My 5 favourite tech hacks for running an online business
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Since I started my online business I’ve tried to do whatever I can to make things as easy as possible. That means creating systems, becoming more efficient and in some cases hacking my way to meet my goals. I’ve found these 5 little tech hacks so helpful that I thought I’d share them with you - they’ve cut hours off my working day and helped me do my work better.
My 5 favourite tech hacks for running an online business
No need for an introduction. Let’s get straight to my favourite tools that I have bookmarked (or as an extension) in my Chrome browser and I use nearly every day.
1. Convertcase
This tool is invaluable! It’s a website where you plug in your text and there are various buttons that turn your lowercase letters into uppercase, or vice versa, or title case, or sentence case…
It literally does what it says in the name. It converts your (letter) case.
This tool has saved me so much time when tinkering with copy in emails, websites and landing pages... and you can thank me later for having introduced this fantastic tool!
2. Edit This Website
Go to your Chrome store and add an extension called Edit This Website. Once you add it to your browser you’ll see a small icon shaped like the letter I (with cross bars).
Now go to any website you want to play with and click the icon to activate it. Then start typing over what’s already on the page and you’ll magically transform the text on the page. It’s not permanent – just there while you’re viewing the page.
This is perfect for testing out a new headline on your website without having to adjust the website on the back end or messing with code if you’re just experimenting. You can also have some fun with it…
3. Emojipedia
As ridiculous as it sounds, emoji’s can be a conversion tool.
In subject lines it has been proven (or so the rumour goes) that those emails with emoji’s in the subject lines have a higher rate to those without.
The best place to find emojis for your emails? Emojipedia!
Use them wisely – no one wants an emoji from a funeral parlour (unless of course that’s how you’ve branded yourself… “the end of life party people”).
Use them sparingly, and of course… don’t feed them after midnight – FYI I am setting up a petition to have a “gremlin” emoji added to the vault!
4. Streak
Always wondering whether someone opened your email?
I’m not talking about your newsletters from your Email Service Provider (ESP), but those emails where you’re pitching to appear on the next rising podcast or you’ve sent an email to your distributor and they swear it’s not been received.
Well, hello Streak… the all-seeing-eye of email opens.
If you use Gmail or Gsuite for your business or personal email account then go ahead and install Streak.
It has a whole host of functions like keeping track of email conversations in Pipelines and such the like... but if you only use it to check if your email has been opened, you’ll prevent yourself from having to email a check-in with a powerless message like “just checking to see if you got my email?”...
Instead you can send “saw you read my email yesterday, why haven’t you responded, fool!”
I know that’s not really what you’d send, but you get the message!
5. 1ty.me
And finally, if you’ve ever fancied yourself a bit of an Ethan Hunt you’ll love One Time or as it’s properly known 1ty.me. This tool allows you to send secure messages via the internet in a note that self-destructs after being viewed. Cue music… Dun, Dun, Dun-dun, Dun Dun, Der-dun, Dun, Dun… (and on).
If you don’t use LastPass (my favorite tool for storing and sharing passwords) or the person you want to share with doesn’t use / won’t sign up for LastPass, you can send your sensitive information via a one time message and be sure that it won’t get hacked.
And that concludes the lesson for today on hacking your time with tech shortcuts to help make running an online business easy!
Do you have any favourite tools or hacks you use? Share them with me here.
Related content:
How to remember all your passwords AKA a users guide to LastPass