Imagine trying to run an online business and simultaneously riding a unicycle while juggling a host of flaming torches. Crazy, right? That’s the stimulating yet demanding experience running an online business comes with. However, everything becomes easier with the right productivity resources. Productivity tools can serve as your safety net, enabling you to optimize processes while meaningfully saving time. In this article, we discuss transformative tech solutions that automate, enhance, and streamline collaboration and workflow, alongside some personal anecdotes for fun.
Automate Responsibly: Advantages of Working Smarter, Not Harder
It can be easily agreed upon that the most mundane and exhausting activities, such as updating a form or sending an email, repetitively consume precious energy. Guess what the secret is to freeing up time while still completing all business tasks effectively? You guessed it right—automation. Tools that deal with business automation help avoid irrelevant work, helping one recharge their focus. Consider Zapier, for example, which has an app that connects to other tools in a bid to automate workflows. Providing endless possibilities, Zapier syncs customer data from the CRM into their email marketing platform and uses it as an elegant automation solution. IFTTT works on the same logic, helping you create applets to automate a series of tasks such as instantly posting updated articles onto social media.
Automation does not directly rid the hassle of tough decisions, but last time I checked, it does make everything infinitely simpler. That is by freeing users from mundane yet relevant activities. A little while ago, I had to devote a half day of my life just to complete the task of manually shifting form responses to the Google spreadsheet of the client’s webinar. Suddenly I discovered I could build a situation where my flailing hands had no admin duties by setting up zaps in Zapier’s interface, and with minimal effort I used my free time for more strategically important decisions. Automation doesn’t just do the job ‘quicker’; it sets the user free.
Monitor Time To Improve Work Productivity
Time is one of our most precious resources. Time tracking tools, such as those provided by Controlio, can give you insights for optimizing the way you and your team spend time, identifying time wasting activities. Tools like Controlio generate reports, which makes billing for clients and adjusting project timelines simple.
As a freelancer, I never really paid attention to how much time I spent doing tasks. This set my pricing expectations far too high. Once I started tracking time, I realized how much time I allocated to revisions. This led to major changes in my planning process to define clear expectations and goals for revisions. The project profits soared from there. At the end of the day, I discovered that time tracking is all about shifting your paradigm—it gives you freedom.
Prevent Overlapping: Enhance Team Collaboration
Managing an online business often involves working with various remote teams, so collaborative tools become a necessity. Slack and Asana are best known for uniting conversations and cultivating task management and research-laden email silos. The live chats are fluid in Slack, while gluing tasks in place is done by Asana’s task boards, ensuring everyone knows the next step.
There was a time at my company when coordinating a product launch was challenging due to differing time zones. Deadlines were missed, and emails were lost in the shuffle. Once we transitioned to Asana, which provided a shared workspace where we could both monitor deadlines and track tasks, the problem was remedied. Slack also helped enhance our conversation flow. What was the result? The launch went off without a hitch, and the team felt more in sync than ever. For remote teams, collaboration aids turn disorder into order.
CRM Power: Build Stronger Customer Relationships
Keeping clients happy and generating leads is made easy with customer relationship management software (CRM) tools such as HubSpot and Salesforce. These tools streamline customer data management and guarantee that no follow-up opportunities slip by. In addition, their analytics capabilities allow refinement of advertisement strategies.
I used to take random sticky note client notes, which, in hindsight, was catastrophic. Everything changed when I adopted a CRM. I became capable of viewing every interaction with clients, setting follow-up reminders, and making outreach personalized. One client remarked how impressed they were with how “on top of things” I seemed, which helped seal a long-term contract. Trust is built by a good CRM, and data organization is simply a bonus.
Used to Automation: Optimize Your Work Tools, Write, and Transform How You Work.
Productivity tools are almost like the perfect business playlist for your company. Be it automating tasks using Zapier, tracking time using Controlio, managing clients with a CRM, or collaborating via Slack, all these tools enable focus on business growth and development other than the usual repetitive tasks. As a freelancer, I was all over the place, but becoming an organized entrepreneur taught me how far even small tweaks and improvements to technology can yield amazing results. Start with one tool geared towards your most painful problem. Test the tool and scale your targets. What single task would you pay for just to have simplified? Pick a tool, try it out, and watch how it changes the value of your business.