Are you using these 3 free online business tools?
TAKE A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AT BRIGHT AVENUE →Today I’m sharing three of my favourite online resources that you can introduce to your business.
What’s more, with the costs of literally everything going up in 2023, they all offer free packages which provide great functionality.
My absolute favourite free business resource.
So what is Canva?
Canva is an online design tool that is easy-to-use and creates truly beautiful, professional graphics and documents for your business.
Whether you’re designing menus, flyers, brochures, price lists, or social media graphics (think Instagram and Pinterest posts), Canva is fantastic if you don’t have access to design software such as Adobe. Simply sign up for a free account and you’re good to go.
How does it work?
Canva allows you to start creating from a blank canvas. But if you’d like a bit of direction, they provide a huge library of templates that are a great starting point for your designs. My favourite part of Canva is the ‘Elements’ tab - there are hundreds of graphic elements that really bring your designs to life and look really professional.
Canva Design School
Canva has its own Design School (you’ll find it under ‘Learn’ on the homepage). The Design School offers courses and tutorials including design principles such as typography and layout. It’s a great resource with short, bite-size videos so you can quickly improve your design skills and you’ll be amazed at the stunning designs you’re able to create in no time at all.
How good is the free package?
There is a - very reasonable - Pro package (around £10 a month) if you decide you’d like to access more design functionality. If you’re a non-profit, the Pro package is free once you have evidenced your non-profit status (see here). But honestly, their free offer is more than enough for most businesses and Canva is a great option if you don’t have the time to learn (or want to make a considerable investment) in Adobe software, but are still looking for professional designs for your business.
All my Instagram graphics and Pinterest pins are created using Canva and the best part is - it’s so simple to use, it takes a matter of minutes to create something that’s ready for you to hit ‘publish’.
It’s helpful outside of work too!
Business-aside, I use Canva outside of work too. Need to design a party invite PDF that you can share with your Whatsapp group? Canva definitely has you covered….
How do you help clients with Canva?
I help clients get set up on Canva and design a portfolio of templates so they have custom, go-to documents and graphics for their business with consistent branding. I’ve designed everything from leaflets to social media posts, contract reports to team videos. Once clients are up and running, I either hand over everything; or continue to offer support. It’s completely up to you and what works for your business.
Notion really is the sunshine in my business life!
I discovered Notion this year and now I’d be totally lost without it.
What is Notion?
Notion has a lot of functions and is very different from anything else I’ve come across. So rather than describe what Notion is - I’ve listed all the helpful ways I use Notion at Bright Avenue:
Creating to-do lists and checklists
Creating databases (a bit like Excel)
Creating project dashboards for clients to keep all communication and ideas in one place. Whatever your business - catering company, interior design, property service - Notion dashboards are a fantastic way to create bespoke client areas to offer a great customer experience
For saving images to create website inspiration/mood boards
For saving links to helpful resources and web content I find online
General note-taking
…..Oh, (and personally) for saving recipes I want to try! Which is a lot from Modern Proper 😋.
On top of all this, Notion is designed to be a collaborative tool. So every page, database, or dashboard you create in Notion can be shared with clients or within your team, so you can all view or contribute to the document.
How do I learn about Notion?
Notion has a huge guidance section on its website.
Another good place to learn more about Notion is YouTube. There are hundreds of tutorials that walk you through how to get set up and explain how Notion can work for your industry.
Social media can take up a huge amount of time.
➡️ So I’m very grateful that I discovered Tailwind,
What is Tailwind?
Tailwind allows you to plan your social media activity in advance. It’s amazingly simple to create and schedule posts for Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook to be drip-fed over the next week (or month!).
This means you can spend a short, focused time setting up your social media content for the next few weeks and then turn your mind back to running your day-to-day business.
Tailwind is particularly useful if you’re going to be busy (for example summer in the wedding industry) or if you’re on holiday but still want to have some engagement with your clients and customers.
On top of everything, Tailwind is really easy to use and quick to set up. Brilliant!
How do I learn about Tailwind?
We’ve found the best way to learn about Tailwind is to dive in and set up a free account. Once you’re logged in, there is a guided tutorial to click through which shows you around the website. It’s as simple as that.
So there we have it, hopefully you’ll give one (if not all of these tools) a try and see how it can help with your business in 2023.
I’d love to hear how you get on ✨. Good luck!
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Hi, I’m Rachel
BUSINESS SUPPORT + WEB DESIGN SPECIALIST
Founder of Bright Avenue - and passionate about offering businesses and charities high quality, effective support services driven by your needs.
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