If you run an online business, then you’re going to be heavily reliant on technology to keep things moving seamlessly, and whilst there can be times when you end up with too many tools that you can end up overwhelming yourself because you have so many things to take care of, there are also a few solid tools that you should have to help run your business and keep everything going smoothly.
So, in this post, we’re going to share with you some of the top tools and systems you should have if you’re running an online business.
Google Drive
Google Drive is an amazing tool for business owners – especially if you create a lot of content that you don’t want to lose. If you want to use any of the Google Drive products, then you’ll need to have a Gmail account, but this is something you should definitely have for your business because you’ll be able to use your business domain and use the Google interface for sending and receiving business emails.
You can basically keep your whole business running right within Google Drive, you can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and even surveys, and the great thing about it is that you don’t need to be sending emails back and forth with your team because Google offers the option to open whatever you’re working on up to your team so that you can all collaborate and be on the same page, which definitely saves a lot of time. Whilst Google Drive is free to use, if you need more space (and Google give you basically unlimited space), you can upgrade for $5 per month and get some extra features for your business thrown in, too.
Dropbox
If you want to keep all of your files safe and also allow people to access digital products or content you’ve created without using up space on your website or creating membership sites, then Dropbox is a great way to go about doing this. You basically just share the link with people and they can download whatever files you’ve allowed them to access.
Trello
If you’re looking for a way to keep your business and even your life more organized and streamlined, then Trello is a total gamechanger and is something you should definitely look at getting. You can use the free version which offers basically everything you need or you can upgrade for $49 per year to get lots of cool features that Trello call power-ups which allow you to really customize your boards further. Trello is a project and task management tool that uses the Kanban system, so it’s great if you’re a visual person who likes to see everything laid out in a clear overview. You can use this for anything from managing launches, tracking your stats, keeping all of your passwords, or even your marketing plan for the month – Trello is something that will truly help you keep all of your business focused and running in a way that saves you time.
Slack
Gone are the days of back and forth email threads that get lost and you have to spend hours searching for. With Slack, you can keep all of your team communication in one place and even link it to things like Trello and Google Drive so that everyone can see who’s working on what project and things don’t get missed. Slack is a messaging platform for internal communication, so you can split it through departments and even have private messages and so much more.
Zapier
Zapier is the master of all tools when it comes to running an online business since it basically allows all tools and apps to work together and keep your whole business automated and running in a way that means you don’t have to be as hands-on.
Spiro
Every business needs a good CRM system to keep track of leads and the overall customer journey and Spiro is a simple, clean, but effective tool that allows you to manage that process easily. You can use Spiro to grow your monthly sales thanks to the fact that this program uses artificial intelligence so whether you manage this part of the business yourself or you have a sales team, this tool is going to make the overall process so much easier and more effective.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is an effective and highly affordable email marketing platform that really allows you to keep your whole marketing automated and running like a well-oiled machine thanks to intelligent rules and tags that allow you to send emails according to where your prospects are in the sales process and move them easily towards becoming a customer.
