Small business software that powers my business on autopilot.

Contracts

Ensuring your business or nonprofit is legally protected should be among your highest priorities. To make it easy, my friends at The Contract Shop have you covered (pun intended!) Their best-sellers include Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy templates, Graphic and Web Designer bundles, and Stock Photography Contract Templates. Access all the best-sellers right here and protect your organization.

Stock Photography & Video

I found the Styled Stock Photography subscription a couple of years ago, and I’ve been a fan ever since! What I love about the Styled Stock Photography membership is that I get unlimited stock photos organized by theme or collection, and they are all cohesive, so my projects don’t look mismatched! They also have an extensive Canva template library that’s included, as well as stock videos, too! It’s really reasonable (just $75 per quarter), and it’s my primary source for stock photography!

If you’re creating professional video content and need royalty-free music, I recommend Videvo. They offer free stock videos and royalty-free music for both personal and commercial use and have a great selection.

Content Writing / Editing

I highly recommend Grammarly Premium for your content writing/editing for any project. I pride myself on being a good writer, and even I have improved with Grammarly’s help. The premium subscription is worth every penny, and it’s loaded with extra features. You can read this post about Grammarly Premium and then get your own Grammarly subscription here.

Design work

Canva Pro continues to outshine the competition and be a go-to resource for all things design. From designing templates for my Nonprofit Template Shop to creating client social media graphics, lead magnets, ebooks, and even brochures, I love Canva. The Canva Pro features are worth the money too! Sign up for Canva Pro here.

I also use Affinity Designer for a good portion of my creative design work (plus website design planning). I love that it’s a one-time subscription fee.

When it comes to sharing my design work, Smartmockups is my go-to choice! I spent a few months using free mockup sites and it just wasn’t worth it. The photos wouldn’t be high-res or clearly represent my work. When I found Smartmockups, I was hooked. I can choose from many mockup backgrounds, upload my photo or just insert the URL and save it with all kinds of other options. This is my go-to choice when it comes to any type of mockup. The subscriptions are priced competitively and worth every penny. I highly recommend Smartmockups.

Email Marketing

For years, my preferred email platform was MailerLite, and I still encourage all of my clients to start with this system if they are not already established elsewhere. I like this platform for its easy user interface, affordability ($84/ year for less than 1,000 subscribers), and awesome automation features. Plus, the paid version allows for the use of creative pop-ups, great lead-generation tools, and more! Other popular platforms in the small business space, like Flodesk, ConvertKit, etc. are great but will cost you significantly more.

In 2022, I switched to Squarespace Email Campaigns, which I really like. It doesn’t have quite as many features as MailerLite, but I love that I can manage it right inside my Squarespace website. If you’re a Squarespace user, it’s definitely worth trying if you’re not already established elsewhere.

Website Design & Commerce

Squarespace is my go-to website platform.

If you don’t have the budget to hire a professional website designer, I highly recommend purchasing a website template from Ghost Plugins. Ghost is the largest growing library of free plugins, premium plugins, and templates for your Squarespace website. Plugins are essentially pieces of code you can add to your website to make it perform in a way that isn’t readily available on the platform. They offer step-by-step directions and really great tutorials to help you accomplish what you need. Save 10% when you use my Ghost Plugins promo code - ONENINEDESIGN.

The templates are fantastic (I’ve used these for clients, even) and are installed right into your Squarespace account. If you need help with using your Ghost Plugin purchases, let me know!

I used to use Podia to host my digital products and digital training. It’s really easy to set up, and it worked for a while. However, recently I moved my shop back to Squarespace, and I’m loving it even more. Bottom line - you have choices and don’t have to stick with one forever.

Fomo — build interest in your online shop and show potential customers what others are ordering with a social proof plugin like Fomo! I wrote a blog post about Fomo (and all the other social proof plugins I tried), so be sure to check that out. My Fomo code will get you an extended free trial – no reason not to try it!

Scheduling

I’m team Dubsado all the way for an online scheduling system that integrates into a larger CRM. Dubsado is great for anyone who would like to book appointments online — photographer, coaches, business owners, etc.

Acuity Scheduling is another option though it is no longer free. Clients can quickly view your real-time availability, self-book their own appointments, and even pay online, and reschedule with a click. Head over to my affiliate link to check out all the details and try it out with no credit card or commitment. At just $15/month, this is a great investment for anyone who wants to increase efficiencies.

Business Finances

I manage all of my business finances using Wave. I tried using other products when I first started out and used Quickbooks for a few years! However, I realized there was nothing Quickbooks could provide that I couldn’t replace with Wave and Wave IS FREE. If you’re interested in using Quickbooks, you can receive a special discount by following my Quickbooks promo code link, or if you want a free alternative to Quickbooks, I recommend Wave.

Social media post scheduling

I recently switched from using HootSuite to using Facebook’s Creator Studio to schedule all of my social media posts. I loved the ease of scheduling Facebook posts and now with Creator, I can also schedule my Instagram posts. Unlike Hootsuite, you can add multiple photos for Instagram posts, and you can easily find accounts to tag - something I really hated not having on Hootsuite. To find the Creator Studio, head over to your Facebook page, go to Publishing Tools, and then choose Creator Studio from the menu on the left.

Staying Organized

I would not survive running my business (or my life) without my Simplified Planner. I’ve written a blog post all about the Simplified Planner, but I’ll never stop telling people how great these planners are. They are simple! They are fun! They are flexible for so many reasons and affordable. You can find a less expensive version in Office Depot and Target, but I prefer the Signature edition sold online. The paper is much better, and pens do not bleed through. From someone who has tried many planners in my life, I cannot recommend the Simplified Planner enough! If you use my affiliate link, you can save $10 on your planner. (Note: they sell out when they launch, and they offer both an academic and calendar year version).

Products that help me in my personal life

Let’s face it, running a business while also being a wife and mom is just plain hard. These few things keep me sane and help me give my best to my family and business!

Home Chef — Getting dinner on the table for four people daily - yikes! For someone who is not a good cook, Home Chef is a life-saver. We do the three-meals-a-week plan, and then the other two days are just whatever works (leftovers/breakfast/eating out). Weekends are always a free-for-all around here, haha! You can save $35 off your first box with my special link. I love how we pick from many choices each week; all the ingredients are fresh, and we can skip a week if we need to, here and there. I hope this Home Chef promo code helps you save some money and start getting fresh meals on the table!

Daily Harvest - Daily Harvest makes having quick and healthy snacks, smoothies, and bowls so easy! I supplement our weekly grocery store trip with a Daily Harvest order about twice a month, and it’s fantastic quality! You can save $40 on your order with my link.

Fabletics – I work out six days a week, and wearing Fabletics makes it so much better! If you become a VIP (like me!), you'll save up to 50% off retail prices every time you shop, and you'll get access to exclusive VIP-only perks. They also hook you up with an incredible intro offer for your first purchase that looks too good to be true (but it's not, trust me). Use my special link to get your own Fabletics deal!

Havenly – If you’ve ever wanted someone to help you redesign a room in your house or office but don’t have the budget to hire an interior decorator, definitely check out Havenly! I’ve used them twice now – once for my living room and once for my kitchen. You upload your current photos, create a Pinterest board of things you like, and set a few parameters. Then, a designer will sketch out a room design for you and curate an entire shop of products for you! It’s so fun and easy.

Use my link to save $50 off a full Havenly design package!