No matter what stage you’re at in business, as a service provider especially, you know how ridiculously valuable it is to find resources and tools for small business owners that help you save loads of time, that you enjoy using, and don’t cost you a fortune.

(And there are definitely some duds that end up being more stress (and money) than they’re worth!)

Whether you’re a brand designer, virtual assistant, or really any type of online service provider, these tools are my tried-and-true go-tos for small businesses across all kinds of industries.

(Disclaimer: This blog post may contain affiliate links and in clicking I may receive a cheeky commission. I would never promote anything I don’t truly love and use for myself and recommend to my own clients.)

Keep reading for golden recommendations for tools—from CRM automations to project management to email marketing.

The best tools for delivering a 5-star client experience

1. Dubsado

Dubsado CRM (customer relationship management) is the best client management system in the world. (And you couldn’t change my mind if you tried.) It’s what I help my clients set up so they can send out automatic emails, contracts, proposals, schedule calls with clients, handle invoicing, and more.

And this helps my clients (and me, because of course, I also use Dubsado) save dozens of hours every single month. Why? Well, because they no longer have to chase down payments, send reminder emails about questionnaires, or spend a million years onboarding and offboarding clients manually.

Plus, instead of having to have a Calendly for scheduling, a different software for invoicing, AND a system that can send out proposals and contracts, your Dubsado CRM can do it all:

• Enquiry form that can be embedded onto your beautiful website
• Automated workflows (like immediate onboarding or welcome emails after a client signs and pays their initial invoice)
• Scheduling meetings directly with your calendar (that can integrate with your main Google or Apple calendar)
• Keeping track of which stage your client project is currently in
• Invoicing and bookkeeping
• On-brand templates (questionnaires, proposals, and more)
• Canned emails
• And more

Not only does it make your life easier by having so many things you need all in one place, but it also makes your clients’ experience better because every step in your process is streamlined.

While Dubsado can take a little time to learn, there are so many amazing paid resources out there to help you DIY it:

• Like my Dubsado mini course that teaches you how to get your Dubsado up and running
• Or my Dubsado Workflow Blueprint guide that shows you how to set up 3 ridiculously important workflows
• Or my email templates for service providers that give you 60+ emails you can copy and paste into your Dubsado so you don’t have to write them all out yourself

If you’re looking for free resources for DIYing it, check out these blog posts:

• The Ultimate Guide to Dubsado: The Best CRM for Creatives
• Start Setting Up Your Dubsado CRM with these 8 Easy Things
• Dubsado Canned Email Templates 101: The What, Why, and How
• Dubsado Workflow Tutorials: Set Up an Automated Enquiry Workflow

And if you’re looking for a Dubsado specialist to do it all for your, I’d love to help.

2. Showit

A good client experience starts before someone is ever your client—and most of the time one of the first interactions someone has with you happens on your website. And that means you want a damn good website.

Which is why, as a website designer, I recommend Showit—a drag-and-drop website platform that small business owners, specifically, creative small business owners are going crazy for because you can design the most beautiful websites without battling with WordPress themes or impossible-to-understand coding.

It’s easy to design, optimize for mobile, integrates with WordPress—the best platform for blogging—and is great for SEO. And the websites are gorgeous. (Showit is what my website is built on!)

(And if you want my complete, and completely honest review about what you’ll love and hate when it comes to Showit, read this blog post.)

The best online tools for improving productivity and project management

1. Notion

Notion is one of the most popular project management tools for small business owners because it’s ridiculously easy to use and has endless customisations. (And if you use it for client management, you can integrate it with Zapier, to have things happen automatically in Notion after something happens in your CRM. Like a new client folder being created after receiving an enquiry.)

You can also Notion to assign tasks to team members, create to-do lists for clients, and see all of your projects in one place as they move down the pipeline.

But another reason Notion is so beloved is that you can use it for planning out your own business tasks and personal stuff, too. Whether you want a way to organise all of your content ideas and want to map out your personal goals for the year, Notion has a template and space for everything.

2. Trello

Trello is another great tool for project management and like Notion, it can be used for so many things. Whether you want to track projects, create social media content, or organise the stages of a client’s current project, the possibilities are endless.

And if you’re a visual person, using Trello might be a bit easier than using Notion because you can create “Boards” (from scratch or using a template), make lists within those boards, and have team members comment directly within that Trello board.

(Plus, you can assign due dates, reminders, tasks, and more!)

The best online tools for online marketing

1. Flodesk

If you want to start building your email list (which is so important given that your email list is actually an owned list of prospects and not a bunch of Instagram followers that could be lost at any moment!)…

You’ll love Flodesk because it’s the best tool for small business owners when it comes to email marketing.

With Flodesk, you can:

• Segment your audience (for example: freebie downloaders vs. waitlist for services)
• Set up automated email workflows (so your freebie downloaders gets your freebie right away)
• Keep an eye on your analytics so you know which emails to edit based on when you’re getting the most unsubscribes
• Send out emails out the most optimal times
• Integrate with other business tools (like Dubsado!)
• And my favourite thing… actually make your emails look good

Flodesk makes it easy to turn your emails into on-brand, beautifully designed messages which can’t be said for other email service providers, some of whom make it ridiculously hard to edit anything.

(And when you use this link, you’ll get 50% off your first YEAR.)

The best online tools for selling digital products

1. ThriveCart

ThriveCart is what I used to create, store, and sell all of my digital products (like my Dubsado mini course, my canned email templates, and my Workflow Blueprint).

Overall:

• It’s pretty easy to set up
• You can customize the check out pages and the student portal to match your branding
• Customers/students are able to find things ridiculously easy
• And you can connect it to your email service provider (like Flodesk!) to send buyers welcome emails and other workflow emails, using a 3rd party integration app like Zapier

Plus, you don’t have to deal with monthly subscription fees because ThriveCart gives you the option to make one payment for a lifetime account.

I hope this list gave you a good idea of what online tools for small business owners are actually worth it, and if you’re still wanting help with getting your business streamlined…

Check out my services for website design and Dubsado setups.