As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I rely on a variety of resources and tools to help meet the needs of my business whether its for creative, marketing, client experience, project management, finances, or general administrative purposes.
Finding resources and tools that aid in your productivity can be tricky, so I’ve included a few of my own business tools as well as some tools and resources that I've tried and recommend.
*Disclosure: Tools/resources marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. This means I will be compensated if you click through and/or take action. I promise that I only recommend tools that I like and think you will like too.
CRM/CLIENT & PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Dubsado* - Use code "laurenbakerprintdesign" for 20% off your first paid month or year. Dubsado is an entire suite of business tools all-in-one - including invoicing, contract signing, forms and templates, workflow automation, scheduling, project and lead management, client portals, reporting and so much more!
EQUIPMENT/HARDWARE
Apple iMac or MacBook Pro - Smooth user-friendly operating system with great display features for graphic design.
Apple iPhone - Great for taking quick photos and managing social media on the go.
Wacom Intuos Professional Tablet & Pen - For digital illustration projects.
Logitech Wireless Mouse - Cord free and precise scrolling mouse.
Canon 6D DSLR Camera & Canon 50mm Lens - For documenting artwork and social media photos
DESIGN
Adobe Creative Cloud - A collection of software applications for graphic design, video editing, photography, web development, etc (i.e. InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop).
Canva - Design software for the non-designer.
MARKETING
G Suite/Gmail for Business - Production and collaboration tools including email and calendar management, file drive and cloud storage, software programs (i.e. spreadsheet, word processing, and presentations, and more.
Mailchimp - A marketing automation platform and email marketing service.
Later - An all-in-one social marketing platform to plan, analyze, and publish your content.
GoDaddy - For registering your web domain and web hosting.
Zapier - Connect different software/applications that do not have built-in integrations (no code required!)
WIX - A drag and drop website builder that requires no coding skills to get your website up and running.
FONTS, TEMPLATES & MOCKUPS
Ivory Mix* - Templates, styled photos and education platform for solopreneurs.
Creative Market - A design marketplace for graphics, templates, fonts, photos, etc.
Adobe Fonts - An online font library provided to subscribers that can be used directly on websites or synced via Adobe Creative Cloud.
Google Fonts - A font embedding service library that includes free and open source font families.
DAFONT - Archive of free downloadable fonts.
Pantone Swatchbook & Studio App - A universal colour language and colour matching system.
Palettab - A colour and font browser extension for Chrome and Firefox.
PRINTING
Moo - Online print company that offers variety of business cards and other materials.
Vista Print - Online printing service that offers a variety of custom products and designs.
Printify - An online print-on-demand company that offers a variety of custom products.