Avoiding Technology Overwhelm
I bet you're a little bit like me, and you have a love-hate relationship with technology.
Now, don’t get me wrong — technology is what allows me to have an online business. There are so many opportunities to grow and streamline things in my business with the latest apps and software. But there's this other side that really gets me upset — the amount of software, apps, and other technology that I have to wade through to get to the pieces that I need for my business.
When I first started, I did what most people in business do — I researched to see what other virtual assistant services use to manage their projects, set up their website, even for invoicing.
I got so overwhelmed very quickly.
For every app or software that is recommended, there will always 100 more that are very similar. When I started the hunt, the amount of technology was overwhelming. I quickly started piling up what I called my technology graveyard — software and apps that I loved, but for various reasons didn't work for my business.
So, I went back to the drawing board — something busy small business owners don’t really have time to do. It was so time-consuming to start over and try to figure out what I needed. It took so much trial and error to configure what would work best for me and Bright Moments!
I have a couple of ideas for you to move forward because there will constantly be new technology to use. However, once you find a system you love, don’t let the latest tech sway you. Work it until it doesn’t work for you.
So first, always work from the beginning: What do you need technology to do for you? Really name it. What is the specific task that you need to be done?
Secondly, once you have that list, download our free software and apps guide, or Google the specific task you're looking to be completed.
For example, you may have heard that instead of a standard spreadsheet to track leads and contacts, you might need a CRM system. There are so many CRMs out there, and you might have heard about a couple of different CRMs from your networking groups. Start with a few CRM options and research them all to see what stands out to you, just from the beginning.
Each software or app will have a website or landing page that has more information about what that system or software will do for you. Once you have it narrowed down, I always recommend picking the top two to do the free trial and test them.
So for CRMs, you might have it boiled down to HubSpot and HoneyBook (which by the way, are my top two recommendations for small businesses). Once you have them narrowed down, you get a free trial for both.
HoneyBook is what we use, and it's a paid software system. HubSpot, on the other hand, can be free forever, depending on what you need, and might be the best option for you.
But you're not going to know what you need and what will work best until you look at them and try them out.