I don’t know about you, but personally I’ve always been a big fan of “reveal”-type blog posts – where bloggers and business owners share their personal routines, systems, and more. So – I thought it would be fun to do something similar and share the tools that I use EVERY day as an entrepreneur. 

Here are my 10 favorite daily business tools for entrepreneurs – my hope is that you may find a few on this list that benefit YOU and make your life easier, as well! 

1. Timecamp

When I was first starting out as an entrepreneur, I really struggled with time management. Which, yes, I know is shocking, since it’s one of the things I talk about all the time! But the transition from having to spend 8 hours in an office every day to, well, not having to was tougher than I imagined it would be. 

I realized I needed to figure out EXACTLY how I was spending my time, and how I could be using it better. So I started using Timecamp. Timecamp is a free time-tracking software that allows you to easily create different projects, and start and stop your time working on them through it’s stopwatch tool. When I first starting using Timecamp, I tracked EVERYTHING: my morning routine, my workouts, my work for different clients, my writing time, my personal time with my husband and friends, lunch dates, driving time TO said lunch dates… you name it! It was a really helpful way for me to see exactly where my waking hours were going on a daily basis.

And more so, Timecamp also allowed me to look back on my months and see how much time I was dedicating to certain initiatives and compare my input to my output. This has drastically improved my profitability as an entrepreneur, since I’m able to better see which uses of my time have the best ROI. 

Need a free time-tracking solution? Try Timecamp here. 

2. Google Drive

Ah Google Drive… I’m SUCH a fan. If you’ve been living under a rock and don’t have a Gmail address, and an associated Google Drive account. You should really get on that. Here are the three main ways I use Google Drive:

• Setting up unique folders for coaching clients: For each of my coaching clients, I create an individual Google Drive folder with their personalized curriculum. We both have access to it, so it’s an easy way to share material to guide discussions. 
• Google Slides for presentations: For creating webinars and presentations, Google Slides are the bomb.com. I like to download a fun template from a site like Slides Carnival too – since design is not my strong suit. 
• Google Docs to plan content, launches and more: Google Docs are my go-to for planning and note-taking. Especially since my ideas are always changing, Google Docs allows me to note my ideas, but easily update them without worrying about re-saving and starting a new plan down the road! (Plus, you can always look back and see changes that were made, in case you want to reference an old idea. Nifty!)

Psst: I’m also a huge fan of Google Calendar! It’s perfect for time-blocking. 

3. Canva

Speaking of my average graphic design skills – this really hasn’t been an issue for day-to-day needs thanks to easy design tool and template creator: Canva! Canva is a graphic design tool and website that makes design EASY for non-graphic designers like myself. They even have a ton of fun templates loaded up that you can use to make blog graphics, social media graphics, flyers, and more! 

Canva is a free tool, but there is an option for a “Pro” account that allows you to create customized business templates and load in your specific brand colors. 

4. Paypal

Paypal is my go-to platform for invoicing and collecting payments for services. Even though Paypal charges a processing fee, it’s free to use and you can easily create branded, professional-looking invoices and send them over to clients via email or individual links. 

There’s even a Paypal checkout widget that you can embed on your site to make payment collection super simple for website visitors – this works well for low-dollar offers. For higher priced offers, you should be getting on the phone with prospects, which leads me to my next tool…

5. Calendly

Calendly is the tool I use to schedule calls with prospective clients. Again, it’s a free tool, and you can easily embed the scheduler on your website (you can see an example on this page). With the free option, you can only select one time increment for meetings (either 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes – I use 30 minutes for clarity calls). 

I have a designated Calendly link that I will send to prospects that I’m in conversation with – it gives them the option to schedule a time that works best for them to get on the phone, without all the back and forth over email or messengers to try to find a time that works. 

6. Linkedin ProFinder

This is a relatively new discovery for me and I can say honestly that it’s been HUGE for my business! Linkedin ProFinder is a paid service offered by LinkedIn where you can easily connect with potential clients who are looking for a specific service. It’s essentially like a freelancer network, but it has the added qualification of being hosted on Linkedin, which makes all the connections much more “legit,” in my experience.

I use LinkedIn ProFinder to find clients for life and career coaching (as well as one-off services like resume revisions), but there are SO many different services that you can both offer and search for as member of this subscription service, including: PR Consulting, Business Law, and hundreds of others! Yes, it’s a subscription service that charges a fee of $79.99/month (a tad pricey), but the qualification level of these leads is unparalleled since prospects are ACTIVELY looking for someone to help them. In my very first month of using LinkedIn Profinder, I added $500+ to my bottom line (so it definitely paid for itself and then some!) I highly recommend it. 

7. Facebook

This one is kind of a no-brainer, but I truly do use Facebook everyday as a brand-builder for my business!

In today’s day and age of marketing, it’s not enough to just have a website: you need to show up. You need to have a presence and show your prospective clients, customers and partners that you are an active practitioner of whatever it is that you SAY that you do for a living! …Because people will look, trust me!

On average – it takes at least 7 “exposures” to your brand for people to make any sort of decision about working with you. Showing up on social media is a great way to expedite and better control that process. 

Also – if you’re not doing Facebook Live Videos yet, it’s a good idea to get started! Videos are one of the best ways to virtually introduce yourself and your brand to your network and prospective clients and customers. Getting on this train early will serve you well in the long-run! Plus, you can always re-purpose videos into other types of content for your business.

8. Rev.com

My favorite way to “1-2-punch” my content efforts is this combo: recording a Facebook live, and then sending the video to Rev.com for transcription, so that I can then turn that SAME content into a blog post… usually in under 10 minutes! With Rev.com, you can easily get audio files and videos transcribed for just $1/minute, although they offer a digital transcription service for less too, I believe. Talk about content re-purposing magic! 

9. Fiverr

As an entrepreneur, you have a LOT on your plate. And let’s be honest: you can’t do it all. Or rather: you shouldn’t! Your time is your most valuable resource, and you need to use it wisely… which means NOT spending it on tasks that you could easily pay someone a reasonable amount of money to do FOR you. 

This is where freelance and outsourcing sites like Fiverr work wonderfully. Fiverr self-describes itself as a  “freelance services marketplace for the lean entrepreneur”- it was literally created to serve entrepreneurs like you! So instead of killing yourself to try to design a worksheet, or SEO-optimize your blog posts, or create a video for your Facebook ads… you can affordably support OTHER creators and pay them to help you do these tasks instead! I use Fiverr at least once a week, sometimes more!

10. Convert Kit

Last and certainly not least: one of the tools I use EVERY day to run my business is Convert Kit. I employ Convert Kit for both lead generation (collecting email addresses via opt-in forms) AND for actually sending emails. 

When it comes to email marketing platforms for entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized businesses, Convert Kit is my absolute favorite (and I’ve worked with a LOT of different email marketing platforms). It’s affordable, especially when you’re just starting out ($29 per month for a list size of under 1,000 subscribers, and the price increases from there), and it’s very user-friendly. You have the capability to send broadcasts (timely emails to your whole list), and to set up automated email funnels for your business – both of which are SO important for continual touches with your list and creating a successful automated business. 

So – those are 10 tools that I use to run my business every day… but there are even MORE that I use on a weekly or monthly basis (and some other daily tools that didn’t make this list!) What are your favorite tools to use in your business? Or what do you need suggestions for? Let me know in the comments!