It seems Tracy is everywhere all the time as she works tirelessly for her Small Business Milwaukee clients and its ever-growing network. To help her stay organized, communicate better, create websites, and generate social media content, she uses a lot of different tools as she travels around. You might say her dashboard is full of bells and whistles.
Here are some of the online tools that help keep her on track:
• Divi (Websites)
• Zoom (Communication)
• Mailchimp (Communication)
• Canva (Social Media Content)
• Todoist (Organization)
• Evernote (Organization)
• ClickUp (Organization)
• HoneyBook (Organization)
How does she find these tools? What determines which ones she’ll use? (As she says, “Wherever there’s one tool, there’s ten more just like it.)
“There are specific tools for specific functions, and some tools do not do all the functions.” That’s why, Tracy explains, she needs multiple tools. Furthermore, no two projects are ever the same, so why expect one tool to accomplish everything?
In general, she begins searching online for the next best tool when a situation/problem arises and her current arsenal doesn’t quite meet her needs. Could something else do a better job? That’s the question she asks herself just before she launches her search.
Just as importantly, a tool, Tracy says, has to “meet the emotion.” Here’s what she means
“Let’s take Todoist. If I use that app improperly, I will feel bombarded and like the tool is making me do so much more work and I’ll never get anything done. But if I use it in a way that allows me to check everything off every day, then I feel accomplished and, emotionally, I feel successful. So, if you don’t use the tool properly, it can make it feel like it’s making your life worse instead of better. And so you have to figure out not only how to fill the need with the app, but how to use the app properly.”
“Typically,” she adds, “most tools have a free version that you can test run or they’ll have something like a 30-day money back guarantee or a 14-day free trial.”
Implicit in her process is that she’s works with tools long enough to know that there could be an easier and faster way of doing the tasks at hand. It should also be said that Tracy has no fear of learning new things.
What about you? What are some of your favorite tools? Is your dashboard full or do you drive blindly? If you’d like some expert advice and tips on how to find the right tools for what you’re doing, give Tracy a call at 414.403.7288. Many times it helps to talk things out before launching something new.