Lauren’s List: Helpful Resources for Your Business

Streak

Part of what I love about being a business strategist is testing out and evaluating software and phew CRM’s are a biggie!

I have tested and worked with, I would say, just about all of them…salesforce, zoho, hubspot, Monday, sugar, nutshell, you get the idea. What I was always looking for for my clients (and myself) was something that was:

• SMB friendly (aka not overkill)
• Flexible
• Affordable
• Integrates with Gsuite and Zapier seamlessly
• Customizable
• Email tracking

I finally found a CRM that does all that and more in Streak.

We at GKP have been using Streak now for over a year and a half and it has changed our business and why I recommend it to all my clients who are looking for a better CRM.

Bottom line: Streak lets you run your business how it needs to be run.  It doesn’t force you to shape your SOPs to fit it, it fits YOU.

You can check it out by clicking here or on the image below.

Thrivecart

I get a far amount of questions from clients about what payment cart I recommend.  The answer is hands down Thrivecart.  Before I was introduced to thrivecart by a fellow entrepreneur I was cobbling payment processors together, taking wires, checks, and chasing it all across kingdom come, now it is all neat and tidy!

Plus the best part is I paid one time, yes ONE time and pay no extra processing fees.

It is also so flexible.  I can create my own payment terms and embed it straight into my website.

If you are looking for a simple, seamless, and robust online cart platform to take care of your one time charges, payment plans, subscriptions, or really any combination this is your new business best friend.  Your business and your customers will thank you! You can check it out below by clicking here or on the image below.

Kajabi

I searched long and hard for an all-in-one platform for my clients to leverage when they wanted to add online course offerings or memberships to their client suite.  I was so thankful when I found Kajabi 3+ years ago because it truly is an all-in-one platform that takes the friction out of selling online.  The best part is they are always improving the platform and as a Kajabi Expert I am honored to have a front row seat!  If you are looking for a simple, seamless, and robust online platform to take care of your sales pages, offers, your members, your emails and automations, look no further.  You can start a free trial below.

Webinars are a hot topic.  After trying just about every platform out there.  Here are my 2 favs.

Demio

Demio is by far the easiest and most simply webinar platform.  It is super flexible, robust, and clean.  Plus it is very reasonably priced.

Webinar Jam

Webinar jam is an old but goody.  It is very reliable and functional.  It has a bit of a learning curve that demio doesn’t have but it is a solid choice.  I like that you can do a hybrid, part recorded, part live with Webinar jam.

I think you will be in good hands with either one so give them both a test drive and see which one feels right to you!

One Tab

This is seriously the best thing I have ever added to Chrome! It allows me to send tabs to One Tab so I can come back to them later.  I can name the groups, send them to others, and I can even lock them so I can visit them multiple times.  I find this particularly useful for pages that I visit frequently when we work together.

Otter.ai

What I love most about this is I can connect my Zoom account and it automatically transcribes my recorded calls! I can also upload or record anything and like magic it transcribes with 99% accuracy! You get a ton of minutes on the free plan and if you upgrade it’s only a few bucks a month!

Evernote

What I love most about this is I can write and organize notes across all my devices.  I can also clip articles straight from the web and save them for later (it’s like Bookmarks reinvented)

Be Focused

I am a firm believer that you can accomplish more in one focused our than you can all day which is why I suggest the pomodoro technique to everyone! My sweet spot is 45 minutes instead of 25 minutes of focused time, what’s yours?

Gsuite

I may have apple products, but I am a Google addict! Gsuite is what runs my business.  It brings all the efficiency of Gmail, Drive, and hangouts into a professional suite.  One of my favorite things is to build and share folders with clients for our Projects so we are all on the same page.

To-do (previously Wunderlist)

I know you are thinking, you need another list app and the answer is yup! This one is a to-do list rather than notes like Evernote.  I use this for to-dos like packing lists, groceries, and phone calls to return.

Calendly

I used to waste SO much time going back and forth trying to schedule appointments, not any more.  Now I have set up my calendly links to associate with certain services and put the power of scheduling into my clients hands.  They even have a chrome extension now that allows you to do an “ad-hoc” meeting and insert available times into an email!

Zapier

This amazing platform lets you connect different apps you use to automate workflows.  For example, let’s say you use certain forms on your website, you can add them to your CRM or Email Provider.

Zoom

Since I run an international business, it is really important to me to still have a “human touch” to my business so I love using Zoom to give a face to my name.  It also allows me to screen share and walk my clients through different aspects of our projects together, and when I do trainings I can record it so they can use it later to reference!

Typeform

I love gathering data, especially when someone wants to have a consultation with me or when a project finishes.  Typeform is my favorite survey tool/form builder because it is a) slick and b) it has logic jump so I can drill down based on how they answer! It is a huge time saver!

Hellosign

Since all of my client projects have a work agreement contract, no one has time to print, sign, and scan so I use hellosign! It makes signing legal documents a breeze and you can even save a template to literally one click sign and send!

Teamwork

The names says it all.  This is the project management suite that I use that keeps everything running like a well oiled machine! It allows me to have task list templates so when we onboard a new client, all I have to do is click a button and voila all the tasks we need are right there.  I can add clients into projects so they can have an overview, I can chat with my team, assign tasks, ah! I could go on and on how this changed my business (and my life!).  We no longer have the perpetual fear that nags at you going “did I forget something?”  After trying asana, trello, etc. this was the clear winner for my strategy biz.  Check it out, I think you will be blown away 🙂

ConvertBox

Engage visitors, build lists and drive more sales on your website with beautiful on-site messages!  You can, simply and easily, launch personalized offers, lead capture forms and segmentation surveys to the right visitors at the right time with the easiest, most powerful on-site engagement platform.

Ontraport

This is a really robust marketing suite that allows you to automate emails, build simple landing pages, CRM, etc.  It is one of the best platforms I have seen to run your marketing like a well oiled machine.

Drip

Drip is great!  It has really smart automations, a simple builder, and let’s you reconnect with website visitors in very cool ways.

Funnelytics

If you are needing a way to visually map out your funnels, this is your new best friend. The free version gives you so much and if you decide to upgrade you get the insight into analytics throughout your funnel steps.

Canva

Confession: I don’t get photoshop.  I wanted to be able to create graphics but not learn a whole new program.  Insert Canva!  What I love about this is that it is so simple! It allows you to create just about any design copy you need – from FB posts, to PDFs, to Email Headers.  Check it out, I promise you will fall in love!

Creative Market

A great repository of graphics, fonts, and pictures!

HauteStock

Another great repository for stock photos specifically for women entrepreneurs, bloggers, and creative professionals.

TinyPng

This has been a lifesaver when it comes to picture compression.  If you want to compress photos before you upload them to your site, this will be your new BFF!

Hosting

• Dreamhost
• Siteground

Themes + Builders

• Elementor (my personal favorite because it has pop-ups baked in!)
• Avada
• Divi

Plugins

• Checkout for WC (Beautiful checkout plugin)
• Convert Pro (pop-up builder)
• WP Rocket (Caching and Speed)
• All in One SEO (SEO)
• Updraft (WordPress Backups)
• WordFence (WordPress Security)
• WooCommerce (e-commerce)
• Imigify (compressing pictures)
• Ultimate Addons for Elementor (expands elementor with new widgets)

Webcam

This is the one I use to make all my videos (as well as broadcast live to Facebook from my computer). With gorgeous HD quality, this far exceeds any built-in webcam I’ve seen and you can attach it just about anywhere (like my second monitor!)

Yeti USB Mic

I plug this into my computer and use it for all of my videos, webinars, course recordings, audio recordings, and client calls.

Ring Light

This is great if you need extra light in videos (or even photo shoots.) It has a built-in dimmer so you can make it be more dramatic or simply ambient.