There are tons of lists on the internet about the top 20 or top 40 tools that you can use to help make your business grow and expand and it can be overwhelming, to say the least.
Instead of giving you a list of a billion tools you can use- because we all know you can use a billion tools- we will give you just five and then tell you exactly why they will help you and how to make them work for you starting today. Yes, today!
1. Hootsuite
HootSuite is a popular app and computer program that allows you to schedule out social media posts. Its interface is simple to use and the functions of it are very straightforward. This tool is going to be a winner for you specifically because you can both plan ahead and then forget about it for a while.
Set it and forget it is the formula for Hootsuite and it allows you to spend a little time and do a mass amount of posting based on your strategy and then be able to set social media aside to focus on other important tasks.
2. Canva
This is a design tool for those who don’t have a degree in design. It’s a simple online platform that allows you to create incredible graphics. They have them sized specifically for each social platform, they have resume templates, they have postcard sizes and business card sizes and more. With the pre-made templates as inspiration, your options with Canva are literally endless.
To put Canva to use today, use this to promote a new launch. Offering holiday mini sessions? Try making a Facebook-sized poster and sharing that to social media instead of creating something from your own mind.
3. CrashPlan
CrashPlan is almost exactly what it sounds like. It’s a plan when you crash. Well, not you, but your computer in this case. This is a tool that will back up your computer and your files so if your computer does crash, everything will be backed up and safe. That way if something happens, you don’t lose everything at once.
To put this into use today, carve out an hour or so of your day. Get signed up and start the backup process. This will likely take some time if you are a photographer with a few thousand photos lying around on your desktop. Although CrashPlan does cost $5 per month, it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
4. DropBox
DropBox is another crowd favorite but it is so simple, yet so powerful. It’s a great place to store files since that’s the most obvious of the uses. However, it’s also great for sharing photos to third parties and also collaborating on certain photos or folders.
To make DropBox work for you today, start by adding a few folders of images. From there, explore all of your options on how you can add collaborators and share folders with people you work closely with.
5. Jetpack
The final tool deals directly with WordPress users. It’s a plugin called Jetpack. It’s almost always one of the first plugins that come installed in your WordPress site and it’s often overlooked. This plugin does so many things but the best feature for your work is the automation feature.
You can use the Jetpack today for your business to start automating your blog posts. Each blog post can be automated to post to certain social channels that will help bring traffic and interaction from your site to your social channels and more.
There are so much more than just five tools that are going to help you build and grow your business. These are just a few of the many but these are also tools you can start working on today and make some adjustments right away so you can start seeing results faster than ever.