Apps that help us stay on top of our game
As a design agency, we’re always looking for fresh, user-friendly plugins or apps that help us stream-line, organize, and overall create more productivity so that we can better serve our clients and make the most out of our day!
With so many apps out there these days, it seems like there’s always “an app for that” — but here are a few that we use daily and couldn’t live without.
1 | Asana
Our go-to project management tool
As a team, Asana is the first place we go for daily check-ins. This app helps us organize client and in-house projects, prioritize to-dos, and assign tasks easily to our team.
This app also has a built in calendar so that we can easily see what projects are on the books (and who is working on what).
We could go on and on, as this is really just scratching the surface on all this app can do, but if you’re a sucker for organization and task lists, this app can become a lifeline.
2 | Dropbox
Direct and easy file-sharing
As a design team, it’s important that we have a place to organize and share branding files easily, both with our clients and each other.
Dropbox is our go to file sharing tool because it allows us to not only send and receive large files to and from clients but also organize content into shared-folders.
Even bigger plus? Storing large files in the cloud means that our computers aren’t bogged down trying to store all-the-things.
3 | Zoom
Our go-to for video conferencing
As a digital agency, we work with clients all over the globe — which makes having face-to-face meetings a bit of a challenge. But Zoom has quickly filled that void for us, making it easy to schedule calls with clients and our team and even record them for future reference.
This app offers both video-chatting and screen-sharing which can make our client calls from across the country feel like an in-person meeting – what could be better?
4 | Voxer
A fun way to Stay connected + Communicate
This is an old app, but we still use it daily! Voxer is sort of an online ‘walkie-talkie’ that provides a quick and fun way to communicate as a team. We use this app as in-house as a team to chat back and forth about our to dos and tasks (or to send an inspirational meme or two throughout the day) but you could also use it with clients!
You can send voice memos by talking straight into the app, or you can also text. Messages also “live” on the app so you can come back to listen to them again if you need to.
5 | Acuity
Scheduling made easy
Although there are endless options out there for scheduling calls, Acuity is our favorite by far. This project management app may look a bit complicated at first but has a robust yet easy-to-use interface.
You can embed a scheduling link into your website directly or, what we do, is send a link directly via email so that our clients can schedule a call when convenient. The app also allows you to sync your calendar and sends reminders for both parties.
Bonus feature: if you take coaching calls, or have a service that you want to have scheduled through Acuity, you can also sync up Stripe which allows your customer to pay and schedule all at once, eliminating the extra step of sending an invoice.
6 | Loom
Easy Screen Recording
Sometimes managing your website can be a bit confusing; Loom is a super user-friendly app that allow us to quickly record and share tutorials with our clients.
This app also stores videos on the app itself which means all we have to do is record + share a link with our client for easy viewing.
Loom gives you multiple recording choices -- either screen-sharing, video-chatting, or both simultaneously. Add Loom as an extension to your Chrome toolbar so that you can record videos with a click of a button — Psst. It’s FREE!
7 | Hiver
Spend less time in your inbox
We’ve searched high and low for an email organizational system and right now Hiver is what’s working best for us.
Put simply, Hiver is a gmail extension that allows you to connect several inboxes into one account. But more than that it gives our team access to the same emails and we’re able to tag specific people to respond — If a client has a general question I can tag my assistant, or they can tag me to respond if it’s a more specific branding Q.
Even more, Hiver allows you to create easy to access email templates, and schedule out emails to be sent at a specific time (this is handy if we’re working late but want to send the email during “working hours”).
In a world powered by apps, it can be tough to know which ones you actually need. But once you find your go-to’s, you begin to wonder how you ever ran your business without them!
These apps have helped us take some of the stress out of our work day and have created a fun way to better communicate with our team and clients.
