also use it to create all my client questionnaires and communication.
When I have a document I intend to use repeatedly, I can easily create a template. I use this often with blog posts and new client documents. For example, when I want to write a new blog post like this one. I just click the document labeled Blog Template and make a copy. My document contains prompts for all the essential details I need to remember to include so that I can focus on typing new content.
I also create templates for all of my client communication documents. I have a folder labeled New Client Work, that contains exactly which documents I need to make copies of for each new client. I label them using numbers before the name of the document so that I know exactly in which order they need to be sent.
I use Google Sheets to capture and track all processes and business stats, including website and social media traffic metrics. In the beginning, I used pretty simple basic spreadsheets, but as I became more familiar with using Sheets, I was able to track more metrics and data that are critical for running my business well.
2 | CANVA for graphics
I use Canva, a free online graphic design platform, for many of my graphics. The learning curve is low to create simple graphics and backgrounds for websites, as well as to create social media and blog post graphics.
There are many great things about this platform. First, you can sit down for the first time and within 20 minutes have something to show for it.
Secondly, it has many free predesigned elements and a plethora of others that you can purchase. If you are looking for an arrow graphic, you’d click on the—Elements—tab and type in a search for arrow, and voila dozens if not hundreds of options are immediately available. They also have a ton of animated GIFs which I’m going to start utilizing this year.
Finally, one of the best things is the templates! They have ones for social media that are already the right size for each platform and type of post. I often got frustrated in the past trying to keep up with the always-changing best practice dimensions for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Canva has solved this problem for me. They have templates for nearly anything you’d want to design from brochures and letters to logos and presentations.
When I am feeling creative, I just open and search for the type of post template I’m going to be creating. I usually start with a blank canvas and add in the different elements I’ll need in my design, including text, boxes, and icons. I also can easily upload any of my own photographs and logos or designs made in other programs.
On the days I’m not feeling uber creative or just need some inspiration, I’ll browse through Canva’s extensive template resources. It’s amazing how you can start with a template and customize it with your logo, fonts, and colors and get a pretty unique design.
Canva is very easy and intuitive to learn for the beginner, yet robust and always advancing the platform for the more experienced designer. When you want even more options and features they offer a very affordable upgrade for less than $15 per month. Things like curved text, pro fonts, background remover, and auto-resize make this option one of the first upgrades I recommend.
3 | ASANA for task management
I wish is that I had started using Asana so much sooner! This program has transformed my business and my days. I first heard about Asana a few years ago and was too intimidated to try it out. Later, I kept telling myself. Well, later has finally arrived. Back in November, I signed up for a free account and started learning how to set it up.
I first started using Asana to track my content calendar and content ideas. I felt like this was the biggest area of disorganization for me. Previously, all my ideas were scattered between notebooks, my notes app on my phone, various google docs, and at least a hundred open webpage tabs on my phone because I was too afraid to close them for fear of losing the idea or inspiration. Can anyone relate?
I am happy to say, now I have two projects created in my Sales and Marketing Team (think areas of business, not necessarily a team of people-yet). I created the projects using a board view. I have one project for all of my content ideas and a second project to manage the process of taking a project from idea to publication.
Once I want to take the idea from just an idea to actually working on it. I create a new task and list out all of the subtasks I know of that will need to be accomplished to complete it. I am just brainstorming at this point and as I go through the task for the first time, I will add any additional steps that come up.
Similar to Google docs, I can choose to make a template for my tasks. After I complete a new task for the first time I can copy the task and create a template if it’s something I may want to do again. I have templates for blog posts and all of my different social media posts. I will be using the same process each time, just new content.
One of the things I love about Asana is that it offers three options on how to look at tasks. A list view, that I can organize by the due date. A calendar view, so you can see an overview of all the things coming up. And a board view, which is great for viewing tasks in progress.
I’ve started using Asana to set up some of my executive-type tasks like tracking my annual/quarterly/monthly goals and scheduling a repeating task on Mondays to update all my business metrics. I created a project to manage all of the free and paid-for courses I am taking to increase my business and design skills. This has been amazing!
I have also created projects for managing my Squarespace template building process as well as a few other products I am working on. Finally, I created a personal project tab and have several projects here including one to track the projects around the house that I will need help from my husband, one for homeschool, and the Idyll Challenge reading group I am in as well.
These three tools have been immensely helpful in getting my business organized and up and running. I am so grateful that they are available and free to use during your first year of business and more as you figure out everything you need to do.
What other tools do you recommend using for your 1st year in business?
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