Episode 129: 3 essential tools that keep my online business running smoothly (and save me hours each week)

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain to share the 3 must-have tools that keep my online business running smoothly even on the chaotic days.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the endless options of platforms or struggled to find the right tech stack, this episode is for you.

I’ll reveal my tried-and-true favourite tools. Whether you’re just starting out or craving a simpler, more sustainable way to work, these tools will help you save time, stay consistent, and build a business that gives you more freedom.

Grab your favourite drink, hit play, and let’s dive into the simple tools that power my online business behind the scenes!

Suggested Tools:

• Click here to check out Systeme.io
• Click here to check out Notion
• Click here to check out MetriCool

Get in touch:

• Click here to book a free Discovery Call
• Click here to access Passive Profit Plan
• Click here to visit website

Transcript

Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Online Business Uncovered. This is episode 129 and in today's episode I'm going to be talking about the three tools that keep my online business running seamlessly. So let's jump right in and let's get started. Welcome to Online Business Uncovered, the show that lifts the lid on what it really takes to turn your brilliance into digital products, passive income and time freedom. 

I am your host, Karen, an online business strategist, course creation expert and your go to for building a business that works for you and not the other way around. If you are an ambitious entrepreneur, feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or maybe you're just ready for a smarter, more sustainable way to grow, then you're in the right place. 

Because each week I'll be bringing you inspiring conversations, practical strategies and step by step guidance to help you create scalable, repeatable digital products that that sell even while you sleep. So if you're ready to stop trading your time for money, reclaim your time and finally build a business that gives you the freedom that you deserve, hit, subscribe and tune in every Thursday.

Karen Davies [00:01:17]:
Let's uncover what's truly possible for you, starting now. Hello and welcome to Online Business Uncovered. This is the show that helps you turn your expertise into digital products, passive income and most importantly, time freedom. I'm your host Karen and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. So today I am talking about my favorite tools that I use in my business. These are the tools that, to be honest with you, if I didn't have them in place then I would really struggle. And I know we live in a world where we have so many tools available to us, but I can't tell you how important it is to have the right tools in place because that's what's going to help you to be able to run your business and give you that time back. Now, I've used so many tools over the years.

Karen Davies [00:02:20]:
I've been in business since 2016. I love a tool, so I love nothing more than diving into a brand new tool, trying to figure it out and seeing how it can really work for me. But over the years what I've learned is that that's such a time suck. And so what I've done is I've chosen my tech stack and these tools that I use, I use because they make a difference and I still love trying new tools out. I'm always trying new tools out. I, I often go and have a look at AppSumo because AppSumo is always bringing out new, new tools, new tech for you to go and have a look at and experiment with and do all that stuff. So I really enjoy using new tools, but that's kind of like the side thing. The tools that I'm talking about today, these are sort of the staple for my business because I think for us to do what it is that we do, we need to have good tools and systems in place that are ultimately going to help us achieve our goals.

Karen Davies [00:03:37]:
So that's what I'm doing today. And before I dive into today's episode, I want to just talk about my free masterclass that is sitting on my website. Three steps to turn your expertise into online income Now I created this free masterclass because often I come across so many entrepreneurs that have no idea where to start when it comes to monetizing their expertise. They're often service based providers that are so trapped in the cycle of trading their time for money that they don't know what they could package up and sell to make that income on repeat. And so I have created this free training to break it down, to give you an insight in what you can potentially create that is going to bring you in that income. Because you can still be a service based provider, you can still do the things that you want to do, but you can do it safe in the knowledge that you've got something working for you in the background. And that is what my free master class is pretty much about. It isn't your typical surface level level training.

Karen Davies [00:04:56]:
I'm walking you through the actual steps that's going to take your skills, experience or expertise and start turning it into that digital income, all without burnout. Because we've going on, we've got enough stuff that we're having to focus on in our day to day lives. So this is my roadmap to help you to get started. So go and check it out. You can sign up and watch it instantly at www.sell your brilliance online.com. okay, so I want to dive back into today's episode and as I said, I'm pulling by the curtain to share my three favorite tools I genuinely couldn't run my business without. These aren't like your, your shiny, you know, platforms that you sign up for a free trial and then completely forget about. These are the ones that for me do the heavy lifting behind the scenes because they help me to stay organized, they help me to automate my sales, and also they help me to show up consistently online without burning myself out trying to do all the things.

Karen Davies [00:06:10]:
So if your current tech Setup feels messy, maybe it feels confusing, maybe you have tools that you're using that you're not really a fan of, but you don't know what tools to move to. Or maybe you just need a more simplified way of working. Then these tools may actually be what you may be missing in your own business. Okay, so my first tool is a platform called System IO. This is my all in one sales hub. So think anything related to money, think system. That's probably the best way I can describe it. I've tried my fair share of platforms.

Karen Davies [00:07:01]:
I have tried Kajabi, I've dabbled with Teachable, I have played around with mailchimp, I've done mailerlite, I've done Membervol. I honestly, I have tried so many platforms. I've tried fea, Create, you name it, I've tried it. But System IO is a game changer because it is not only where you can create your digital products, like your online courses, your membership, your community, you can also build your email list with it. So if you haven't got an email list, it's very easy to start building an email list. But it also handles all the financial data as well. So I use it for hosting and selling my digital products. I use it for creating landing and sales pages along with the funnels that go with those pages.

Karen Davies [00:07:59]:
I use it for email automation and I use it for, if I'm running like one off events and I'm looking to take payment for those events, I will use it for that as well. So this platform is very comprehensive, but what is really great about it is that it's super affordable and it's really easy to use. So if you're not techie, then Systeme is definitely a platform to check out because you can kind of dabble around with it, you can play around with it and you can figure it out very easily. And what I really like about System is how it lays out everything. So for many years I used a platform called Kajabi. Loved Kabi at that point in time, but I was paying a lot for it. I was paying, I think 160 quid a month or something, which is a lot of money. So I decided to move away from it because it was a lot.

Karen Davies [00:09:01]:
But also one of the reasons why I wanted to move away from it is because everything was so split up. You had your products in one place, you had your community in another place, podcast in another place and email in another place. And it was all very kind of split with System, the layout, the functionality and the user Interface is just so much more seamless. You can be in creating your funnels and your have access to your automation in that area. You'll have access to your leads, you'll have access to your sales, you'll have access to pretty much everything in relation to that one sales funnel. It keeps it in one place under the configuration tab, but it's really easy to use and it comes with templates and how to's and all of that stuff as well. So I actually ended up setting up my product suite and my funnel inside system without hiring anybody to help me. I mean, I'm pretty techy anyway because my background is web design so I'm used to building out systems and websites, but I didn't need to spend a ton of time building because it was quite easy to pick up and run with.

Karen Davies [00:10:18]:
So if you are looking to streamline your business, you know, maybe you're looking to streamline your sales, maybe you want your emails, your funnels, your automations, your sales page, all of that in one platform and you just want to keep everything under one roof, then I recommend this tool hands down. System IO is absolutely brilliant. Now in terms of cost, another thing that I really like about it is that it's got a very generous free plan and to some people they won't necessarily need to upgrade because the free plan offers a lot. But if you were to upgrade then I think the next price is like 17, which is about, what's that, 12 quid. So it's not a lot at all. You're not going to be paying 69 for one course that Kunjabi charges. You will actually get five courses for like 17. So definitely check out system.

Karen Davies [00:11:22]:
I will add a link in the show notes so that you can go and check it out. But this is definitely one platform that I would highly recommend. The back of my website. I've built system on the back of my website in order to capture everything. So I run everything through this system because I want all my data in one place. It's absolutely brilliant. So absolutely recommend it. Go and check it out and go and sign up for free.

Karen Davies [00:11:52]:
My second tool that I I'm going to be talking about is Notion. You may have heard me speak about Notion before on this podcast because I absolutely love Notion. This is my business brain. I use Notion to plan everything from my social media content to my podcast content, to my product ideas, to my launch timelines. It is the tool that keeps me on track, keeps me consistent and keeps me sane because it's all in one place. I used to have post it notes everywhere. I used to have notebooks for everything, papers sitting around with spider diagrams and all the things of all my thoughts and ideas on. I used to have random Google Docs scattered across so many email accounts and, and, and really zero idea about where anything is.

Karen Davies [00:12:50]:
So with Notion, you can build out a kind of central hub, if you like, where you can kind of keep everything in one place. In my business, I've got a dashboard, it's my work dashboard. And then I've got pages that are sort of nested off that dashboard so you can create so many different things. I see it a bit like a website where you can create pages and pages and pages like pages. So you can have like main menu, sub menu, sub, sub, menu. That kind of thing with Notion is dynamic. There's a lot you can do with, is absolutely brilliant. But what I love about it is that you literally can keep everything in one place so you stay on track.

Karen Davies [00:13:35]:
Now what I keep inside Notion is my editorial calendar for my podcasts, my blogs and my socials, my product development tracker so that I have a place to dump all my ideas, but also to develop them and to see them through. A space for just random ideas that I have. So anything creative that I think could be of use, I put it into Notion. And I also have my weekly CEO dashboards that help me to stay on top of my key priorities. So I use it a lot. I mean, if you were to go into my Notion, I think you, you'd be quite surprised at how extensive you can make it. It's very customizable. And if you love platforms like Trello, where they allow you to be visual, then again in Notion you could be as visual as what you want, because Notion lets you design workflows and pages so that it's branded so that you feel like it's every single day.

Karen Davies [00:14:43]:
I am within my Notion platform. In fact, it's probably where everything sort of stems from because I do everything in Notion first and then I distribute it to where it then needs to go. Notion has tons of templates, so you don't have to start from scratch. You can collaborate with your VA or your team members using Notion. Notion have obviously gone and looked at all the leading platforms that are out there. So Trello as such, banner, ClickUp, Monday, all of those. And what they've done is they've kind of amalgamated it into one tool. So if you like Kanban style boards, or maybe you like galleries, maybe you like databases, so maybe you live in Excel or maybe you like status lists and progress lists, like Monday, you can choose how you want that laid out.

Karen Davies [00:15:40]:
So you can do all of that in Notion. And the great thing about Notion is that it's completely free. So again, it's a very generous platform. It offers a lot. It offers a full suite of templates to help you get started and you don't have to pay a single dime, which is just amazing because when I think what I use it for, the fact that I'm not paying anything for it is mind blowing because it literally sits at the very, the heart of my business. It's very easy to use, great interface, all of that stuff as well. In fact, very recently, I introduced my members to it within my membership, my sell your brilliance online membership, because I do a lot of launching and product development in Notion. So I share my templates that I have because it's easier to do that than getting people to start from scratch.

Karen Davies [00:16:38]:
But it's interesting people's responses because I don't think there's anything else like it out there on the market. So it's, it's absolutely brilliant. And in my membership, I'm actually going to create a productivity corner that centers around Notion just because it's so good. So if you want a platform that's going to help you streamline, organize and build out your workflows, help you to be consistent and just stay on track, then I highly recommend you to go and check out Notion again. I'll put a link in the show notes so you can go and click on it and go and check it out. You, you won't regret this. I think once you start adopting it into your business, you'll realize how powerful it is and the difference it will make for you. It's an absolute game changer.

Karen Davies [00:17:34]:
Okay, so my third and final tool that I'm going to talk about is a platform called Metricore. This is my content command center because it's about visibility and when you're creating content, you want to make sure that people are seeing that content and you're being visible. This is where Metrical comes in, because Metrical is a social media scheduler. But what I really like about this platform is that it centers around the analytics of your performance so that you and really see how your content is performing. So this platform allows for me to schedule my posts that I schedule across social media platforms. So it helps me to plan, publish and track all the content that I put out across all of the platforms. And this includes Instagram, Facebook threads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok and YouTube and there's more as well because there's a blue sky I think and there's, there's Google, my business and, and there's other platforms as well, but they're the ones that I pretty much use it for. Now.

Karen Davies [00:18:50]:
Here's why I love this tool. Number one, I can schedule everything in one place, which is going to make my life so much easier. I get detailed performance analytics on the, the performance of my content. I also get to engage with all my followers through this platform as then I can also repurpose my best performing posts in just a few clicks because it tells me what my best performing posts are. So if I want to go and see what performed well over the week or the month, it will give me that insight which is really useful to know because you want to be sort of tracking the performance of your content to see what's landing with your audience. So you need a tool that's going to help you to do that. That. The other thing I really like about Metrical is that if you want to send out regular posts of the same content, you can actually put it in a queue so you can send it out for it to go out every Monday, every Wednesday, every Friday, whatever, whatever your schedule is.

Karen Davies [00:19:59]:
So maybe if you're wanting to, I don't know, release, I don't know, an Instagram story every Monday and you want it to be the same story, I don't know why you'd want to do that, but maybe let's, for argument's sake, that's what you want to do. You can set it up using Metrical, which is really cool and again this is a very easy platform to use. You can even attach your website to Metrical and it will give you data analytics around the performance of your website. So it will give you real time analytics on whose visiting your website there and then and, and what that data is around those visits. So really cool, really easy to use, great interface. And again, cost wise I think I'm paying like, I think it's like 15 quid a month. I think it's 22 Euros. So I don't know what that is in, in dollars but again it's, it's not going to break the bank but it is going to give you your time back.

Karen Davies [00:21:03]:
Now what I like about these tools is that they can work really well together. So for example with Notion, Notion is where I go and plan all my content. So my social media content that I plan out for the week ahead will go in a calendar within my notion platform. Now once I planned that content out, I then go over to Medical and I schedule it so that I don't need to be there every single moment to be able to publish content. I set it up ahead of time, I schedule it and I know it's done and that helps me to be consistent. And then thirdly with system, if I run a campaign where I am promoting a specific freebie or an offer or maybe an event, everything comes through system. So the moment somebody signs up or downloads one of my freebies or even purchases one of my offers, it comes through system so I know that it's happened. I can then keep track and then I have automation set up that is going to help me to be able to nurture that relationship with my new subscriber.

Karen Davies [00:22:19]:
So all three of those tools, whilst they work brilliantly on their own together they're a real powerhouse. Now if your current tool stack feels messy or even overwhelming, then maybe it's time to start simplifying. Because you do not need a dozen apps and tools to get the job done, you just need the right ones that work together. 

Thank you for tuning into today's episode. I hope this episode has given you some clarity and hopefully sparked some new ideas. If you found this episode helpful, then please do go ahead and share it with a friend or a fellow entrepreneur who is also building their online business, because it might just be the thing that they need to hear today. And if today's episode has you thinking that maybe you're ready to start turning your really valuable expertise into income, then be sure to check out my free training three steps to turn your expertise into an online income stream by visiting my website, www.sellyourbrillianceonline.com. i'll be back next week with another episode to support you on your online business journey, but until then, I'm wishing you a great week.

Karen Davies [00:23:46]:
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode of Online Business Uncovered. If today's conversation has sparked an idea or gave you a dose of clarity, then please make sure to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned. New episodes land every Thursday, so hit follow or subscribe to stay in the loop. And if you're loving the show, a quick rating or review goes a long way in helping more brilliant entrepreneurs like you find this show. Until next time, keep showing up, keep sharing your brilliance and remember, freedom in business is free, possible, and it starts with taking the next right step.