Top 18 Digital Tools We Recommend

A list of the top 18 digital tools that we use within KCS and highly recommend based on what we’ve seen produce the most effective results within our clients businesses.

As a business owner, it can be quite overwhelming when you start looking into the best digital tools for your business.  There are literally hundreds if not thousands of options that all boast the very best features, price points and customer service.  Whilst we understand that not every digital tool will fit every business need or solve every business challenge, we thought we would put together a list of the top 18 digital tools that we not only use within KCS but also highly recommend based on what we’ve seen produce the most effective results within our clients businesses.

1. Communication Management

What problem is it solving? – Today’s digital tool will be solving communication within your business.

Why this digital tool? – If you are a Google user, we recommend Hangouts, if you are a Microsoft user, we recommend Teams, if you don’t really use either, we recommend Slack, Zoom and Skype

How will it benefit your business? – Everyone’s emails are overflowing (Normally with crap) and the ideal is always to get to inbox zero. Potentially half of those emails you send internally could be a quick message or phone call, so if you don’t already use a proper digital communications tool, definitely check out these ones!

Link to Recommendations – Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Slack,  Zoom, Skype

2. Password Management

What problem is it solving? – In this day and age when our entire world feels like it is online, you may be using the same password for all your accounts which comes with a high risk of being hacked.

Why this digital tool? – There are many options for online password management tools, after doing a great deal of research, we’ve found this one to be the best and most safest. If you’d like to learn more, check out our blog on The Top 4 Password Management Apps

How will it benefit your business? – By having an online password management system, you greatly reduce the risk of being hacked, passwords are stored securely, autofill information, passwords can be randomised thus saving you time and brain energy trying to remember them all!

Link to Recommendation – Dashlane.com

3. Project Management

What problem is it solving? – If you find yourself with endless “To Do” lists and a long line of steps / workflows to manage your projects / clients / products / services etc, these digital tools will get it all out of your head, off the paper and into the digital world with ease.

Why this digital tool? – Asana is generally for logical thinkers, it is very “List” based. Trello is generally for creative thinkers, it is very pretty. Clickup takes Asana and Trello, puts all the features together and adds some extra powerful stuff to provide a project management platform on steroids (Not that we induce drugs in any way shape or form).

How will it benefit your business? – It will allow you to create templates for all the tasks you do regularly (And not so regularly), access it all online so if you happen to be out shopping and think of a task that needs to be done, add it straight in. Staff can have access to all or some of the projects / tasks and you will never forget another thing or drop another ball… As long as you follow the process.

Link to Recommendation – Asana, Trello, Clickup

4. Time Management 

What problem is it solving? – Time is the one commodity that we can’t sell or get more of, we all have the same amount and yet some days we feel like we haven’t achieved anything at all.

Why this digital tool? – Toggl & Rescue time will help you analyse where you are spending your time and track it so you can make different decisions to manage your time better.

How will it benefit your business? – Once you know where your time is being spent, you can start to systemise it and achieve more in less time. If you want to know more about how to systemise your time, check out our blog 7 Steps to Take Control of Your Time.

Link to Recommendation – Toggl,  RescueTime

5. Calendar Management

What problem is it solving? – Everyone has busy schedules and when you try to align them, it can often take 10 emails back and forth just to find the next available time that suits everyone. By getting a calendar booking system in place, you can remove the back and forth emails.

Why this digital tool? – Calendly and Youcanbookme are both simple, easy to use digital tools with free versions so you can test them and make sure they will work for you and your business before investing any of your hard earned money.

How will it benefit your business? – Instead of spending time communicating when you are free, you can provide people with a link for them to find a time in your calendar that suits them. You can also have different booking options for different reasons, coffee, networking, consultants, quick questions, or even make it part of your client onboarding process to look that next level professional.

Link to Recommendation – Calendly, Youcanbook.me

6. Social Media Management

What problem is it solving? – The average business will have at least 3 different social media platforms that they manage which can cause time issues constantly logging in / out, scheduling to different platforms and needing to keep up with comments, questions etc.

Why this digital tool? – Hootsuite allows you to connect all of your social media accounts in one place and even has a free version.

How will it benefit your business? – One platform to schedule posts, respond to comments and questions and track your data.

Link to Recommendation – Hootsuite.com

7. Article Management

What problem is it solving? – Ever find you start reading an article or watching a video and then get distracted and want to come back to it but don’t have one spot to save them all and make sure they don’t get lost?

Why this digital tool? – Pocket is a Chrome extension which can be on all your devices and allow you to have articles, videos etc for you to come back and read / watch when you have the time and space.

How will it benefit your business? – Reduce the need for having to email yourself links, clutter your inbox or Project Management System and manage everything in one spot until you have an action for it.

Link to Recommendation – Getpocket.com

8. Video Management

What problem is it solving? – Verbal communication is best when it comes to staff and clients and sometimes they aren’t available when you are ready to chat.

Why this digital tool? – Loom allows you to record your screen whilst talking and showing yourself (Or not if you don’t like being on video) and provide verbal communication just like you were in the same room together.

How will it benefit your business? – Everyone learns and communicates differently so Loom just lets you create that next level of connection in your Standard Operating Procedures, responses to questions and important information.

Link to Recommendation – Loom.com

9. Internet Management

What problem is it solving? – There are so many web browsers available now and some of them work on some pages and not on others.

Why this digital tool? – Chrome is a product of Google with all the capacities and abilities to keep everything connected especially if you are a GSuite user.

How will it benefit your business? – Chrome has the ability to be logged in on multiple devices, save bookmarks and provide access to all your online information no matter where you are or what device you are on.

Link to Recommendation – Chrome

10. SOP Management

What problem is it solving? – Standard Operating Procedures are an important part of your business operations and when they are kept in word / google docs, they have the ability to get lost and confused by your team.

Why this digital tool? – If you are a GSuite user, Google Sites is built into your subscription and likewise with Microsoft Office 365 users so it’s a no brainer to utilise as much as possible on something you are already paying for.

How will it benefit your business? – By putting everything into a digital tool like Google Sites or Microsoft SharePoint, SOP’s can be quickly updated, easily located by staff and accessible on any device so it doesn’t matter where you or your team work, there’s no excuse.

Link to Recommendation – Microsoft SharePoint

11. Cloud Management

What problem is it solving? – Gone are the days of storing things on your laptop that can get lost, stolen or broken and lead to very important data being lost and you being stressed about getting it back.

Why this digital tool? – Google Drive is available for those of you that are GSuite users and OneDrive is available for those of you that are Microsoft Office 365 users.

How will it benefit your business? – By moving everything into the cloud, it can be backed up in case anything ever happens to it and accessed by your whole team on any device anywhere in the world.

Link to Recommendation – Google Drive, One Drive

12. Signature Management

What problem is it solving? – Now that we are moving away from pen and paper, electronic signatures are becoming more and more popular.

Why this digital tool? – Docusign has a free option and allows you to send and receive multiple signatures on any type of document quickly and easily.

How will it benefit your business? – An electronic signature tool saves you and your staff / clients time and money with back and forth emails, downloads, printing, scanning etc and adds that next level of professionalism into your business.

Link to Recommendation – Docusign.com

13. PDF Splitter Management

What problem is it solving? – Ever get someone that sends you a PDF file that has all the documents in one and you need them in 3 or 4 separate documents?

Why this digital tool? – PDF Splitter is a free, easy to use digital tool that allows you to split and download.

How will it benefit your business? – No more swearing when someone sends you multiple documents in one PDF, no more printing, separating and re-scanning, just upload it into PDF Splitter, adjust where you need it split and download the separate documents.

Link to Recommendation – PDF Splitter

14. PDF Combiner Management

What problem is it solving? – Ever get someone that takes a photo of each individual page and sends it to you all separately and you need to have it as one document?

Why this digital tool? – PDF Combiner is a free, easy to use digital tool that allows you to combine and download.

How will it benefit your business? – No more swearing when someone sends you seperate images for one document, no more printing and re-scanning, just upload it into PDF Combiner and download to one document.

Link to Recommendation – PDF Combiner

15. Stock Image Management

What problem is it solving? – Let’s face it, we don’t all have hundreds of dollars to spend on getting professional photos taken to use in our day to day marketing.

Why this digital tool? – Pexels and Pixabay provide free, royalty free stock images for all different types of personal and business use.

How will it benefit your business? – Quick, easy searches to find the right image to use in your blogs, social media posts and any other type of marketing you want to do for your business.

Link to Recommendation – Pixabay, Pexels

16. Market Image Management

What problem is it solving? – In small business, we kind of like to be in control and do things ourselves… Sound familiar? We also don’t have the time to figure out how to use the hard core digital tools that graphic designers use.

Why this digital tool? – Canva is a free, simple, user friendly graphic design tool.

How will it benefit your business? – Quickly create professional images for all your marketing needs from scratch or using hundreds of templates provided.

Link to Recommendation – Canva

17. Google Trend Management

What problem is it solving? – SEO is extremely important when creating marketing assets like blogs, social media posts etc.

Why this digital tool? – Google Trends provides you with a quick easy way to search what is trending and create your blogs, posts etc using those words.

How will it benefit your business? – When you use trending words in your marketing collateral, you will increase the organic reach without having to pay for an SEO specialist on the small things (In no way shape or form are we saying don’t use SEO specialists, just use them wisely).

Link to Recommendation – Google Trends

18. Facebook Live Management

What problem is it solving? – Ever want to do a Facebook Live Video and interview another person or just have a chat but couldn’t?

Why this digital tool? – Streamyard connects to your personal / business pages and allows you to live stream those chats and interviews with more than just yourself!

How will it benefit your business? – It has a free account which also allows you to brand and have those fancy banners running across the screen as you stream live.

Link to Recommendation – Streamyard

If you aren’t sure whether any of the above digital tools will solve your business challenges or are suitable for you to use within your business, feel free to connect with us, we’d love to brainstorm with you and make sure it will be a benefit to you, your team, your clients and your business!