Productivity Software & Tools

Canva

Your very own Artist, Graphic Designer, Copy Writer, Creative director at your disposal. Ever scrolled though social media and witnessed some excellent content and posts? Wondered if everyone had gone to an art college or just born with that creative gene? The answer is No. You really don’t have to have that artistic flare to create something nice these days. Canva does it for you. From posts to posters and blogs to banners and everything in between. It’s a very cost-effective resource to produce some excellent adverts, articles and promotion materials. You no longer need to visit a printing store or hire a Digital Marketing Manager as you can pretty much do anything on Canva these days. 

I create, blogs, linkedin posts and Facebook (FB) ads all for free via my Canva account. I have access to an array of photos, signs, and stickers. You can also go 3D by including moving images, short videos, music and much more. I create all my graphics here for all my social media posts. Just make sure you have your logos on png/jpec and you can pretty much brand anything. Branding is very important and Canva allows you to do just that. Honestly, I am not a tech person and you really don’t need to be. This platform is super easy to use and allows you to create some excellent material even for formal tasks such as presentations and reports. 

Zoho

Enough of all things art, lets talk CRM which basically stands for Customer Relations Manager. Basically your phonebook, contacts and filofax in one big fat database. Errr…did I say Filofax? Jees, I'm really showing my age here haha. But, guess what guys it’s more than a digital address book it serves as storage and all your customer information in one place. You enter all their details, purchases, complaints, comments and create a story. You can then create a mass email captain and shoot to all your contacts in one swoop. It can create a timeline of  all discussions that have taken place with your customer/client and never lose anything. Ever wondered how those large utilities companies know everything about your account? Well they hold your information in one giant database system known as a CRM. 

However, if you will be holding large amounts of personal data then you must comply with the ICC or you could be in breach. Keep in mind that you are holding sensitive data so please remain diligent and ethical in your dealings with them. It's a massive cloud based application where you can manage and monitor each lead through a task and run them through what is known as a sales funnel or pipeline. It can integrate seamlessly with your accounting systems from billing to customer support. In summary, if you don’t sell you don’t have a business and Zoho covers all that.

Asana

This is a ‘works’ organisation app which kinda acts as your very own PA. I can't afford one, not even a VA (Virtual Assistant) for that matter so Asana was the way forward. There’s so much you can do with it, I am learning every day and at first it seems a little tedious to input things and get used to it as I felt it was creating more work but that's only because I was slow and still learning. It's basically your ‘to do list’ ‘calendar’ and team coordination all in one. Albeit, there are only three in the team but this way we can all keep track of what each of us are doing and can help one another as we all have access to the same portal. 

But, as we grow no-doubt this will be godsend, oh and it is completely free for now unless you want to upgrade but this is for larger companies. If you want to go paperless and upgrade your ‘To Do’ list into the digital age then Asana is your pal. No more sticky notes, labels, jotter or putting lines through a job once it’s complete. Asana does all this for you, I don’t know about you but I just love the satisfaction you get from ticking off items line by line as you do them…Bliss!

Trello

Similar to the above but a ‘project management’ app CRM/Database/Schedules all rolled into one. A step up from Asana in the sense that you can manage all your projects with multiple people from one platform. If, like me, you are a visual person then you’ll thoroughly enjoy this app. I don’t like too much text or clutter so this is just perfect. Its interface is a blank canvas and for each project you create what is called a ‘Trello Card’. This holds all the important information, contacts, mail and link in one easy to access place. I download and attach large files directly onto my Trello Board as it has the ability to hold this. 

Snippets of emails which get lost in lengthy chains can be inputted here, so no need for hours on end shifting through emails to search for things. You can insert subsections to each card, add comments within these, due dates and further arrange your trello card. Work does not have to be boring or mundane, call me nuts but I love looking at my Trello Board. It’s so fun creating these, picking titles and pictures to go with your card, it’s very pleasing to the eye. I figured, if you're going to spend endless hours staring at a screen then you might as well make it sexy.

Dext 

Formerly known as (Receipt Bank). I love this app and just can't imagine what people were doing before to keep up to date with all their finances. Like the above this app acts like your very own bookkeeper by allowing you to stay on top of all your expenses and payouts. You just take a photo of your receipt via your smartphone, send it to Dext (app), and then forget about it. No more storing receipts in a shoebox or manually printing out invoices. It automatically sorts and files your receipt into categories. Which makes accounting so simple and easy. 

You can forward older invoices straight from your inbox onto Receipt Bank which can break-down and extract the most complex of data. Which can then be forwarded as a CSV file to whoever requests it. So you don’t have to enter it line by line on a spreadsheet, this clever app does it all for you. The same with paper invoices, you just scan the picture which uploads onto their platform and stored into files in their storage, leaving your database free. You can draw up graphs, reports, trends and much more. Honestly, I feel like a right accounting geek when using this.