In a recent reader survey, we discovered something interesting:
Most of you are either full-time entrepreneurs or planning to start your own business soon.
Creating a professional and profitable brand doesn’t happen by accident. It takes clarity, strategy, discipline — and the right tools.
Whether you’re just getting started or refining your systems, here are the core resources we use to build and run our company efficiently.
These tools take you from concept to execution — without the chaos.
1. Asana – Project Management That Actually Works
If your ideas live in email threads, sticky notes, or your memory… you don’t have a productivity issue — you have a systems issue.
We use Asana to:
- Brainstorm and plan new content
- Manage product launches
- Assign tasks with deadlines
- Track marketing campaigns
- Collaborate with team members and contractors
Everything lives in one organized place. No more digging through inboxes trying to remember who owns what.
Whether you’re a team of one or twenty, structured project management is a leadership advantage.
2. ActiveCampaign – Email Marketing & Automation
Your email list is one of the most valuable assets in your business.
We use ActiveCampaign to:
- Build and segment our subscriber list
- Create automated email sequences
- Deliver targeted messaging
- Track engagement and performance
- Nurture long-term relationships
Email marketing isn’t just about newsletters. It’s about building trust at scale.
Automation allows us to consistently serve our audience without manually managing every touchpoint.
If you’re serious about growth, you need more than a basic email tool — you need automation.
3. Canva – Professional Design Without the Overhead
Strong branding builds credibility. Weak visuals undermine trust.
We use Canva to create:
- Social media graphics
- Lead magnets
- Workbooks and PDFs
- Presentation slides
- Branded marketing materials
- Not every graphic requires a designer. Canva allows us to move quickly while maintaining a professional, consistent look.
In today’s world, presentation matters.
4. QuickBooks – Financial Clarity
In full disclosure, I use the paid version of QuickBooks, and I highly recommend it.
You cannot lead what you don’t measure.
QuickBooks allows us to:
- Track income and expenses
- Manage payroll and contractors
- Monitor cash flow
- Generate financial reports
- Prepare for tax season
Entrepreneurs who avoid their numbers eventually pay for it.
Financial clarity isn’t optional. It’s leadership.
5. WordPress – Your Digital Home Base
Our entire website runs on WordPress.
Your website is your digital headquarters. It’s often the first impression someone has of your business.
WordPress allows you to:
- Customize your design
- Publish blog content easily
- Increase SEO through indexed content
- Scale as your business grows
If you’re building a brand, you need a platform you own and control.
6. Sendible – Social Media Management Done Right
Love it or hate it, social media isn’t going anywhere.
Your audience expects you to have a presence.
We use Sendible to:
- Schedule content across multiple platforms
- Manage engagement and comments
- Monitor brand mentions
- Track analytics and performance
- Coordinate social strategy across the team
Instead of manually posting throughout the day, we batch and schedule strategically.
Social media should support your business — not consume your time.
The Bigger Picture
Tools don’t build your business.
Strategy, execution, and leadership do.
But the right tools:
- Remove friction
- Increase clarity
- Save time
- Improve communication
- Strengthen consistency
When your systems are strong, your leadership becomes stronger.
Additional Leadership Resources
If you’re building a business, don’t forget to build yourself.
- Zig Ziglar’s Wheel of Life
- Key Results Areas (KRAs)
- DISC Personality Profile
- DISC and VALUES Assessment
Great stuff Chris. I use all of them except Basecamp right now. Thanks for sharing these resources, I am sure many people will get value from these tools. They are in my back pocket.
Thanks Lincoln!
We use all of these except Freshbooks. Sorry but I’m an accountant so Quickbooks it is. However the others are wonderful especially basecamp which we use to keep our the team of VA’s on the same page with client projects
Great stuff! Thank you!
Evernote! I use it to keep track of everything from blog post ideas, drafts of interviews, shopping lists, notes taken during a sermon, daily journal, and the list goes on.
Evernote is a staple for me!
Agreed everyone! Love Evernote! The Evernote Essentials Book by Brett Kelly (www.nerdgap.com) is excellent. A great way to be even more productive.
I already use mailchimp, wordpress, and buffer. I have Quickbooks and use it as well. I need to check out these other ones.
Basecamp is pretty dang good on desktop and mobile.
I think the one thing that I use the most is Google Calender. I use it on my phone for scheduling appointments, reminders to myself, to do lists, and trying to follow my marketing schedule. I don’t like the smartphone interface, so I use another app, Business Calender, to connect to my Google Calender on my phone.
Thanks for sharing Buffer. I think I’ll try that.
I love using Nozbe, which I picked as a referral from @MichaelHyatt. It helps me collaborate with my ministry volunteers as well as my paid staff at Grace Family Church
I would also add hipchat.com, evernote.com and brightpod.com to this list. All three helps remote teams.
I can’t imagine running flyte without Proofhub.com. It allows us to setup a project for each new client, assign resources, schedule milestones, coordinate handoffs, upload and store files, document scope creep, and more.