When it comes to getting things done for your biz, you obviously want the quickest, highest quality, easiest thing to use at your disposal. Sometimes these services are totally free, or sometimes you pay a bit to get some great features and turnarounds. I couldn't run my day-to-day biz without these five fine young cannibals.
1. CANVA
I discovered this app/website about a year ago and it changed my life. Canva features the easiest design tools you'll ever come across, available on any computer with web access and on any phone with the app. I use this for every poster, trivia answer sheet, social media graphic, and powerpoint slides that produce on a daily and weekly basis. Plus, they're always adding templates and fonts and graphics to make your stuff fresh. Can't recommend it enough, and they even just added a printing service if you don't have a good printer in your area. (PS find a good printer in your area. If in LA, Color Images in Burbank is the BEST.
2. LIBSYN
I researched a few different podcast hosting services when I first decided to start my own show in 2016, but none seemed to have the reputation that Libsyn had. It's a little archaic in presentation when you start messing with it, but it's quick to learn and it gets the job done. I've grown an audience from a few dozen a week to about 500 a week with consistent posting that couldn't be possible without reliable hosting service. They had a great weekly show called The Feed that answers tons of questions, too! Check that out before you sign up even. I pay $20 a month for 400MBs and great customer support.
3. WIX
I've said it a million times in the last year, but it's been exactly a year this month since I signed up for Wix and MAN had it changed my biz! The features are never ending, and I have zero problems with it, ever. And if something small pops up, they also have great American-based customer service that's not just someone flipping through a guide to "help" you. From being able to easily change any aspect of my site in a few clicks, to adding sleek videos from anywhere, to creating events people can RSVP and buy tickets to, Wix is a grand slam in terms of doing exactly what I need it to do. It's $119 for the year of domain and hosting, but I paid for a THREE YEAR extension recently. That's how much I believe in it. Here's a prime example of it kicking ass lately: I wanted to create an event that allowed people to buy tickets, have it sell out at 100, and automatically do everything I needed to prepare for the RSVP portion of the event. All of that worked perfectly, and I made $1000. I'll use this every time I run a ticketed event again, hands down.
4. PRINT-BINGO
This site is obviously not for everyone, but if you're looking to run number based or custom word list based BINGO events, you should look no further than this very simple bingo card creator. I found it on a quick google search, and used its free version for a year before I plopped down the $12 for lifetime "premium" access (the ability to print more than 5 pages of cards at a time). With premium, you can print up to 1,000, so it's definitely worth it just for that feature. This site helps you get the regular ol' numbered cards randomly generated with up to 4 cards per letter sized sheet, but it gets really fun when you need Horror Bingo, for example. I input 75 horror titles, and it makes the spaces with the titles on them randomly for players to mark on. I then show screenshots from horror movies on screens at bars and people blot the cards until they get five in a row. It's simple, but very fun, especially for lushes. I do this with genres of movies, music (by playing 75 song playlists of say, Hip Hop songs, on Amazon Unlimited Music), and characters from things, like Simpsons citizens or Marvel superheroes. The possibilities are endless.
5. EVERNOTE
Every idea that pops into my head then (hopefully) gets popped into Evernote. It's extremely easy to use and find things in, and I've been using it for at least three years. I use the free version, since the premium version doesn't have any features that I need at this time. You can make notebooks, which are just like folders for all your notes to live in, and you can easily share notes or start "work chats" with other people. Inserting images, videos, and links is very easy, too, but again, not really what I use it for. Evernote is great for me to organize stuff like Screenplay Ideas, Podcast Guests, Trivia Rounds and Questions, and just about everything else. Use it, use it now.
Message me anytime if you have questions about these apps and services. I'd love to help you out! ryanbudds@gmail.com.
