EP: 79 - What Virtually Untangled Can’t Live Without …

“Clutter (in all its forms) is nothing more than postponed decisions.” ~ Barbara Hemphill

Welcome to Episode 79:What Virtually Untangled Can’t Live Without …
 
 Who doesn’t love a good solid freebie or downright awesome resource that’s been tried, tested, and true by someone else with virtual street cred! We all love something that helps with our day-to-day that has no frills or little to no cost … a good solid resource to make our business better! And really now, who doesn't love when a business owner shares all their secrets? 

As you all know I’m a giant nerd and a huge keener when it comes to productivity, organization, and creativity. Some may feel it’s a control thing. And I guess in a way it is. But it is so much more than that. These important business elements in our type of entrepreneurial lifestyle can only be beneficial when they help us increase our bottom line … profitability, lower our operational costs … teamwork and automation, improves customer service … social media and our website, reduces burnout and enhances our well-being, and also assists us in optimizing our day-to-day (and sanity) through platforms and resources so we can seize the opportunity for growth and keep #AllTheThings in order. Thus, creating balance.

We all have our own secret stash of favourite productivity tools, programs, and platforms, alongside a trusty list of tips n' tricks that help us organize our to-do lists, manage deliverables, keep our clients happy, our team happy, and make our day more wonderful and productive than the last. But today, there are more tools, apps and programs geared toward business owners than ever. Which sometimes make it impossible to choose without wasting hours researching the “best of the best”.

So, today I thought would be the perfect opportunity to share a mini Digital Glue episode with you of what makes our world, well, go round and our job of "untangling" our clients and ourselves oh so much easier -- with a list of our favourite "can't live without tools"!

Are you ready?
Pop in your awesome earbuds and let's dive in!

Transcript

Who doesn’t love a good solid freebie or downright awesome resource that’s been tried, tested, and true by someone else with virtual street cred! We all love something that helps with our day-to-day that has no frills or little to no cost … a good solid resource to make our business better! And really now, who doesn't love when a business owner shares all their secrets?

As you all know I’m a giant nerd and a huge keener when it comes to productivity, organization, and creativity. Some may feel it’s a control thing. And I guess in a way it is. But it is so much more than that. These important business elements in our type of entrepreneurial lifestyle can only be beneficial when they help us increase our bottom line … profitability, lower our operational costs … teamwork and automation, improves customer service … social media and our website, reduces burnout and enhances our well-being, and also assists us in optimizing our day-to-day (and sanity) through platforms and resources so we can seize the opportunity for growth and keep #AllTheThings in order. Thus, creating balance.

We all have our own secret stash of favourite productivity tools, programs, and platforms, alongside a trusty list of tips n' tricks that help us organize our to-do lists, manage deliverables, keep our clients happy, our team happy, and make our day more wonderful and productive than the last. But today, there are more tools, apps and programs geared toward business owners than ever. Which sometimes makes it impossible to choose without wasting hours researching the “best of the best”.

So, today I thought would be the perfect opportunity to share a mini Digital Glue episode with you of what makes our world, well, go round and our job of "untangling" our clients and ourselves oh so much easier -- with a list of our favourite "can't live without tools"! Because truthfully now, it’s all too easy to get lost and suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome hoping from one piece of tech to the next trying our best to find one that’s fitting and easy on the wallet. Which sometimes gives technology a bad reputation. However, it’s also one of the greatest gifts it ever gave society -- the ability to choose from any and every resource imaginable. With caution of course. 

My team and I truly believe that in business, we shouldn't be sacrificing our time when there's things that exist to make our lives a heck of a lot easier. So, to coincide with the many valuable items inside our virtual Vault on our website, here are Virtually Untangled’s eight go-to things that we use on a daily basis that have absolutely contributed to our success. 

• Asana: Our project management system, our everything!
  
  Let’s face it! There’s an overwhelming amount of information available to us. Just dangling at out fingertips in the virtual world and sometimes it can be really hard (like stupid hard!) to separate the good from the not so good, especially when you’re new to the solo-preneur life. Over the course of your entrepreneurial adventure, you’re guaranteed to visit hundreds of thousands of websites in order to find the answers you need when it comes to productivity and management. And that’s where Asana comes into play.
   
   We’ve dabbled in them all and we’ve always come back home to this gem! Not only because it offers a multitude of ways to get oneself and team organized, but also for the options of free verse paid. This way you’re not “locked in” to yet another plan for a platform that can truly save your business, and your sanity.
   
   We use this platform in a multitude of ways, but mainly to get our projects set and keep them on track, and also to get our goals in order and ensure they don’t fall off to the wayside. Even if just to type them into a section of the platform to not be lost or forgotten. This platform helps us set the stage for what’s to come … we can set up projects with all the details, create assignments for all who need to participate, add assets, have conversations, and keep things on track with structured timelines. To keep things short, Asana is all about skyrocketing your productivity without the extra effort.
   
   
• LastPass: Our vault and safe keeper of #AllThings passwords.
  
  For those of you managing all your accounts and passwords, plus the millions for all your client’s, things can get a bit sticky-icky and all the characters begin to run together. So, consider LastPass your saving grace as it’s not only great for organizing all your accounts and passwords into folders, but it also helps you make your passwords stronger with the password consistency checker and secure master password. The LastPass Vault has truly made our lives a million trillion times easier and helps us be more efficient and work quicker. No more stumbling to remember anymore passwords. No more security issues sharing the details on other platforms. Everyone and everything are kept safe inside their virtual vault – which is priority #1 for us. And …nothing is ever forgotten, because we all know how frustrating it can be to forget a password and try to get it reset. This space is an all safe one-and-done!
   
   
• Loom: Our saving grace for making communicating easier!
   
  We take communication very seriously – it’s part of our “untangling” ways. And we know not everyone absorbs information in just one way. So, that’s where this handy-dandy tool comes into play … instead of the same ‘ol boring detail-oriented emails, give video communication a try!
   
   In today's world, being virtual is not just all the rage but necessary. With this online platform you can capture, narrate, and instantly share videos to communicate with your clients, customers, and team members faster, clearer, more efficiently, and friendlier. With its one-click to record, one-click to finish and a publicly shareable URL automatically copied to your clipboard, Loom is truly the life-altering way we virtually communicate. They make video communication not only easy, but fun!
   
   
• PromoRepublic: Our social savviness time-saver! 
  
  It seems everywhere you turn these days; you hear more and more about social-media-this and social-media-that. Many people we know are constantly asking, “Is social media something I have to do?” My answer is this … when properly leveraged, social media is a powerful business tool. In reality, it’s not really a “necessary evil” but more of a necessary business asset for establishing, managing and marketing your brand, voice, and vision. Most business owners exhaust themselves working super hard to been seen on social. But it doesn’t have to be that way …  whether you are looking for some fresh ways to get social to help your brand or you haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon, this is the platform you truly need in your life.
   
  You can connect a multitude of social spaces. You can pre-schedule all the posts you want to go out all at one time – or when you have time. You can even put them into play “evergreen style” with an array of repeat options. You can look up special days or strategy ideas in their “ideas” sections. You can create posts and save them for later. You can even create post graphics in a similar way to how Canva works. And their support team … oh my goodness are they GREAT! And fast to assist! In short, this is in a way an all-in-one for all your social media needs. And what we truly truly love about it even more than all we already mentioned … You can create workspaces for different teams -- which in our case is by client. This way everyone’s social goodies aren’t all mashed up into one calendar. They are each separated into their own. Which makes things much more efficient!
   
   
• Toggl: Our time tracking sanity system.
  
  We want to know where our time goes. And so do our tangled client since they’re paying us to do the hard work. And that’s where this awesome platform comes into play … Toggle is the simplest time tracker to help you get things done. Did I forget to mention it's free? Well, it is -- great bonus and ideal for start-ups, teams, solo-preneurs, and agencies. You can track your hours with a single click and learn where you spend your time. This way you can figure out how to best utilize it going forward. And … see the hours spent on various projects, mini tasks, and client contracts at a glance -- or dig deeper into details with visual reports. This platform as a whole will help you get a more accurate picture of how profitable your projects and clients really are.
   
   
• Adobe Suite and Canva: Our visual vivifying tools to live by!
  
  There are a few things in this world that make a good design look highly unprofessional such as common or crappy images, alongside poorly cropped n’ clipped ones -- just to name a few things that put good designs to shame! There are oh so many resources available right at your very fingertips to prevent this. So, there’s no excuse for bad visuals … That’s just plain laziness! 
   
   Design projects may have pitfalls. And these pitfalls can impede progress or even possibly derail the entire project. So, please, for the love of your brand and the face of your business, spend some extra time and be patient with your visual selections -- and get it right. And if you feel stuck or like you are not getting the results, you’re hoping to achieve these two platforms can lend a hand.
   
   For the DIYers or need a design quick flyers, Canva is the ultimate virtual template-based design tool which has an easy to use drag-and-drop interface and provides access to over a million photographs, graphics, fonts, logos, colour theme pickers, and more! I feel their best feature is the pre-set sizes, if you're working on something specific you don't have to waste time hunting for the "new" social size. So, whether you’re a pro or just beginning your design journey, this resource has everything you need. They also have a few extra fun areas with ready-made templates and a pro feature section.
   
   Now … for the design pros, Adobe should be your go-to space. This place allows you to work with a blank slate. For those unfamiliar and without the training, Adobe isn’t quite as straightforward or intuitive as Canva. And while you can definitely teach yourself how to use the programs in this suite, you’ll need some tutorials and online courses to get you there.
   
   Adobe’s home screen is similar to Canva, you’ll be given prompt to take a ‘quick action’ from one of the presets. But it’s oh so much more than that … you can design a logo or a photo collage or an eGuide -- without restrictions. Warm up a cool image in a snap. Edit a podcast episode or a social video or even a Blockbuster movie. Whatever you want to create, Adobe has the tools within their suite to make it amazing. We prefer the main guts … InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Spark, and Audition. But the list of platforms to add to your personalized suite, for one solid price is endless …!

• GoogleDrive: Our sacred share all Cloud space!
  
  Motivation dies within 5 seconds of postponing. Not only should you try to tackle things right away, but these “things” should be put in their place. This will save you time and energy because you won’t constantly be searching for things and you will be able to easily differentiate between things you need and things that are just plain ‘ol in your way, thus keeping your clutter to a minimum. And in the business-world … the less clutter the better!
   
   It’s true, you really don’t need fancy products to help you get your act together. And keep it together. Boost your productivity by creating a system which can be based on a simple yet essential cornerstone of success. Through organization!
   
   For team VU it’s all about easy and secure access to store, share and collaborate on files and folders from any device. Plus, an added bonus that it has built-in protections against malware spam and ransomware -- win-win!
   

Well, that’s all for today folks!

Just think of this mini list as an all-you-can-“eat” tech buffet!

It’s our hope that these resources help you find some solace and assist you with some bigger decisions to begin gaining some headway into a clutter-free work life. You know, the one you’ve always dreamed of that feels mere inches away …

So, for more resources beyond this list of the basics, pop by our Vault! There you will discover an orderly list (because we’re just too nerdy to do it any other way) of our absolute favourite just-can’t-live-without resources and freebies. Things to help you simplify your business, platforms to help you get organized in the Cloud, places to help you get savvy with your socials, ways to be visually vivifying, typography sites, compact platform options, tried, tested and true WordPress plug-ins, places to become more addicted to knowledge and create growth, and last but not least some good reads from our team.

We wanted to make your life easier and save you some time by researching, playing, testing, and discovering #AllTheThings and places for you. So, dive on and get yourself, well … “untangled”!