One of our all-time favorite things to do over here at The CEO Partner HQ is to source and share (AKA geek out about) the latest digital tools we have discovered. 

One thing is for sure, the internet revolution has given us a ton of truly awesome ways to #worksmarter.  We can easily work from anywhere, save things to the cloud, accomplish new skills in literally any subject. Technology allows us to collaborate and communicate with colleagues and clients anywhere in the world! We can sync our work and home lives, track our health, streamline systems and save time in a million different ways. 

The change we are experiencing is phenomenal. Humans are innovating and collaborating like never before in history and it’s incredible. 

Thing is, it can also be…. Overwhelming. Stressful. Distracting. Not helpful at all when we want to #worksmart. 

Digital Burnout is REAL. There is so much choice and information out there that it can be a daunting and disorienting task to try and keep up. 

Thankfully, one of our main goals here at The CEO Partner is to provide a space and a community that is supportive, practical and purposeful. We find what works and share it with you! #wegotyou

Our TCP team are spread across the world and they bring expertise in communications & marketing, social media, software, systems, web design, finance, admin and much more. Between us we stay pretty much constantly on top of the latest software and online services. 

Here are our Top Five Digital Tools for the #WorkSmarterWoman! 

STRIPE 

Crucial. We started our list with this fundamental because let’s be real. if we aren’t getting paid, we won’t have a business for long!  Stripe is an online payment processing platform that serves 100,000+ businesses across 135+ currencies. It’s less well known than Paypal, and to be honest we definitely prefer Stripe. Experts say that Stripe has more features to choose from than Paypal, it’s popular with code-savvy people because of its customizable development tools. You can check both out and see what works for you. The key is, make sure you are using one online payment tool to keep that cash-flow coming! Cost-wise, both Stripe and Paypal are 0 set up costs with similar transaction and service fees.

SLACK 

Of course there are lots of other communication tools out there, but this is the one that we choose. Simply put, Slack is the best collaboration system for teams to use. As our community grows so does our business. As we scaled, it became clear that rather than using several different types of messaging and relying on trawling through email, text or whatsapp we needed to have one, streamlined space to hold everything in. This form of instant messaging helps us all to connect in a clear way, with easy to follow channels and ways to add humour and personality into the thread. This helps to create a strong culture in a team that works online. We can integrate it with our G-Suite (more on that next), upload files and create clear channels per project. Slack has a totally Free option as well as the extremely reasonable Standard $8  & Plus packages at $12. We Love it.

G-SUITE 

G Suite used to be called Google Apps for Work. This SaaS (Software as a Service) product basically gives you an entire suite of ready-made software for your company. It clusters a range of productivity and collaboration tools that Google have cleverly designed for businesses – things like custom Gmail addresses, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Drive, Sites and more.  Although many of these services are free to use for all consumers, G Suite adds additional features like custom email addresses, unlimited cloud storage as well as additional administrative tools and support. This is literally All you need to do your best work, together in one package that works seamlessly from your computer, phone or tablet. While G-Suite doesn’t have a free option, they do allow a 14 day trial period on any of their packages. Basic option starts at about $6 per month rising to $10 for Business and $25 for Enterprise packages. 

ASANA 

This is a project management system which helps teams to achieve goals. Again, there are so many competitors in the field of productivity software but we love how this is laid out – clean, efficient and so easy to use. Asana facilitates great communication between users and tasks are organised in a clear way. It also has great integration capacity, allowing you to customise the experience to meet your needs. We use Asana to help us plan, share and organise work with our clients. We also love its start-up support ethic. Asana  has a great ‘Freemium’ option before scaling through Premium $12, Business $26 and Enterprise packages (Contact for pricing) 

CANVA 

Ok, or Stencil. Kinda the same/same for us. Both of these are really easy to use design tools that mean you can create awesome graphics for your #worksmarterwoman business all by yourself!  Both options provide simple creation and photo editing capacity. Along with allowing you to upload your own images, they give you pre-made templates and royalty free images. While both are clean, creative and intuitive to use Stencil does allow you to add a browser extension which makes it easier to access. Cost wise, both options offer free versions which are a great place to start. After that paid versions begin at around $9. 

Ok so there you have it. As #worksmarterwomen we believe that these are great digital tools that anyone can get started with, right now with little fuss and immediate impact. 

We’d love to hear what you think about these options! And, if you have got great tools you want to share with our community then head over to our group and drop the link in there!