We need business tools to create successful businesses. Using the best tools for you and your business is vital, otherwise, you are always trying to manage a business vs actually running your business.
In this article, I share the top 10 Apps I use in my business, the purpose of each and I’ll share what I spend on these apps.
For my consulting business, my business partner (wife) and I need these 11 business tools.
- Calendly
- Camtasia
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- Google Workspace
- LastPass
- Pixelmator Pro
- Quickbooks
- Text Expander
- Zoom
Calendly.com is vital for scheduling with the people I work with. I use it for my 1:1 coaching, corporate training scheduling, networking meetings, and nearly every other meeting that needs to be scheduled with me. I have a 15-minute, 30-minute and 1-hour event. Every new meeting includes a Zoom meeting URL (if needed) and if the meeting is fee-based it includes a link to PayPal for the person to pay before finalizing the meeting with me.
Value – I do far less juggling and I never have to send email messages back & forth to decide on a date/time.
Cost – $120 per year
Camtasia.com is the video editing software I decided to use for my YouTube video production. I chose it first because it was inexpensive, however over the past 10+ years TechSmith has made Camtasia richer in features and functionality. I pay for the annual maintenance agreement which provides me free updates as well as access to a fabulous support team.
Value – A single interface for all of my YouTube Video production. The license allows installation on up to 2 devices, which I use.
Cost – $179.88 per year
Dropbox.com ranks as one of my most important apps. If I lose my MacBook Pro and/or my MacBook Air computer, I do not lose any of my data. It also allows me access to all of my data from my iPad, my iPhone, and any other device I want to use. Anything that is not a Google Document in my Google Workspace account, is stored in Dropbox. I configure my account as an extension of my MacBook so I can easily save and access any files I have in Dropbox.
Value – Beyond an easy-to-use cloud-based storage system, it is a vital part of my disaster recovery plan.
Cost – $120 per year (+)
Evernote.com – I started using Evernote for my coaching business in 2011. Over time I began using Evernote for my phone call notes, coaching sessions, meetings, presentation outlines, YouTube Video scripts, writing my books, and lots of other random note-taking tasks. I can upload documents into Evernote and I can take photos of content and upload those to the app via my iPhone. I have access to Evernote from all of my devices via either an app or a web browser. I also can share a note or a notebook externally with the people I am working with.
Value – I don’t have to think about where I saved my info.
Cost – $169.99 per year
Google Workspace – Beyond business email, which is important, Google Workspace provides Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google Voice and much more. This toolset is vital to our business automation and collaboration. Similar to the other tools I use, I can get to all of my Google Workspace content from my iPhone, iPad, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, and any other device I want to use.
Value – I use this set of tools every single day and if I could not use them my business would grind to a halt.
Cost – $72 per year per user
My Google Workspace affiliate link – contact me for a discount code
LastPass.com – I am not unusual, however, I have well over 250 entries in LastPass for the accounts I have to be able to access. Imagine managing that many passwords on paper or sticky notes. I can’t. I subscribed to LastPass in 2011 and installed it on all of my devices eliminating the typical challenges of password management while improving the security of all of my accounts with individual passwords and 2FA where possible.
Value – I no longer struggle remembering or managing passwords to all of my business and personal online accounts.
Cost – $36 per year
LinkedIn.com – Networking is an important part of my business, as well as my life. Although since 2007 I have been teaching how to use LinkedIn as a Business Tool, it is an important business tool for me as well. I eventually moved to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator as well which is a very powerful prospecting tool.
Value – If you want to build a professional presence, a highly relevant Network, and a highly focused brand online, LinkedIn is an important component of this tactic, at least it has been for me and many of the people I know.
Cost – Free or $720 for LinkedIn Business Premium or $1200 for LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Pixelmator Pro – I am not a graphic artist, however, there I often have to create a simple graphic or adjust other images I have. I did not want to learn how to use the Adobe suite of tools or spend that much money. I originally used free Pixelmator and that was all I needed for a while. Eventually, I wanted just a little more functionality so I upgraded to Pixelmator Pro for most of my graphic work.
Value – a simple and inexpensive Macbook app that does way more than I need regarding graphic creation.
Cost – $49.99 download from the Apple Store.
Quickbooks Pro – I did not want to hire an accountant to do my billing, so my business partner took a class on using Quickbooks and after a few conversations with our accounting friend, she took on the challenge to manage our income and expenses through Quickbooks. I don’t get involved, but I get an A/R report every Friday and a P&L and a Balance Sheet every month that we discuss.
Value – an easy tool to manage our small business accounting data.
Cost – as low as $360 per year
Text Expander – OMG, this has been a great addition to my toolbox. It has saved me hours every week when I create short 3-character snippet codes that allow me to reduce keystrokes typing all types of information such as my website URL, email address, telephone number, LinkedIn Profile URL, other repetitive text, and even larger scripts I use in messaging and more.
Value – a great time saver and eliminator of typos in my repetitive text.
Cost – $39.96 per year
Zoom.us – in 2017 I decided to start doing virtual 1:1 coaching. I also wanted to provide virtual meetings to support my in-person networking. I experimented with Google Chat, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. I committed to Zoom and, although during the early days there were lots of problems, eventually Zoom became a big part of my business. I integrated it into my Calendly system and have minimized the use of the phone for a significant percentage of my virtual meetings. It has helped improve the results of these meetings and my relationship with the people I meet virtually.
Value – Zoom has become a powerful alternative to driving all over the country for meetings and networking.
Cost – Zoom Meeting – $159.84 per year
Other important tools
Canva.com, DepositPhotos.com, Grammarly.com, ChatGPT 4.0, Google Authenticator App, and Quora.com.
