productivity online business tools

[Business Ignite] 5 Must Have Tools To Run Your Online Business

Tool Time! In this episode of the podcast I share my favorite tools..well at least 5 of them! Admittedly, I’m a bit of a tool-junkie and love experimenting with new ones. Shiny object syndrome? Nah..not me! Okay, fine..maybe just a bit. The upside? You get to save time and hear about the best of the best. So, in no particular order, I bring you my must have tools to run your online business.

Schedule Once

Ever try planning a meeting with someone and you end up in email ping-pong hell? Where not only are you trying to figure out availabilities you also have different timezones to deal with?

Enter Schedule Once.

As the name implies, you schedule once.

When you create your Schedule Once account, you set your availabilities. It connects with your calendar and blocks off any existing meetings.

When someone wants to book time on your calendar, simply send them your schedule once link and they can select the time and zone that works best for them.

You get a notification and it’s booked in your calendar.  Et voila! End the email back and forth madness.

Boomerang

Boomerang is a  plugin for Gmail.

Just because you are hustling and working all hours of the day and night…*does not* mean your clients need to know.

Enter Boomerang. Reply to emails on your own time but schedule them out to go out with Boomerang at more appropriate times.

Have emails that you don’t need to deal with right now (webinar reminders, concert tickets..), Boomerang them to return at a specified date.

Social Media Management

Social media dashboards and scheduling tools. I personally use a combo of Hootsuite and Buffer.

Why not just use Twitter.com, you ask?

I use Hootsuite’s dashboard to get an overview of my Twitter lists, if there are conversations, keywords or hashtags I want to follow. I also use it to schedule out evergreen content like past episodes of my podcast or relevant blog posts.

I use BufferApp to curate and share content on the fly and like it’s ease of use as a browser plugin.

DropBox

Dropbox is a free service that lets you access your files from anywhere.

I use DropBox to easily share my raw podcast files with my podcast editor. With a shared DropBox folder, I can share files and access the edited files once they are ready. No need to email large files back and forth.

Similarly, when working with coaching clients, I use DropBox to share call recordings and pdfs.

And the beauty of it? It’s all in the cloud…accessible from anywhere, on any device.

Google..well..everything.

Google Drive is first on my list. I do *everything* in there..from working on documents (like coming up withe new product ideas) to collaborating on retreat planning (with my partner who is 3000 miles away!)

Analytics: you need this on your site. And it’s free. Enough said.

Google+ and Hangouts: I looove this platform and especially the hangouts and hangouts on air. Super easy to jump on and broadcast panels, shows, coaching calls, webinars…you name it!

 

What are some of your favorite tools? Let me know in the comments! 

[Business Ignite] Personal Branding, Facebook “Micro” Communities & Connecting With Your Customer Avatar

Nicole Longstreath of The Wardrobe Code joins me today to discuss personal branding, the evolution of your voice online and how she uses social media to connect with her community online. We talk about Facebook “micro” communities, running online challenges and getting to know your customer avatar better.

What You’ll Learn In This Podcast 

  • How to develop your personal brand and style by getting in touch with your inspiration
  • Creating an experience for your social media followers with your content
  • How to get around the constant Facebook changes with “micro”communities

Sites & Resources Mentioned

If you enjoyed this episode I would appreciate if you could head over to iTunes and leave a review!

About Nicole

nicoleAs a virtual wardrobe strategist, Nicole helps her clients uncover their unique style and build wardrobes they love at a sensible cost. She believes that having a strong personal brand is within reach for anyone who wants it. It doesn’t require starting over or spending a fortune – just a commitment to yourself. Find her online at The Wardrobe Code, on Twitter and Facebook.

 

[Business Ignite] Book Review: QR Codes Kill Kittens by Scott Stratten

Book Review time! In today’s episode, I review Scott Stratten’s new book QR Codes Kill Kittens and share some of my key takeaways. QR Codes Kill Kittens is a short read with tons of examples of email marketing, social media and QR codes gone wrong.

What You’ll Learn In This Podcast  

  • Think about how you are using technology and if your audience/customers are ready for it
  • Consider the user experience: does a QR code on a door make sense? Or on a billboard on the highway?
  • If you open a social media account: whether it is Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Facebook don’t just “set it and forget it”, plan to engage or don’t open an account at all!

Sites & Resources Mentioned

  • QR Codes Kill Kittens
  • Scott Stratten’s Keynote at New Media Expo: Alienate Customers, Dishearten Employees, and Drive Your Business Into the Ground

 

If you enjoyed this episode I would appreciate if you could head over to iTunes and leave a review!

email marketing lead generation

[Business Ignite] Grow Your Email List Massively in 2014 With Staci Ann

List building! Today I am joined by list building and sales funnel coach, Staci Ann of StaciAnn.com and we talk all about how to grow your list, the different techniques you can use and the the technique that she used to massively grow her list in just 90 days. We also talked about the importance of having a very targeted offer and how to do follow-up right. 

What You’ll Learn In This Podcast

  • Why you need to create a compelling offer
  • The importance of follow-up and creating an auto-responder series
  • How a small engaged list can still help you grow your business

Sites & Resources Mentioned

 

If you enjoyed this episode I would appreciate if you could head over to iTunes and leave a review!

About Staci Ann

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Staci Ann is a list-building and sales funnel coach who helps entrepreneurs design a sales funnel ATM that attracts your ideal clients to your products on autopilot so you can spend less time “selling” and more time enjoying your luxurious lifestyle. Connect with her at StaciAnn.com

[E09] Email Marketing Mistakes. #3 Is My Biggest Pet Peeve.

It’s pet peeve time! In today’s episode I share my email marketing pet peeves.

I bring you:

3 Signs You’re Doing Email Marketing Wrong

Unsubscribe? What unsubscribe? Exactly.

Holding people hostage to your mailing list is not going to get you anywhere. Especially if they never opted-in in the first place.

It’s 2014, if you *still* don’t have an unsubscribe button on your email marketing messages you are doing it wrong.

And I’m not trying to be cute. You really are doing it wrong. As in- it’s not legal.

Automatically adding me to your mailing list.

Handing you a biz card at a networking event is not the equivalent of me signing up to your mailing list.

Please, don’t automatically add people. We have to choose to opt-in.

And.. if you’re going to add me to your mailing list (without my permission) let me at least get off, easily, k? (see point one). None of that hit unsubscribe and then ask me to re-enter my email address and then count from 10-1 backward business. Keep it simple.

Email marketing without an email marketing service is not email marketing.

Say that 5x fast.

See point above. Adding hundreds of people to an email message (don’t get me started on the ones that don’t BCC) and telling them about your latest/greatest widget/blog post/sale/telesummit/FINAL OFFER OMG  is *not* email marketing.

Stay classy and sign up for a service like Mailchimp (and it’s free).

Do it right or don’t do it all.

And this.

The Email/Facebook/Twitter/’insert other social media’ Bomber

In the history of mankind has this approach ever worked? This is the offline equivalent of a sleazy-car salesman or the telemarketer who is trying to sell you a device that you can plug in to your outlets to ‘save electricity’. I kid you not.

I mean seriously?! I’ve got nothing better to do than vote for a complete stranger..EVERY DAY of OCTOBER. Why not the rest of the year?!. #lesigh

Don’t be *that* guy. Don’t do online what you wouldn’t do in real life. Unless you are in the business of annoying people, it doesn’t work.

Any other email-marketing faux-pas you’d like to share, let me know in the comments!