My 5 Favorite Creative Business Resources
Today I am sharing 5 of my top favorite resources and systems that I use in my business. It has taken years to figure out what works well for me and I am so excited to share it with you too!
Dubsado (client Management System)
Dubsado is my client management system of choice and guys. It is a life saver. Dubsado is where I send my clients their proposals, contracts, invoices and questionnaires. It is so helpful to have them all organized into one place. My clients love it too as I create portals for them to easily access all of their branding information. Lately, I have been geeking out over automation and workflows and Dubsado has so many options for both.
There is so much that I love about Dubsado but my favorite things are definitely:
• The ability to brand your documents (really important especially for designers!)
• How helpful the Dubsado crew is. They offer free calls to help you set everything up and are constantly working to make Dubsado better and better. I have tried all three of the most popular Client Management systems and Dubsado is by far my favorite.
The Contract Shop
I used the same contract for the first 2-3 years of my business. It covered the main things, but it wasn't as thorough as it could have or should have been. I am lucky to have had amazing clients but one of the things that I occasionally struggled with was getting clients to respond with feedback and pay their invoices in a prompt manner which led to projects dragging on (aka pushing into other clients projects = stress) Between that and hearing one too many horror stories, I decided to invest in a thorough and quality contract and guys. I 100% recommend doing this from the START. The peace of mind is worth the cost alone. My contract now covers everything under the sun but some of my favorite things are:
A section that talks about what happens when the client is LATE getting revisions to you or just goes missing for a while.
An outline of services you provide
A payment plan outline with suggested dates and late fees if they miss those dates
Confidentiality clause to protect your trade secrets
A discussion about who owns the intellectual property you create, with the ability to give it all to the client OR maintain ownership while the client is allowed to use the finished product(s)
A limit of liability to minimize the amount of money you'd owe if you ever were to ever be sued.
A disclaimer and release
All the boring legal stuff that makes this puppy a real, valid contract (don't worry- it may be boring but it's easy to understand)
If you are serious about your design biz, run don't walk to get yourself a quality contract. Whether you hire an attorney or purchase one online, make sure it it thorough and quality. I may be biased but Christina at the Contract Shop is THE BEST and makes everything so easy to understand + implement. (If you aren't a designer, no worries there are options for you too!)
Plann
Social Media, specifically Instagram, is where most of my inquiries come from so it is essential that I take time to create and post beautiful and quality content. I use the Plann app on my phone to plan out my feed, write captions and schedule posts. In addition to all of that, Plann gives you helpful insights into your account, shows you which posts are performing best and even gives you the best times of day for you to post. I have been using Plann faithfully for the past couple of years and definitely recommend it to anyone looking to up-level their Instagram game.
Moyo Studio
I love Moyo Studio! In the past, I have really struggled to find quality stock images and mockups for my business so I was super excited when I found Moyo Studio. Moyo is a subscription based studio that offers the most beautiful stock images, mockups and scene creators that I actually LOVE. Their style is clean and minimal with a little artful flare and I have officially kissed goodbye the days where I didn’t have beautiful images to post. The best part about Moyo is that they are constantly updating their library so that you have a continuous stream of fresh and beautiful content.
Asana
I have used Asana on and off in my business since I started, but finally feel like I have it set up in a way that keeps me organized and on track. In Asana, I have every part of my business set up as a Project. In each project, I have multiple boards with running smaller projects, check lists, images, etc. I love how you can set due dates, assign tasks and just use it as a general place to brain dump. Every day I use to jump between a desktop full of screenshots, a notes list full of content ideas, a to-do list app and slack for assigning tasks. Asana streamlines my life and helps me have everything organized and in one place. I plan to do a blog post about how exactly I use Asana soon but in the mean time, I encourage you to check it out. OH and did I mention that it’s FREE?
Like I mentioned above, I plan to do a more in-depth post on how exactly I use each these resources in my business so if you have any questions, please drop them below! Let us know - What are your favorite business resources?
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