10 Free Apps I Love (That Aren't Social Media
After realizing the amount of time I spent scrolling on my phone, I set a one hour social media limit. After one hour, you can still access any social media apps if needed, but it grays them out and is a visual cue that I’ve already spent enough time on the apps.
However, I got to thinking about how many other apps I do use for productive business activity on a daily basis. A lot of these apps are programs I have recently discovered as I needed solutions for my new business, so I wanted to share with you in case you are looking for similar solutions.
Here are the 10 apps that I have found to be valuable and that I use on a daily basis, and the best part?? All are FREE!!
Asana - WOW, this is number one for a reason. I had been using the desktop version for a client for about a year now, but it wasn’t until a friend recently encouraged me to dig into it that I realized all that I was missing! Essentially it is a massive digital to-do list. You can have lots of lists that funnel into one big list that organizes all your action items by due date. Break down your lists into categories or milestones, set due dates for each item, and assign each task to a specific individual if you are working with a team. I still use my paper to-do list, but this app allows me to schedule out tasks months in advance, and not have to worry about remembering or find the piece of paper I wrote my notes down on. I also like its reoccurring tasks feature, for items you do every month or week, set your occurrence and the item will auto-populate right on schedule.
AND.CO - I don’t even remember how I found AND.CO, but I knew as soon as I downloaded it, it would be the solution I needed to manage clients, contracts, and invoices. This program tracks hours spent on client projects, allows you to customize contracts, create invoices and accept payment all within the app. It is geared specifically towards freelance and contract employees, but would work for any professional that needs to manage clients and billing. The free option would work if you only have a few clients, but once you grow, you will need to upgrade. Luckily, I have a referral code, we both get a $20 credit if you use this link to sign up.
Woven - I never thought I would see the day, but this app has completely replaced my need for the Google Calendars app. This is a tool I have needed my entire professional career. I always spent so much time trying to find a work-around, and in walks Woven. Woven integrates all the calendars you have into one master calendar. I love this when you have a job that requires you to schedule activities not during work hours, so essentially you can add your personal calendar and your professional calendar and never double book yourself again. Two features I love: first, it calculates how long it will take you to drive to your next meeting and adds the travel time to your schedule. Second, you can publish a scheduling link to allow colleagues or potential clients to book time with you without the back and forth of: “I’m available this day at this time, but only until this time.” Whew!
Podcasts - Of course, as a podcast host and podcast teacher, I have to stay on top of my game. If you didn’t know, I host the podcast Selfish, but I also teach a class on how to start your own podcast. I am always looking for new podcasts to listen to and guests to interview. Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions!
Feedly - Does anyone remember Google Reader? I am still bitter Google took it away. Feedly is similar in that you can stay on top of news for certain industries, from a variety of news sources. Now that I have clients in various industries, this has been super helpful in being able to scan the headlines and dig in deep to hot-button issues. This can even be a great place to look if you are looking for relevant articles to share on your social media accounts.
Planoly - I’ve been singing the praises of Planoly for a while now. This app allows you to plan out social media content ideas, schedule posts, preview what your feed will look like, send an email report to a client, and publish within the app. It also tracks the day and time you made a post and the engagement you received, and plots it on a calendar for you to see. This can be helpful if you are making frequent social media posts and you want to compare a certain time and/or time to see if engagement changes. Mostly, I just love how orderly this app is, it makes my organized brain happy!
Fishbowl - Okay, I know I said no social media, but I don't really feel like this falls into the category of social media. Particularly because it’s newer to the market. I have only been using it for about 2 weeks now, but to me it seems like the Neighborhood app for your industry. As I am writing this, the conversation going on in the marketing portal is all about insurance companies and their mascots, and what the strategy is behind those characters. But now that they mention it, every insurance company does have a mascot, right?? Interesting to think about. You can add to the conversation or start your own, but your name is not revealed. I am a part of a few Facebook groups that are industry specific, but there is something about Fishbowl that takes the pressure off of just commenting or asking questions - because you know no one will be able to Facebook stalk you or judge you!
Voxer - Ohh the good ole days of walkie talkies. This is your modern version of that. If you are always on the go and don't have time to type out a text, you will appreciate this app. I’ve seen Voxer work really well for groups, too. The group leader can share a lengthy message with everyone in the group and they can type out comments to respond. I find this to be helpful as I’m in between meetings, if I have too much information to type, or I want the recipient to hear my tone. Bonus? You don’t have to worry about having atrocious spelling errors when you leave voice memos!
Lightroom - This is the photo editing tool I use on a daily basis. It is an Adobe product, so you know it’s good!! I have presets that I try to use on most of my social media posts, but this app gives you a lot of flexibility to fine tune your photos exactly to your liking. It also has a mass-edit feature if you are looking to make the same edits to multiple pictures = major time saver!!
Canva - I use this app to make social media images. You can input your exact size needed and create away! My only complaint is that it doesn't have a ton of free stock images, mostly what they offer you will pay for, so you may have to go else where for those free images, but this will be a good start. Canva does have great templates and always gives me good ideas of how to format images to be appealing and eye catching.
What apps am I missing? Are there any you use on a daily basis that I need to know about?
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