You’ve got to love technology! We live in a day and age full of tools and software that make running an online business so much easier than it was just 10 years ago. Here are a few different types of tools that can help you get things done faster and spend less time at your desk.

Tools To Help You Get More Done In Less Time

Let’s start with a couple of tools that help you get more done in less time!

The first is a to-do list. It’s amazing how much more you’ll get done once you write everything you would like to get accomplished down. You can jot down your daily to-do list on a piece of paper, print up some pretty checklists or use one of the free to-do list apps.

Next, get things done even faster with the help of a timer. Grab a kitchen timer or set a countdown timer on your phone and get to work. You’ll be surprised how much faster you get through your tasks when there’s a timer ticking.

Tools To Make Content Creation Easier

In today’s online world you have to create a lot of content. A great tool to make adding content to your website quick and easy is of course WordPress. If you haven’t switched your site over to this popular CMS (Content Management System), do it now. You’ll be glad you did.

Another favorite for me is Google Docs. It’s a web-based word processing program that works similar to Microsoft Word with the added benefit of being available online. Work on your latest eBook or workbook from any computer. It also makes collaborating with other writers, business partners and assistants super easy.

Tools To Create Beautiful Graphics Fast

Once your content is written, it’s time to pretty it up with some graphics. Start with a beautiful photo that relates to the content you’ve written. Pretty images grab our attention and pull us in. Use a stock photography site like Ivory Mix,* UnSplash, or Deposit Photos* to grab a gorgeous image for your content.

Then use a service like Canva to edit, add text and make it just right for your post. Canva also has a ton of pretty templates to take your image to the next level. Yes, there are professional tools like Photoshop for example. But they are expensive and hard to master. Keep it simple and get just what you need with Canva.

Tools To Make Running Your Business Faster

So far we’ve talked about tools that make the things you already do quicker and easier. In this last section, let’s talk about some things that will make running your business faster because they take you out of the equation – automation tools.

The first is auto-responder software. Tools like Convertkit* or Mailchimp make it easy to deliver emails your subscribers. The entire process of sending emails is automated and auto-responder services work hard at making sure your emails get delivered to the recipient’s inbox. You can also create forms to add to your website to make it even easier to capture leads.

If you’re selling your own products, invest in some good shopping cart software. There are a ton of different ones on the market. Do your research and pick the one that’s best for you and your business model. WooCommerece is one of my favorites and is free. You do pay for some add-ons but to get started this is a great program. You can check out several other options for digital products in my post over at Lyrical Host.

Last but not least, make customer service quicker and easier with the help of a helpdesk. Not only does it take some of the workload off of you. It also makes it easy to get an assistant to help you. As an added bonus it’s a better experience for your customers as well. ZenDesk is one option you can look into.

Now tell me what are some of your favorite business tools? Share them with us in the comments!