Running an online business is a privilege especially since we live in a world where, just that years ago it was difficult to communicate with people in the next town or in the next city or in the next country without incurring a huge expense. But with the online space what has essentially happened is that the borders and the boundaries that kept us separate have been erased, which means instead of having to go to gatekeepers, for example, publishers, or magazine editors, or advertising companies, you now have access to the same market that these people were gatekeeping.
And essentially running an online business means you will have access to customers from all over the world customers from as many countries as you want and as far as you want your business to reach. I for one, my writing over the last four years has impacted over 90,000 women and I’ve had over 2700 customers and clients and these women have been from over 100 countries.
And in these four years, I’ve managed to make money from what I’ve taught, and how I’ve done it essentially is through
- selling ebooks,
- affiliate marketing,
- selling courses
- coaching.
And in this particular post, I want to share with you the tools and software that I use to run my business and you can use them too.
1. Instagram/ Facebook Business Suite
I started by using Instagram, to build a following. Now we are at 90,000+ women. Instagram has billions of people who show up online every single day. Of course you cannot reach all of them all at once but if you can reach 500 people, 1000 people, 2000 people, 10,000 people for the 50,000 people then you have leverage that you previous previously did not have.
2. Canva
Canva is ny day one in the list of software and I still continue to use it to this particular day .Canva is really useful because it eliminates the need to use PowerPoint publisher or to use Adobe or to use any other designer software that would have been difficult to have a learning curve to use.
It saves me a lot of time and helps me to have cohesive brand design. I have the pro version, which gives me access to photos, elements and vidoes which are not available in the free version.
3. Flodesk
The other software that I use is flow desk. Previously I used ConvertKit but I no longer use ConvertKit I use Flow desk because it’s easier to have beautiful designs that I feel are in line with my brand and it’s also a one rate no matter how many subscribers you have for me with ConvertKit I used to feel like the more subscribers I had, the more they punished me or the more they charged me for having more customers and that didn’t make financial sense for my small business. And so I switched to flow desk which allows me to have my challenges it allows me to have my emails and I just like how they look and how they feel when I send them out to that’s the other software that I use.
4. Thrivecart Paypal and Stripe
the other software that I use is Thrive cart I use Thrive cart to sell my products. i It is to me one of the best payment processors that there is because through it I can collect payments from people and I can also collect payments from stripe or from any other type of payment that there is there on the internet. The other software that I use in my business is PayPal and Stripe but those are integrated within Thrive cart and as they are it’s not like I use them separately but I use them together.
5. Hello Sign/ Drop Box
I also use Dropbox. Sometimes when I am sending out contracts to my clients I use HelloSign and it is very good because we get an electronic copy both myself and the client and we can clearly see when they signed it and they can clearly see where to sign if they need to. I use it to send contracts for coaching contracts for testimonials contracts with the people that I contract to work with me from time to time.
6. ZenDesk
The other software that I use is Zendesk, I use Zendesk to record my podcast episodes. It’s very good. The clarity is very good, especially when I connect it to my Blue Yeti. And with the Blue Yeti, I am able to have very clear audio for my podcasts that I put out.
7. Elemntor/ WordPress
other software that I use easel and mentor and I use Elementor together with WordPress so WordPress is our blogging platform or Well, let me see what is WordPress. WordPress is a web content management system and with it I use Elementor and Elementor is very good because it allows me to design my website the way that I want it to be. I got the custom design for my website from someone else but then I designed it for myself the way that I like it because web development is one of the things that I really enjoy
8. Zoom/ Google Meet
the other software that I use from time to time is zoom nowadays not so much but I use Google meet as well for my meeting. So either Google meet or zoom, whichever is fine. That is what I’m going to use for that particular session.
9. Calendly
I also use Calendly although at some point I used aquity scheduling. Equity scheduling is good because it allows you to have all these forms. It’s a bit more customizable than Google meat, but Google meat is available for free. And I do like it for the fact that it is easy to use and the person gets a Google link without me having to Google meeting link without me having to connect it to zoom or to something else which will happen with Calendly for example.
10. Grammarly
The other software that I use is Grammarly. I use Grammarly to check the correctness of the emails that I send out. For example, I use Grammarly a lot. I’ve used it for my own personal reasons. And I’ve also use it professionally and I also use it for a blog.
11. Google Docs
I use Google Docs because Google docs are very good. I can always open my documents no matter where I am, no matter what I’m doing. I can just open a computer or laptop my phone and I can access the document that I need. So I use Google Docs, Word version, spreadsheets, the the forms if I want to run a survey, I also use Google Docs. Just for like writing down the ideas that I have and keeping records of the things that I need to keep records of the other software that I use in my business will be far more
12. FOMO
I use former to have social proof like to show people Yes, people are actually buying my eBooks and people are actually buying my courses or signing up for coaching because sometimes people need to see that other people are buying before they can buy and I use FOMO which is return F or M or and it’s really good because it allows me to show ya I have customers from all over the world and if a person is from a particular region then it’s easier for them to buy if they see someone from that region is buying as well. Let me see what other softwares do I use.
Other software’s that I use Okay, Previously I’ve used other software’s like Gumroad I used to use pay here, but I no longer use them.
13. Zapier
I used to use zap here to connect between the email and the by chases when I was using Podere but I no longer use it. I used to use ConvertKit like I said before, but I no longer use it. I used to share I used to use
14. Tailwind
platforms so you can count it as a software. I also use tailwind. I use tailwind for Pinterest. I should utilise it more than I actually already utilise it because it’s quite good in helping me schedule things that I want to do later. No it’s very good in helping me schedule pins and is something that I’m still trying out a lot. I previously used teachable. I tried Kajabi for a while, but I didn’t quite use it but I did use teachable and it was quite a night. So I stopped using it. Yeah, those are the software’s that I use. If there is any other I will let you know
15. Software I no Longer Use But Tried/ Did Before
Zoom a lot. I don’t use them a lot. I used to use MailChimp I no longer use it. I tried mailer light for a short period of time but then I just stopped using it because I didn’t quite like it. I use the lead pages at some point because I wanted to see how the pages convert and then eventually just said you know what? I’m fine with not having all the data it’s just fine. I use Facebook manager business manager I don’t know if that will count as a software but it’s separate from the normal Facebook Instagram
