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E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Tech Treasures: Supercharge Your Startup with These Solutions
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items As a former IT professional and small business owner, I don't want to have to think about the technology. I want to spend time doing the bits of the business I get paid for, not managing code and software updates. At the same time, I don't want to spend a fortune on products designed for big companies with thousands of employees and an IT department. With over 30 years experience in designing, developing, maintaining and evaluating software, I know what to look for when purchasing software. These recommendations are the best I have found for quality, value for money and ease of use.
Sections
6
Websites
Getting Your Business Ranked on Google
Managing Your Time and Money
Graphics, Photos and Design
Social Media
Connecting with Clients
Websites
I highly recommend having a website for your business, even if it's only one page to start with. Most of my clients find me through my website.
Squarespace is hands down the easiest website builder to use. Their websites are simple to build and they do all the messy tech-ey stuff at the back end for you - like backups, security updates, and hosting. You can easily add blog posts and update your pages without having to go back to your hosting organisati... You can easily link in your social media, booking system and more. You can even organise your domain and email with them, so you only have to go to one place. With other website you have to code, or find a place to because it is simple to use. I have tried switching to other tools to reduce the cost, but even for an IT professional, none of them have been worth the effort. With Squarespace hosting, backups and security upgrades are all taken care of without you having to lift a finger. It has lots of built in tools and if you want to get all tech-ey, you can insert code to make it as complex as you like.
Website Builder | Squarespace
Here's my website as an example of what you can do with Squarespace. It has a blog, resources, can take sales and has links to some of the other tech I recommend here.
WearAble Wardrobes with Dr Gina Kingston - Personal Stylist ...
Getting Your Business Ranked on Google
Everything you need to get a website up and running and ranking on google.
The best piece of advice I was given when starting out was to get a Google Business Profile. It helps your business stand out when users are searching for you.
Get Listed on Google - Google Business Profile
Not sure what to write on your blog? Start with a topic - eg blue, shorts, colour analysis - and see what questions people are asking about it. Write a blog post that answers those questions.
Answer The Public
Now you have a website and some content, you will want to optimise it. That's wear ahrefs comes in. Forgot to put text after a heading? ahrefs will tell you. Want to know how you rank for a key word. Ahrefs will tell you.
Website Optimisation | Ahrefs
You have the best website, but no-one is seeing it. Why? Because you don't have any links to it from elsewhere on the web. This website gives you some tips on how to get backlinks from other websites.
How To Get Backlinks | Shopify Australia
Managing Your Time and Money
Tools and tips to help you spend more time offering services to clients, and less time doing administration and trying to make ends meet.
When I first started out I did all my bookings by hand. Sending out invoices, chasing payment, ugh! Now I use TidyCal. It's good value for money and allows me to spend time doing what I love not worrying about bookings and chasing money.
Booking System | TidyCal
Great for tracking how much time you are spending on different activities. I track admin, time spent on Benable, and time spent working for different clients.
Project Tracking | Toggl Track
Worried about giving out your bank details? Use a payment system like paypal.
Payment Management | PayPal
I use both Stripe and Paypal for payments. Both integrate with different systems and offer flexibility for clients.
Payment System | Stripe
Graphics, Photos and Design
Whether you use a website, social media, or flyers to get word out about your business, you'll need some great graphics, photos and images.
Canva is my favourite tool for creating great images for my website and social media. The free version has lots of great tools, while the paid version has more templates and photos that you can use. Taking everything into account, I find that the Pro version saves me time and money.
Photo and Video Editor | Canva | Apple
Get a consistent look to your website and social media images with a set of customisable templates.
Social Media Starter Pack - 1080x1080 - Circle Logo - Canva
Want to add some fun to your social media? Check your Brands Against Mundanity. This package gives you a template for posting each day, but an idea for how to make it funny.
Brands Against Mundanity Monthly
Best for compressing detailed images. Images with a lot of detail - like of clothes - can be very large. Emails with large images tend not to be opened and may not reach the recipient. People browsing the web may not want to wait for your images to load. While a lot of tools can compress images, the quality often drops too. The app is the best I have found for compressing images while maintaining their quality.
Compress Photos & Pictures | App Store
Social Media
Which social media platform should you be on? It depends on your audience. Here are some of the ones I looked at for my business.
Best for images. If you can show your product or the transformation your service makes, Instagram may be right for you.
Instagram
Best if your clients are business professionals and to establish referral programs with other businesses.
LinkedIn Corporation
Best for funny videos and a younger audience.
TikTok
Best for educational videos.
YouTube
Best for shop-able lists. :)
Benable - Shareable lists of things you recommend
Connecting with Clients
Whether it is a short call to book an appointment, an online consultation or a presentation to a group. You need ways to connect with your clients. I have also trialled a number of client management tools, but the overhead is too big when your business is new.
Zoom is easy to use, free for your clients, and great for face to face engagement. You will need to upgrade to the paid version for longer or large group consultations, events or discussions.
Zoom: One platform to connect
A mobile phone is handy for taking clients calls where-ever you are. I like the iPhone because the Mac system is easy to use and it's easy to share information between the devices.
iPhone - Apple
Best for sharing large files. Forget worrying about email size limits. DropBox is the way to go for sharing large files.
Dropbox.com
A iPad is great for showing individual clients a quick presentation. I use one in every colour analysis that I do.
iPad | Apple
For larger presentation, a more professional look, or if I have to do a lot of writing, I switch to my MacBook. I love that I can work on a document on my ipad, take pictures on my phone and bring them together on my Macbook without having to transfer files or change data formats between them.
MacBook Air