Apps and Equipment to rock your business from home
Early in 2020 I wrote about 25 apps you need to rock your business. Well, little did I know what was ahead of us for 2020!
When I wrote that, I didn’t know that there would be a mass exit from offices as people switched to working from home. Before the pandemic, I would split my time between the house, a coffee shop and co-working spaces. I would work with clients at their offices and my events were all in-person. Oh, and my toddler was in daycare 4 days a week!
Oh the good ol’ days.
So in this blog we’re updating that post for 2021 and the challenges this year will inevitably bring for small business owners.
Let’s recap. What’s an app again?
When I’m talking about apps in this post, 95% of the time I’m talking about apps that are on my phone. While there are dozens of computer apps, a few of which I use on my laptop as well, today we’re just tackling the ones I use for managing the marketing of my business.
Many of these apps are free to download, and the only investment you need to use them is your time. (And if time is what you’re lacking, you can take a look at our social media management services right here.)
Social Media Apps
The first apps I’m going to cover are, of course, my social media apps! These are all the applications I keep on my phone for nurturing online networks for my business and my clients. These include:
After the main social media platforms, I have apps that help me make life easier whether they are scheduling apps or apps to help me create content.
Here are some apps that I use to help me run my business:
Scheduling Apps
Buffer
Buffer is a scheduling app for social media that allows you to lay out all of your content at once and posts it for you to all of your social media platforms.
I use Buffer for putting out 80-85% of my online content, leaving around 20% of the effort I put into my online presence as live interactions with my audience.
Buffer is user friendly and affordable. While there is a free version, the paid version allows you to schedule several weeks of content at a time.
CoSchedule
2020 saw my business grow exponentially despite the lockdowns and restrictions. When I sat down with my Content Manager, we looked at how I could get more work off my plate so I can focus on my clients.
CoSchedule was what we decided to use to replace Buffer for social media scheduling in 2021. With CoSchedule, we can set up the social media messages for all of my campaigns and turn on their evergreen/requeue feature so that my social media messages can be set up once and run themselves for the foreseeable future.
That saves me some major time and energy.
Content Generation Apps
Poto
There are dozens of apps to create collages, posters, and memes. A new one comes out every month seemingly, but when it comes to my images, I stick with this app.
I started using Poto several years ago as an affordable and easy to use option, and it’s been with me ever since.
Repost
Ever find a user-generated post you really want to share because one of your followers took a great shot of your product or featured your work? Sadly, unlike Facebook and Twitter, you can’t easily reshare those posts on instagram.
That’s where repost comes in.
Repost is the app that I’ve been using for User Generated Content for years now! It’s the easiest of all the apps I’ve tried in the past to share content on instagram.
iMovie
As a Mac user, when I decided to start creating video content for my blog EatDrinkandBeYou.com, it was an obvious choice for me to use.
This app is easy to get started on, and allows you to make changes on your laptop and phone.
Canva
Canva is the graphic design program for the non-graphic designer!
I use canva for all my social media graphics for KA Social Media as well as my clients. The paid version comes with premium graphics included, and a tool that resizes my graphics across all social platforms of my choice.
Mojo
While Instagram provides tools for creating stories for your feed, sometimes you just want something to jazz it up a little.
Mojo helps create fun and vibrant stories for Instagram, even when you don’t have graphic design skills at your disposal.
Productivity Apps
Lastpass
I would be LOST without Lastpass! At any given time, I can be managing 10 to 15 Facebook pages, 10 Twitter accounts, 2 to 3 LinkedIn accounts, 5 to 7 Instagram accounts PLUS all my own passwords that I need to remember.
I’m not sure about you but between my business, my toddler and well life there is NO way I’m remembering ANY passwords so LastPass functions as a single secure login for all of my accounts.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a cloud-based program that I use to store my personal documents and client content. It makes connecting all my various devices a breeze so I can access images and documentation that I was working on using my desktop anywhere.
Asana
Asana was introduced to me by my Content Manager Crystal Picard. There are a few different applications that can do the same thing, like Basecamp and Trello.
It makes organizing our shared work easy and we’re loving the little unicorns and narwhals that streak across the screen to celebrate whenever we check something off our list! Try it out to see what we mean.
Zoom
Even before the pandemic, I enjoyed zoom meetings. We all know time is money, and the time you lose on travelling to locations for meetings, getting ready to go to the meeting and finding parking all take up hours of time out of your week.
Zoom is the best platform I’ve found for having a quick one-on-one with your clients and team from the safety of your home.
CamScanner
Ever need to sign a document on the run? This app is a godsend! Whenever I have something I need to scan and send, I can take a photo with my phone and it’ll translate it into a document that I can attach from my phone to send off right away.
No more connecting the bulky scanner for me!
Fun apps that keep me sane and motivated:
Honestly, I’ve never used these apps as much as I did in 2020. And they’re definitely staying on the list in 2021.
Spotify
I used to listen to Spotify 70-85% of the time while working, but these days I’m usually listening for tell-tale signs that my toddler might have gotten bored of her most recent game or show.
As working at home became the norm, working with music became the new ‘relaxing in a hot tub’ of 2020. A luxury I’m looking forward to enjoying more in 2021.
Libby
This is a free app that lets you read or listen to audiobooks from the library without leaving your home. It attaches to your library card and automatically checks books in and out for you.
Gift Card Emails
Starbucks’s app has been a godsend this year. As I’ve been protecting my family by staying home, it’s been easy to log onto the app to send a birthday coffee or a ‘thank you’ coffee to clients and team members.
Home Office Equipment
‘Working from home’ used to mean your cell phone and a laptop. In 2020, it became apparent that the quality of your home setup would be more important than ever. Here’s a few items I’ve added to make life easier:
Ring lights
You never think of your house as ‘dark’ until you try to host zoom meetings in it 5 days a week. Add in teaching classes to the mix? I needed to do something to help people see my face.
So I purchased a ring light! There are many different sizes to choose from, but here’s one of the ones I’m using: Neewer Ring Light Kit
Microphone
When teaching classes several times a week, I found that I needed to upgrade my microphone quickly. I went with the mic chosen by many of my favourite podcasters, the Blue Yeti Mic. It’s improved the clarity of my calls immeasurably!
Noise Cancelling Headphones
One thing I realized with my toddler and husband home with me all the time is that I need some quiet time to focus on my client's work.
Laptop Stand
I don’t know about you but I found that working on a laptop all day took a real toll on my neck, back, and shoulders! Pretty early in the pandemic, I purchased a laptop stand to use at my home office. These are perfect to keep your back aligned while working for hours on new content.
Tripod
When you’re creating content from home and don’t have access to someone to help you with holding the camera, then having a tripod to help you is required.
Marketing from home meant video content went from being a nice bonus to being a requirement—having a tripod to help take that video means better quality and less shakey video.
While new apps are coming out to help with our businesses every day, I can’t help but look back at this list and wonder how we did it before we had all these tools on our phones!
2021 will be a year for building stability into our businesses, setting up procedures and building out new offerings to help business owners excel online.
Do you have a MUST-HAVE app or piece of equipment not listed that you couldn’t run your business without? Comment on this post to share them with us!