(Some posts on my website contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission for purchases made through that link. But just so you know, I only ever share products, services + tools that I absolutely love and would recommend to a client and use in my own business.)
I know what it’s like to know that you need to run a business. You have a gift for inspiring, motivating + healing people, so you opened shop as a coach, healer or light worker, but it can be really overwhelming! Running a business has a lot of moving parts, right?? You’re feeling called to make this happen, but you’re getting bogged down in the day-to-day. There’s so much that you don’t know, and you’re losing confidence in making this thing happen.
First, let me simplify things for you. All you really need to worry about is perfecting your service and getting clients. You can easily hit 1-2K months just focusing on that - so if you’re feeling super overwhelmed, my advice is to simplify. Just focus on getting clients one or two ways, booking those clients, and giving them the best service you can. You can do this over FB messenger or Instagram DM & have them pay via PayPal. Make it easy for yourself.
But when you’re ready for growth, it’s time to introduce systems that make selling, booking, and marketing your business easy - all while treating it like a real business. Like I said, if you’re just starting, by all means - get some money in the door + keep it simple. That’s always your #1 priority.
If 10K months are you goal, however, it’s time to get the robots to start doing some work for you. Here are my favourite tools + systems for you to try out in your business if you’re ready to set yourself up for growth.
BOOKKEEPING SOFTWARE
Listen, babe - if you want your business to make more money, it’s time to start paying attention to the money coming in + going out of your business! It’s really important to be keeping track of your business expenses, your money coming in, what is selling really well + what needs work. Even if you don’t LOVE what you learn, if you don’t start opening your eyes to your finances, you’ll really struggle to attract wealth into your business + life.
Don’t wait until you think you’re ready. Start tracking your money, honey! If you close your eyes + try to ignore it, how are you showing the universe that you’re ready for more?
(Spoiler - you’re not.)
The bookkeeping software that I use + love is Freshbooks. I’m not going to lie, Freshbooks is gorgeous - like Instagram gorgeous. I used to use it + love it, but I recently went back to it and it’s been a game changer. Freshbooks makes me excited to manage my money. Not only that, but it’s super easy to send receipts to your clients AND they can pay by credit card when you collect payments right in the software! It’s a little more of an investment (about $30/monthly) but if you’re able to use it + it simplifies your life in a substantial way, I’d consider it money well spent. If you’d like to check it out, you can right here + get your first 30 days free!
I also want to highlight something new that Freshbooks is rolling out this month - it’s called ACH payments. It stands for Automated Clearing House payments - but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that ACH payments are here to make your business easier to run, easier to sell with + easier to get paid. When you use ACH payments, you get your funds deposited directly into your bank - meaning that the whole process to payment is faster AND easier for your clients. There’s only a 1% transaction fee (that’s a seriously low rate, my friends) and it’s a total game changer if you’re looking to invest in a tool that simplifies your business while making it easier to make money.
It’s seriously a no-brainer feature. I know there are a lot of tools out there that you can invest in, but if you’re just starting out + you want to make more space in your life, imagine if you could create invoices, recurring payments, accept credit cards, get paid out automatically and essentially completely automate that side of your business. Now, imagine you’re doing that on a gorgeous, clean interface that you actually enjoy using.
WHAT?
I’ve got to let you know, though, that if you’re outside of America, you don’t have ACH payments (yet). As a Canadian, I'm really looking forward to having that feature available to me, but don’t get me wrong! Even if you don’t have ACH payments yet, FreshBooks is still a no-brainer. It will simultaneously up level your online business (by encouraging you to pay attention to your money + to make you excited when you actually start checking in to manage it), it will make it so much faster to get paid by your clients (send them an invoice using a super simple template that’s customized to your brand + accept credit card payments like it’s no big deal!) AND you get to do all this with a super simple software that makes it super easy.
If you’d like to jump in and try it out for free for 14 days, you can sign up here!
EMAIL MARKETING SOFTWARE
Hear me out - you probably need email marketing in your business. Growing an email list is the #1 indicator of health in your business for one BIG reason: it doesn’t matter if your business has a million followers - you don’t own your social media followers. At any time, the algorithm could change (it’s happened before), you could get hacked (seriously), or the social media companies could make a change (like charging have your posts reach your followers) - and if you’re relying on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn to get your clients, you really have no backup plan for when things inevitably go into another direction.
Enter: email lists! An email list is a list of followers that have shared their email with you in exchange for a “freebie” (usually a helpful PDF). Here’s the thing: you own it. That is an asset that you own, and if you sell your company, you can sell your email list too (not that I’m suggesting it). Another good thing to note is that a healthy email list converts at 3-5% - which means that if you email 100 engaged people on your email list, on average, 3-5 will buy.
The number of people on your email list in the online business industry roughly reflects your monthly income - so if you have 60 people on your list, you’ll likely make around $60/month from your list. If you balance emails with marketing on social media + other forms of outreach, you can even grow way beyond that point - your email list will simply be a healthy baseline.
Starting your email list is simple - you just need software. The two biggies are Mailchimp + Convertkit. Mailchimp is the free option, perfect for someone who’s getting started with email lists. You can create landing pages for people to sign up for your list, email your list + use some templates to customize it, but I’m not going to lie, it’s not my favourite. It’s a little bit clunky + difficult to use, especially if you’re at the point where you’re looking to sort your audience, automate your newsletters + learn more about the interests of each client. However, if you’re completely new to email marketing, I’d suggest Mailchimp to get started, get your first 100 or so followers, and then migrate them over to a software that’s easier to use, like ConvertKit.
ConvertKit is my favourite next step for online business owners. Once you’ve gotten into the habit of collecting emails + emailing your list regularly (at LEAST once every two weeks) - then it’s time to upgrade. With ConvertKit, you can separate + tag your subscribers super easily, you can send newsletters to your whole list, small sections, or anywhere in between, and you can create automations that make sure that your audience is getting the most relevant stuff from you at all times.
I’d suggest that you pick a software to get started with, either Mailchimp or ConvertKit, think of a simple download you can quickly create that your audience will LOVE, and use the trainings that come with each software to connect it to your email list. You’ll learn how to make a landing page to share this download with your people, and share it on all your socials, in FB groups, wherever you can!
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
I know that the to-do list of an entrepreneur can seem never-ending - and your reminders app on your phone probably gave up ages ago. The fact is, to keep your content fiery, your business running smoothly + your head on smoothly, you need something that keeps your head in the game. That’s where project management software comes in - you create “projects” in each software, and separate the task lists for each project. You can set due dates for each task, view your upcoming due dates on a calendar, and keep control of your schedule.
My favourite options are Asana + Trello. I enjoy Asana’s interface + functionality a little bit more, but I use Trello simply because it has a desktop app for Mac users. Asana makes it easy to separate projects into lists, but that functionality also exists within Trello - so don’t worry. Asana has soft pink + white branding (which I’m obsessed with) and while Trello is blue, it’s easy to change your background photos for each project into whatever you’d like.
I’d suggest checking out Trello + Asana’s website, seeing which one you’d like better, and giving it a shot. You don’t have to make a lifelong commitment, but it’s definitely a lot easier to make a decision on project management after using them for a period of time. Try them out + pick your favourite, that’s what I did!
SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULING SOFTWARE
I know that email lists are important, but social media is still a sales powerhouse. Keeping your business off of social media is leaving money on the table, simple as that - but I know how much time it can suck up. If you’re trying to run a business, posting manually to your instagram isn’t always an option, and it’s usually time that should be spent on other points in your business - so it’s time to stop writing your posts on the fly. By using a social media scheduling software, you’re able to be more strategic about what you’re posting + when, you’re able to plan your content around your sales and launches more easily, and most importantly - you can sit down for an hour + write a week’s worth of posts. Doing your work in batches is a major game changer for your productivity, so sit down + write a weeks worth of posts at once, then you don’t have to worry about it!
The social media scheduler that i use + love is Later. It’s meant for Instagram, but you can also use it to schedule Facebook posts! I love it because it’s free, it allows me to upload a bunch of pictures at once, and I can autopost it straight to my Instagram without doing anything. It’s been a big part of streamlining my business + it makes curating my feed so much easier!
SCHEDULING SOFTWARE
This is great if you work with clients who need to meet with you - scheduling software allows you to upload your availability + have your clients book meetings with you at a time that works for them, completely eliminating the emailing back + forth to find a good time. Not only does it make it easier for me to schedule my coaching client calls - but it also helps me to keep my calendar organized + my boundaries set. I’m able to clearly list my availability so that my clients + customers have lots of options before they ask me to extend my hours - and since I have it synced to my google calendar, when someone books a call I’m able to quickly look at my calendar + see what time, even if I’m on the go and I only have one phone.
There are two major players here - Calendly + Acuity. They both have great free plans, but if you need some more functionality (like accepting payment to book calls) - their monthly pricing is under $20/month. Check out either option, make the most of those free trials + see what you like best!
So, there we have it - the Soulful Entrepreneur Business Tool Kit. Because, let’s face it, growing your business doesn’t have to be hard. These systems can really help you move the needle + simplify your business, which means you can get things running in less time, work less, and find more balance in your life. Putting these systems in place not only makes your whole business look more legit to your customers, but doing this upfront work will feel like a major up level in your business. Go ahead, implement these tools + let me know how it goes in the comments!
