When it comes to running a successful online business and supporting my business mentorship clients, I’m all about keeping things as simple and straightforward as possible.

To help keep things smooth sailing for both my clients and the back-end of my business, there are several software programs and online tools that I use on a regular basis. The main thing that I love about these programs is that they save me time and energy, help to keep me organized and bring a level of professionalism to my business. Many of them are quite affordable while some are more of an investment, but after trying and testing several different options these are the ones I’ve settled on.

Read on to find out which programs I can’t live without!

1. Invoicing and Bookkeeping

Over the years I’ve used different bookkeeping and accounting software but I primarily made the switch to Wave because of its ability to accept payments within the software itself.

Clients can store a credit card on file for automatic invoicing or pay manually with a credit card or bank transfer. It also easily syncs with my business bank accounts to automatically import expenses and provides incredibly customizable invoicing options.

I love that I can set up recurring invoices on custom schedules, as well as add terms and conditions that clients must agree to before paying. Overall I’m super happy that I made the switch!

2. Client Appointments and Scheduling

I use Acuity to schedule and manage client sessions and while I enjoy a lot of the software that I use in my business, this might be one of my favourites!

I love that it’s super user-friendly (a common theme) and affordable; it allows me to set an ongoing schedule of my availability but also customize specific days; it syncs with my appointments and availability with my iphone/Mac calendar; clients can book their own appointments based on my availability or I can book them in; I have the ability to create various appointment types and have a custom scheduling link for each; I can customize different intake forms and confirmation emails; it has the ability to accept payments through Stripe and PayPal and it even has additional features like options to create buffers and minimize blocks between appointments.

It’s a program that I recommend to a lot of my clients because it’s so simple yet versatile.

3. Graphic Design

I say this with love, but unless you’ve been living under a rock (or maybe brand new to the online business world, in which case - welcome!) you’re probably already using Canva to create graphic design elements, collateral and digital products for your business.

I use Canva pretty much every. single. day. to create social media content, slides and digital products like eBooks and PDF’s.

I love that it’s a super user-friendly and affordable way to create gorgeous and professional graphic design elements, there are endless amounts of templates and versatility to create anything you can imagine, it is easily customizable (you can even save your branding colours and fonts in a Branding Kit for easy access!) and endless access to modern and on-trend photos, imagery, fonts, GIFs, animations, videos - you name it.

4. Documents and File Storage

I know this is another one that probably doesn’t come as a surprise, but if you’re not using Google Drive and its myriad of applications you’re totally missing out.

I use Google Drive for creating and sharing documents, intake forms and questionnaires, file storage, spreadsheets and more.

What I love about it is that it’s super user-friendly (like I said - this is a common theme) and the file storage helps free up space on my desktop. I also like using it for client work because it’s easy to share documents for others to view, edit, add suggestions and save their own copy, etc.

5. Online Courses and Membership Community

Kajabi is the online platform that I use to house my online courses and membership community and it’s a total powerhouse.

It’s a higher investment than some of the other options out there but after trying two other platforms I decided to switch to Kajabi for the incredibly seamless user experience, the ease of creating new products and uploading content, the ability to house both online courses and a membership (along with various pricing and billing options), the option to customize and add terms and agreements at checkout, the easy-to-use affiliate portal and the ability to create landing pages, sales funnels and upsells.

I’ve been using it for about a year and a half now and am super happy with it. I do wish the email capabilities were a little more robust and user-friendly, but the other aspects are so great that I’m happy to stick with it.

6. Email Service Provider

I use ConvertKit as my email service provider and although it’s not necessarily my favourite software that I use (I wish it were easier to create pretty templates - I am who I am lol), I use it on a regular basis and it gets the job done.

I’ve been using it for almost two years and while I’m still learning about what it’s fully capable of, it does have incredible back-end analytics, the ability to create landing pages and email sequences, tags and segments and it’s easy enough to use.

7. Project Management

I started using Click-Up last year with my Virtual Assistant to map out our workflows and outline who was responsible for completing which tasks.

Since then, I’ve started using it to stay organized with onboarding and off-boarding my 1-1 mentorship clients, along with other daily/weekly/monthly tasks in my business.

Admittedly what I currently use it for is only the tip of the iceberg of what it’s capable of, but nonetheless it’s incredibly helpful and I look forward to exploring it even more.

8. Client Communication

I use Voxer (a voice-note and direct messaging app) to keep my client communication separate and organized in one go-to place. This allows me to easily set and maintain boundaries so I can be intentional and present with my client communication.

9. Legal Contracts

As I mentioned before I often embed my client terms and agreements within my invoices or during the checkout process for my online courses and membership, but when I need to send a standalone contract such as a disclosure agreement for guest experts inside the Heart-Based Business Community, I use HelloSign.

This software allows me to easily upload my contract, obtain a legally-binding electronic signature and maintain a digital copy of the contract.

10. Video Conferencing

Last but not least - where would be all be these past couple of years without Zoom!?

I’ve actually been using Zoom for several years now dating back to my network marketing days, but they’ve definitely come out with several updates and improvements over the years. I like that you can easily record and download the recordings (along with a MP3 file), which I then upload to the resource sections for my membership and group programs.

In addition to using it for all of my client sessions and group calls, I’ve also used it to record videos for my online courses.

I know this may seem like a lot of various programs (I was surprised when I went through and realized I relied on at least 10 different ones!), but believe it or not they all serve a different purpose and add more flow and simplicity to my business.

Do you use any of these programs? Do you have any questions about them?

DM me on Instagram and let me know! xx

My Tech Toolbox: Transform Your Business With These Digital Tools