The Tools I Use to Run My Business

March 22, 2024

As you may know, I don't think new tools are key to success - hard work is. That said, coming from someone who loves to try out all the new shiny things, I think it make sense to compile a list of the tools that stuck with me.

Website

After running Gatsby with Netlify for years, I moved my website over to Framer. I'm sure Framer has great use cases too, but after just a couple of months, it became clear that running a blog isn't one of them. My website is now running on Kirby, and I've been really happy with it!

For privacy-focused, simple analytics, I use Fathom*. It's one of the products that you can immediately tell is built with love. If you want dead-simple analytics that respect your users' privacy, Fathom is for you. Fast Company listed them as one of the options to ditch Google Analytics, which, let's be honest, no one really knows how to use.

My newsletter is sent through Convertkit, after trying out basically every email service (Drip, Convertkit, Mailchimp, Substack, EmailOctopus, Mailerlite to name a few).

I use Stripe together with Zapier to sell my books. In fact, I use Zapier for a ton of different things.

Software

I do all my design work in Figma. I really, really like the simplicity of working in Figma.

I’m tracking my time with Harvest and use them for sending invoices too.

I keep track of things to do in Things. I don't have a fancy GTD systems all set up, rather something far simpler.

For writing, I like Notion. It's simple and lightweight. It exports markdown and it's easy for me and my editor to co-create in.

I use Tally to schedule and charge for 1-1 coaching and other forms, like newsletter feedback. I prefer Zoom for online calls.

For international payments, I’ve been super happy with Wise*.

Small gems

The software mentioned above probably won't raise any eyebrows. I'm not saying that the following list will either, but perhaps they'll be new acquaintances that you'll learn to love just as much as I have:

  • Mymind - It's beautifully designed, and I randomly save anything I come across to Mymind. I'm still figuring out how to sort it all - it's supposed to be automatic, but like an AI, it's not perfect (yet).
  • HandMirror - love, love, this piece of software. It sits in your menu bar and allows you to check your hair before getting on a video call. It's saved me on countless occasions.
  • Paste - Paste stores everything you copy into a list, making it super easy to access something you copied to the clipboard a few hours ago. I also use it to keep 'pins' of things I paste into documents repeatedly.
  • Arc - My favorite browser. It's like Chrome, but without the excessive RAM usage.

Hardware

I'm blessed with having my own office space and the tools I use here are carefully selected. I’m currently using a Macbook Air 15” and an Apple Studio Display. It’s a great monitor.

One of the first bigger expenses I allowed my newly founded company to take on was this Herman Miller Aeron chair. Never regretted it. I have a HAY Desk.


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