The tools I use to run my multi-passionate solo business
Tools are necessary to get the job done - not matter what job you're referring to. Here are the top tools I use to get my stuff done.
No matter what you do, the tools you use are necessary for getting the job done. When it comes to online businesses, there are so many options that it is easy to get bogged down in the weeds. Especially when you come across lists with titles like “100 Tools to Run Your Business.” It’s overwhelming. And overcomplicating things.
I am guilty of spending time researching the perfect tool rather than just getting the work done, though I have gotten much better about that. Today, I’m going to share the tools that I use on a daily or weekly basis to run my business. I’ll also be coming back to this list and updating it periodically. (I will probably also end up doing a more in-depth post on a couple of these tools as well.)
This article will contain affiliate links; meaning that if you click through one of those links and proceed to buy, I will get a percentage of that money. It costs nothing extra to you. Companies like paying affiliates because it’s like advertising that they don’t have to pay for until after it’s resulted in a sale. It’s a win-win. 🙂
The Short List
I’ll go into each of these tools below, explaining why and how I use them. But to save you the scroll if you’ve come back here just to find the list, I’ve included the links upfront. Note that some of these include affiliate links!
Google Drawings (access from your Google Drive account)
Project Management, Task Management, and Writing
Notion! Notion is where everything starts, where I keep track of everything, and where I do almost all my digital creating and thinking. I still love (and need) pen and paper for journaling, but everything else is here.
Planning and Reflection
Keep track of projects and tasks
Plan and review my day, week, month, quarter, and year
Reflect and track milestones
Keep track of goals I am working towards
Knowledge Management
Save articles and books that I have read or want to read - and collect quotes that I might want to use later
Save ideas that I want to explore later
Keep track of courses and workshops and my notes
Plus I tag each of these with the topic so I can see all the content and ideas related to that topic in one place
Content Creation
Plan and schedule the articles, newsletters, and social media posts I want to create
Write and edit
I can also connect the research from the knowledge management portion of my system
And more
Menu planning and recipes
Budget tracking
A packing list that I use over and over - just check and uncheck the boxes
A list of places I want to travel to (and a place to collect all the planning info)
Tracking water intake and my yoga practice
I will be turning all this into templates. I have my Complete Notion System up for presale right now. As I work through re-creating the system, I’ll also be selling individual components and sections so that you can get just the pieces you want. I’ll be sharing more about how that is going in my monthly income reports and updates.
Website
A website requires a domain name (the URL) and a hosting provider to be found and used. You can get the URL directly from the hosting company or a separate source. I have done both. Currently, I have one domain with my hosting provider (Siteground) and one separately with Google Domains. There isn’t much difference, except that you can get the first year of the domain registration free the first time you sign up with Siteground (other hosting providers offer similar deals).
Hosting - Siteground
I use Siteground (affiliate link) as my hosting provider. I used to have Bluehost and had no complaints. I moved over to Siteground because I liked the way their plans were structured better. The plan I have (GrowBig) allows me to host as many websites as I want. There is a limit on the total traffic numbers (more people visiting the websites requires more computing power). If I end up with a popular website, I’d have to upgrade my plan, but for now, it fits just right.
Content Management - WordPress & Neve Theme
So you’ve got your domain and your host. Now it’s time to add some content to the website. WordPress is the content system that I use and that Siteground (affiliate link) is designed to use.
(As an aside: There are other content management systems like Squarespace and Wix which are also hosting providers. At first glance, this appears to be the simplest way to go - and many people prefer it. I did try using Squarespace for a while. It was easy to get started and fairly easy to make it look nice. However, there were also simple things that were impossible or complicated to do - like footnotes. Sometimes you need a footnote.)
Once you start setting up your website, you get to pick a theme. WordPress has a new default theme every year and there are tons of free themes available that can be perfectly serviceable.
For my blog, I just used one of the basic WordPress themes. It does the job. However, for my main business website, I wanted something a little more. I wanted a theme that was “lightweight” (meaning it wouldn’t slow my website down) and would help me customize the look of the website. Enter Neve from ThemeIsle. It gives easier access to changing the fonts and setting system colours. It also gives me more options for customizing the layout of the header, footer, and blog page.
Creating Images
Many people use a program called Canva to make their social media posts and other images. I occasionally do as well (there is a free version of the program). However, it is not my go-to. I usually use Google Drawings.
If you go to your Google Drive, you can find Google Drawings under the “new” button.
I prefer Google Drawings to Canva because:
I can use the same font as my website (which is not available in the free Canva version)
I can easily resize images (this is a paid feature in Canva)
I can easily create images with a transparent background (another paid Canva feature)
I can easily link to the file in Notion.
Plus, I just find it more intuitive and quicker to use than Canva.
I also have a program called GIMP. It is a free open-source program that is a lot like photoshop. I just use it to digitize hand-drawn doodles, like the one I use for the Biz&Life newsletter logo. :)
Email Newsletter
If you have a business, you need an email newsletter (or so I’ve heard 😉). You could use substack - which obviously I’ve chosen to do for this purpose here. The benefit of Substack is that is a cross between a blog and a newsletter. People can sign up to receive your posts by email, but they can also just navigate directly to a link.
However, sometimes you want a different experience. In this case, you’ll need to look into an email marking platform. There are a ton out there, I have only used MailChimp and MailerLite (affiliate link).
I started out with MailChimp but I found it to be less user friendly. I have been using the free version of MailerLite for a while now and find that it does what I need it to. I have been very satisfied with MailerLite, which is why I signed up for their affiliate program!
Social Media Management
I use Google Drawings most often to create posts for Instagram, which I also share on my Facebook page.2
The only way I’ve been able to up my game in terms of consistency is by creating the posts ahead of time and scheduling them to go up automatically. Enter Later3. There are two main things I like best about this program.
Edit: As of March 31, 2022, Later only includes 10 posts per month. So I will be looking for a new app. It isn't worth it to me to pay for the service given the tools that I use from them. I’ll update when I find something new that I like better.
Edit 2 (Aug 11/22): Lately, I have been experimenting more with reels and I’ve been just posting directly into Instagram without using a scheduling tool.
First, the visual scheduler. Once I upload the post image, I can drag and drop it on the weekly schedule. You can also just double click on the image and start creating a post, but then you have to remember to change the date and time. Which I have not done multiple times. So this is super helpful.
Second, the link in bio. I love being able to direct people to the link in bio for a new post without having to change the link in the bio. Plus, you can have links from multiple posts. And I love that it uses the post images as thumbnails.
Edit August 11/22: I still love the way that it is laid out - having the actual image that you used for the link is super cool. However, it no longer works for me now that I’m not using Later. I just created a new page on my site that I am directing traffic to (samanthaholmgren.ca/instagram).
Un-Boring Business Coaching and a whole lotta goodness
Wandering Aimfully (WAIM) (affiliate link) is a portal to another world. The coaches Jason and Caroline Zook are kooky in the best possible way. The Slack community is super active and super supportive. They do monthly coaching sessions on just about every topic in business or use their business detecting skills to solve an Unsolved Business. These are case studies of a WAIMer’s (Wandering Aimfully member’s) business.
On top of that, you get access to everything Jason and Caroline have ever made or will make in the future. WAIM Unlimited (affiliate link) is a lifetime program. It’s $2000 and then you never pay them again but you stay in the community and get access to all future versions of it and any new products they create.
Update (Aug 11/22): The fall enrollment for WAIM will be opening up in October! If you are interested in joining, send me an email and I’ll make sure to keep you in the loop!
Electronic Health Record, Group Program, and Video Conferencing
The tools I shared above were ones that any online business owner may find helpful - or even a non-business owner. This one is more niche. As a private practice dietitian, I need a place to securely manage my client’s personal information. I also need a place to be the home for the group program I am developing. Practice Better (affiliate link) can do all of that in one place.
There are a few big names in this space, but Practice Better is one of the biggest. It seems like most dietitians in Canada use Practice Better, myself included. One of the perks is that they have a free version that you can use to set up so you don’t need to pay for it until you’re actually seeing clients. In fact, you can keep 3 client records on that free account so you could get started without paying anything.
Once you do get started, there are a few different plans so you can choose what fits your needs. You can do secure video calls right on the website or in the app or easily connect a Zoom account. You can keep files, videos, host a course, and even have a space for a group chat. Clients can keep food and lifestyle journals and you can turn off calorie counts - which I love. No need to feed that diet culture beast4.
Edit Aug 12/22: I recently signed up for an eFax service. I would have loved to just use the Practice Better fax - keep it all together. But I don’t yet need the higher priced plan for any reason other than the faxing capabilities. So I chose to sign up for a separate eFax service: SRFax.
It is a simple service. You get a fax number that can receive faxes - many health organization still use fax because it is more secure than email. Electronic faxing is basically fancy - secure - email.
With SRFax, I can give a fax number to potential referral sources and they can send me a referral using the process they are most familiar with. I get an email letting me know that I have received a fax and then I have to log into the system (because email is not secure enough to share personal health information).
And voila! I have the name and contact information of a new potential client (along with whatever notes the provider has sent).
At the end of the day...
The tools are important so long as they are useful. But doing the work is what’s important. So long as the tools help you get the work done, they are the right tools. And generally, simpler is better
Be sure to stick around for the first income report next week. I’ll also fill you in on all that’s been going on in Biz & Life. If you found this helpful, please consider leaving a tip or becoming a supporter on Ko-Fi.
Until next week,
-Samantha 💜
SRFax has a referral program and if you’re interested I can send you a direct link to sign up - just let me know!
Facebook hasn’t really been my jam lately, though. I haven’t loved Facebook in a long time, but I used to still like the groups. Lately, though, I haven’t even liked going into Facebook for those. Instagram has been were I’m spending my limited social media energy.
This affiliate link is a little different. I don’t get paid anything for it. However, when you use this link to sign up, you and I will each get 10 additional posts to use that month.
I wrote an article recently about weight-inclusivity that touches on diet culture if you want to follow that tangent further.