Hi friends. Today’s post is a little different. Before the excitement of holiday content hits the blog in full force I wanted to share a little about entrepreneurship, my journey into freelancing, and some of the tools I use to make my businesses run smoothly. I don’t talk much about my business here on the blog and obviously, my blog is a business, but in addition to this platform I have a thriving business where I help companies improve their ranking in searches engines. Official, fancy title – SEO Strategist.
It’s undeniably a lot of work running two full-time businesses. The life of business owner can look glamorous – especially when walking around Target at 2 pm on a Tuesday – but what many don’t realize is that in addition to being my own boss I’m also my own accountant, saleswoman, strategist, marketing guru, office manager, and consultant. It’s taken me a while to nail down processes in all aspects of the business that works for me. If you’re in the small business space – either as a veteran or a newbie – you’ll know the processes which streamline the admin portion of the business are vital to your overall performance.
I wanted to share a little bit about my workflow, processes, and some helpful tools I use in my business daily and monthly to ensure success.
Thank you PayPal and Walmart for sponsoring this post. Introducing PayPal cash in and cash out money services, the financial services alternative which allows you to manage your cash flow on your own terms.
Daily Routine
My daily routine has not changed too much since my days of working at an office. I wake up, make coffee (or often tea), and am sitting down at my desk to begin the process of work by 8:00 or 8:15. My best working hours are between 9 and noon. I can really get down to businesses in the morning time and I try my best to block out any other distractions to concentrate if I have a big project to complete.
During this time I often send out emails to brands – yes, sometimes I send out "cold emails" asking about affiliate programs or brand collaborations. It's called pitching. Believe it or not I often use helpful email tools to make this job a little easier, like personalized mass emails with an amazing template system. Honestly, it's tools like this that keep me from working 14 hour days!
The afternoon is often a bit more flexible. If I have to run errands I like to beat the evening crowds and get them finished early afternoon. Mostly I’m back at my desk working away, but if I feel stale and sleepy I’ll try to get up and take a walk or tick a more active to-do off my list, like take blog photos or plan a shoot. I have a pretty hard and fast rule that I close my laptop by 5 and at least take a break to make dinner or go to the gym. Sometimes I find myself working again in the evening, but only if I’m swamped or inspired.
Financial Tools
I am NOT an accountant, nor do I have an accounting mind. I am a very fastidious budgeter, but only because that’s how I was raised. So the process of making and keeping track of business purchases, sending invoices, tracking money, etc. was (sometimes still is) confusing. I use Quickbooks Self Employed to help me keep track of my purchases and receipts and even mileage and just recently I found out about the new PayPal cash in and cash out money services at Walmart stores. It’s an easy to use, secure, and extremely convenient service that allows you to walk into a Walmart store and withdraw or deposit money into your PayPal account using the PayPal mobile app.
Read: it lets you check 2 things off your to-do list at once – 1. go grocery shopping 2. deposit or withdraw money from your account.
If you’re like me and don’t often have time to use more traditional methods of accepting client payments, like cashing a check, you can use PayPal to help simplify your life. It also gives me more financial flexibility and makes the process of accessing my personal finances so much easier.
And if you’re a PayPal Mastercard holder you can easily and conveniently make a purchase or pay a bill wherever Mastercard is accepted. You’ll also be able to access your cash balance at a Walmart Service Desk, ATM, and even the cash registers for just an easy low fee of $3 per service.
If you are looking for a new financial tool for your business or even just your personal finances, it’s worth checking out this new service by PayPal and Walmart. Learn all the ins and outs of the new service here!
Organizational Tools
If I was a disorganized person I truly don’t think I’d be able to run my own business. I’ve always loved to-do lists but when trying to keep multiple deadlines straight it often takes more than a cute notebook to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. These programs help me keep everything from deadlines to post ideas organized.
- Notion. I’ve used everything from Trello to Airtable to organize my work and Notion has been my favorite due to its highly customizable features.
- Tailwind App. It’s been only recently that I’ve embraced Pinterest with open arms and there’s no way I could grow that account with Tailwind. If you have an online platform and want to grow your exposure jump on Pinterest and invest in Tailwind.
If you’re still in the process of creating streamlined systems, tools, and processes for your business feel free to steal my ideas! From the new PayPal service (seriously, how convenient?!) to Tailwind, these are amazing and creative ways to enjoy more financial flexibility and help with time management.
PS – Happy Thanksgiving Week! I’ve been pinning Thanksgiving tablescape ideas over on Pinterest (including a sneak peek into our turkey day table). Follow my holiday board.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.