The Platforms + Apps I Use To Help My Business Thrive

There’s a lot to running a business and keeping things running smoothly and efficiently. Having systems in place is key to saving time and providing a great customer experience and keeping things organized. It’s also key to growing your business and scaling it to take on more clients. So, here is a list of systems and platforms that I use to keep Feathered Arrow running as smooth as ever! There are even some great deals below for you to take advantage of for your own business.

HoneyBook

One of the first business platforms I knew I needed was a Client Management Software. I use Honeybook because I needed something simple, yet versatile enough to handle both my wedding and photography clients. With Honeybook, I receive inquiries straight from my website into a project portal. From there, I can send brochures, proposals, questionnaires, contracts, invoices, payment reminders, etc. Each client is organized in a separate project and I can track progress along the way. I love that everything is digital, which is so important for my couples who are already slammed planning their wedding. I also love HoneyBook because booking a client is super easy and simple on both ends. Having a good user experience for the client is key to booking a client quickly! You can get 50% off when you sign up with this link!

Aisle Planner

Aisle Planner is another great Client Management Software but it specializes in wedding planning. I use this program for my Partial and Full Planning clients. I’m able to help guide them with design boards, timelines, checklists, budget tracking, floor plans, and so much more. It’s a great one-stop portal for my clients to feel organized and on track.

If you want to sign up, you will receive 25% off your first 3 months! Just sign up using the link HERE and enter my referral code: obtu.

Flodesk

I’ve been building my email marketing game and Flodesk has been the best platform for me. I‘ve tried other platforms and it was just never exactly what I needed. In Flodesk, I can create visually captivating emails, offer free downloads and build my email list with beautiful templates. I can also create seamless workflows and I promise you, these emails are beyond beautiful, your list will love them! It’s a great way to automate, grow your list and your business. If you want 50% off to give it a try, use the link HERE.

Quickbooks

The dreaded accounting portion of entrepreneurship isn’t as overwhelming when you have the right program. Now, I’m not going to lie, there is a portion of my accounting that I outsource. However, Quickbooks has been a great fit for me. I track my expenses, income, profit and also easily share all that information with my CPA for tax time. To get your numbers in order, use the link HERE for 50% off when you sign up!

Pixieset

For my photography clients, the best gallery platform I have found is Pixieset. There are a ton of gallery business platforms out there but this has been the greatest! It’s so easy to use for both my clients and myself to use. I can easily upload + organize galleries then send clients a beautiful gallery to download straight to their computer. To sign up for a FREE account + get 250MB of storage, use the link HERE to sign up!

Google Suite

Where would I be without Google Suite? Google Suite is fantastic for using their drive to keep files, make and share documents and to maintain my email. You also get to have a professional looking email address that doesn’t have gmail at the end. I use all the functions within GSuite to keep my clients organized and up to date with all their wedding information and details.

Microsoft To Do

I’m a list maker by nature; it comes with the territory of being a wedding planner. Using Microsoft To Do keeps my task list so organized! I can break down tasks by category, and share + assign tasks with the members on my team. I used to keep a paper to-do list but that got messy. This is super easy and clean and when you check something off your list, it makes a nice little satisfying “DING” sound, which always feels great!

Social Curator

If you aren’t familiar with social media guru, Jasmine Star, please do yourself a favor and look up Social Curator. This platform is a monthly subscription service that provides fresh stock photos for all your social media and marketing needs. Jasmine also includes monthly marketing hacks + tips to help grow your business. In addition, you get captions, post ideas, etc to help you strengthen your business social media game. 

Tailwind

One of the biggest hurdles in my social media was scheduling content into Pinterest. Thankfully, with Tailwind, it’s a breeze. I can schedule blog post photos to pin automatically in Pinterest, even when I’m sleeping. Tailwind helps me keep track of the progress of followers and trends in Pinterest. I can even build an optimized schedule based on when my ideal client is scrolling. In addition, there are social clubs called Tribes, where likeminded entrepreneurs can share and pin one another’s content. Growing my Pinterest account has increased traffic to my site, helping more ideal clients to find me and book my services! As far as business platforms go, this has made a huge impact. If you’re not using Tailwind and Pinterest to grow your business, what are you even doing!?

To get a FREE month of Tailwind Plus, sign up with the link HERE. Start pinning and driving that traffic to your site!

Planoly

While Tailwind can help post to Instagram, I use tried and true Planoly to schedule that content. I love that it shows a working grid so you can decide what photos look best next to one another. You can also can save captions and hashtags making posting a breeze. I typically schedule my content once a week based off my marketing calendar. It usually takes me less than an hour, once a week, and then all my posts are ready to go! It simply alerts me on my phone when it’s time to post. (You can post automatically, but I choose to post manually, in case I change my mind). It saves me hours every week and avoids the issue of staring at your screen having no idea what to post or what to say. I use the free version, but to sign up for their paid plans and get more features, go HERE.

I hope this list helped show some of the ways I have gotten my business to the success it’s reached. If you’re looking to really boost your company, having business platforms that work for you is crucial. Automate your workflow, save time and book clients easily with these tools and platforms. These are all investments to make your business thrive but definitely worth it. Bonus: they are all a tax write off. For more business advice, check out my post on things you need know to start your business!