5 Resources You Need

In the spirit of Thanksgiving which is right around the corner, I have 5 cool business resources I’m so thankful for that I really want to share them with you. Most I use all the time, and one is new to my arsenal, but all are amazingly useful.

Here goes…

1. Asana

Asana is an online project management tool. It’s versatile, intuitive, and with a free level, it’s perfect for a small business. We use it to manage all our projects, big or small, for our own business and for our clients.

2. Infusionsoft

As a Certified Partner of Infusionsoft, we are partial to the platform, for sure. Infusionsoft is a robust sales and marketing CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform. It allows a small business to manage their list in a central place, thus avoiding version skew and multi-system chaos.

We have used Infusionsoft for 10 years to manage the sales and marketing for our business. It has certainly gained features over the decade but it has never lost its focus which is to help small business succeed better.

In the monthly User Group that we facilitate for Infusionsoft users in and around Massachusetts, how to use Infusionsoft to grow your business is central to many of our discussions. It’s an excellent tool! If you’re not using Infusionsoft, we would be happy to chat with you about how it might benefit your business.

3. LucidChart

Another online tool with a free option, LucidChart is a really easy flowcharting tool. I use it all the time to map out strategies and projects for our business and for our clients.

I can share any folder or document with a team member or client. That’s especially effective if it’s an evolving or co-created design, or if you need the client to sign off on approval.

LucidChart is great for mapping out campaign strategy before you start creating it in your CRM, like Infusionsoft or ActiveCampaign.

4. Swyft Mobile

My newest fave! If you use Infusionsoft or any of the other platforms that Swyft integrates with, you are going to think you died and went to heaven. Their mobile interface is smart, easy, and customizable. The Swyft team is outstanding to work with, and the pricing is worth every penny. Check it out at swyftmobile.com or call us to arrange a demo.

5. Zapier

Zapier is the king of connections. It has all these nifty little connectors, called Zaps, that take input from one app or platform and feed it, or cause an action, in the same or a different app or platform.

For example, we created an event registration and reminder system for a client using EventBrite for the registration. To handle the reminders the way the client wanted, we needed to get the registrants into Infusionsoft. Since there is no direct integration between EventBrite and Infusionsoft, we used Zapier to connect the two platforms. Presto, magic! Now when someone registers for our client’s event in EventBrite, they are immediately added or updated in Infusionsoft and put into the reminder campaign. This also allows us to run reports and track the registrants for each event.

Check it out at zapier.com. You’ll be amazed at the apps and platforms they support.

That’s it - 5 of our favorite resources that we use every day in our business.