Running an online business isn’t easy. Client work, marketing, accounting… There’s just so much to do!
We all struggle to stay on top of things from time to time. What really helped me was realizing that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are tools out there for pretty much everything. So why not just use them?
Here are 6 tools that will make running your online business a little bit easier.
#1 Heroic WordPress FAQs
Customer support can be a huge time sink if you don’t manage it properly. It all starts with a few emails here and there. Then the next thing you know is you are spending several hours each day answering the same questions over and over again!
Fortunately, this is not only predictable, but also easily avoidable. Analyze the queries you are getting, identify the most common issues, and create an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on your website. You can easily do it with this WordPress FAQ Plugin. That way, people will be able to look for the answers themselves, and only reach out to you if they fail to find them.
#2 Lorem Ipsum
Are you creating websites for your clients? If so, you already know how important the placeholder text is, and how annoying it is to write it from scratch. You don’t need to do it anymore, though!
You can simply use this lorem ipsum generator to create the placeholder text for you. Neat, right?
#3 4k Stogram
When you upload your photos and videos to Instagram, do you keep copies of those files on your hard drive, or do you simply trust Instagram to store it all for you?
The reality is that keeping all your photos and videos on Instagram without backing them up is a really bad idea. Think about it. What would happen if your Instagram account would get hacked? You would lose access to everything on it!
That’s why backups are so important. With 4k Stogram, you can download all your photos and videos to your hard drive. What if you want to download instagram story? You can do that, too! Keep all your Instagram data safe!
#4 NovoResume
Let’s keep it real. The vast majority of online businesses fail. The harsh truth is that odds are your business will fail as well. What conclusions should you draw from that?
No, it doesn’t mean that you should give up, all it means is that you should have a plan B, just in case.
Your resume should always be ready and up to date (use these resume templates to make it look professional and visually appealing). You never know when you might need it!
#5 Apptivo
When you are an employee, your employer does all the accounting, all you have to do is show up to work.
However, when you are an entrepreneur you have to take care of accounting yourself, and not issuing proper invoices might lead to delay in payments and tax problems.
So get serious about it. Use Apptivo Complete Invoicing solution to create and issue beautiful, professional looking invoices. It will make your life easier in the long run!
#6 Depositphotos
When you run an online business, you always need images, and lots of them. There is your homepage, there are your blogposts, there are your marketing materials. But where can you get high-quality, professional photos for an affordable price?
Stock photography websites are the best solution for that. You can use Depositphotos services to find the photos that you need (they have 80 million of them!). And it only costs $29/month for 30 photos!
Conclusion
As a business owner, you should always be on a lookout for ways to make your life easier (it’s hard enough as it is!).
So, again, stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Whatever it is that you are trying to do, chances are there is a tool for that, and with it you’ll be able to do it better. So don’t hesitate to use those tools!
