As the founder of Look Digital Marketing I started from scratch when trying to find the right tools to help my new small business. There was a lot of trial and error and a LOT of time went into looking for the right balance of need, functionality and cost efficiency.
The business is running well now with the tools we have settled into over the years and I thought I would share some of the best with you.
Here they are in no particular order.
Invoicely
Invoicely is what we use to invoice our clients and take payments online. It is a smooth and easy to use system that has both a free and paid version.
You can take payments online through various payment methods including credit cards (we connect this through a payment processor called Stripe, but there are other options as well. A very easy set up) and paypal.
Funds will go directly into your account. Invoicely doesn’t collect any payment fees, but payment gateways like Stripe and Paypal do take a typical percentage.
You can check it out here https://invoicely.com/
G Suites
One major reason to use G Suite, and the reason I started using them, is as a small business owner it is important for your business to be represented with an email that is branded with your domain name at the end. For example “[email protected]“.
I always felt embarrassed sending emails from my @gmal.com or @hotmail.com accounts worrying if people will take me professionally. G Suite solved that problem for me and it will for you too. An immediate upgrade in presentation.
I am a parter with G Suite and you can learn more by going here https://refergsuite.app.goo.gl/FKxj (If you use my link I will get benefit from it – thank you!)
You can also get 20% off the Business Plan for the first year by using this promo code 966ND7A7FXAP6TV
Besides the business email one of the biggest benefits I have found with this is the unlimited storage in the Google Drive. A perfect way to share and store large files. I have found this key in running a business.
All you need is a business domain name. This takes us to our next tool.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is were I go for all of my domains. Keeping these centralized in one please has been very helpful. I also suggest going here to find and purchase your own small business domain name.
They do have a lot of upsells like hosting and a basic website builder, but we have our own hosting platform that keeps things secure and fast and of course we create all of our own and client websites from scratch. This helps immensely with functionality and SEO. So we don’t find a need for the other services they offer.
You can head to their website here and start searching for the right domain name here https://ca.godaddy.com/
Envato Elements
I thought I was dreaming when I first heard about a subscription for Envato Elements. Having a subscription to this service can take your content creation to new heights as a small business owner.
Envato Elements gives you access to stock photos, music, video, fonts and so much more for a low monthly/yearly subscription.
MUCH cheaper then buying one song or photo at a time. Trust me!
I am also partnered with this platform so if you use this link it will also help me with a little kick back.
You are on your way to being a content superstar!
Adobe Suite
If you run/own a small business I believe that it is a top priority to put content out there for your customers to understand what it is you do and how you can benefit them. Go to this page if you would like some advice on how to create great content for your business.
There are thousands of apps out there that can help you with this on your phone or computer, and we used a lot of them early on, but when it’s all said and done the Adobe Suite is what we settled on that met all of our needs on a more professional level.
At LOOK Digital Marketing this is mostly used for image and video editing (our own and our clients). It really is next level vs. some of the basic apps you can find in the app stores.
Find out more here https://www.adobe.com/ca/creativecloud.html
I hope this helps you on your journey of running your own small business and has you skipping a few steps in trying out the thousands of options out there.
Best of luck!
