I’m not a “techy” and I don’t claim to be. I’m actually pretty horrible all things ‘technology’ and have been known to send panicked Facebook Messages to Tyler Herrinton when my Mac is on the fritz, ha! (Thanks, Tyler!!!)
But I have found a few iPhone Apps that make being a boss lady that much easier, so I wanted to share my top 5 with you!!:)
1. Mile IQ … Last year I tried tracking my miles on paper. ON PAPER, friends!! It did NOT work and I’m sure I missed miles when I was filing my taxes. This year, my sweet friend Natalie clued me in on Mile IQ and it has CHANGED my life!!!! I’m OBSESSED!!!! Why?! Because I don’t have to do ANYTHING – it runs itself!!! It automatically calculates my drives (kinda like FitBit for walking!), and calculates the estimated value. ALL I have to do is log in and swipe left or right if the drive was for business or personal! (I try to log my drives once every two weeks, but there have been times where I have forgotten and then logged an entire month at one time.) The beauty of MileIQ is that it saves each month to a PDF and you can them email it to yourself and save it in your tax folder!! Brilliant!! Because I drive so much, I did have to pay for unlimited miles; but it was a small one time fee & not a monthly subscriptions. Plus it’s a business expense to even purchase the app!!:)
2. Paypal … I’m assuming that most of you have a Paypal account! I recently downloaded the Paypal app and I love it!! It makes transferring money and checking the status of my account that much easier and when you’re constantly on the go, easier is always better!!! This is a free app!!:)
3. Gmail … About 6 months ago, I was really unhappy with various features of my apple mail app, so I download the Gmail app (Thanks for the tip, Taylor!). It’s so much easier to navigate!! I have all 3 of my gmail accounts in the same app, am able to see all of my folders and organize my inbox efficiently and on the go. I also love that it shows my color coding! This app is always free!!:)
4. Afterlight … I use Afterlight to edit ALL of my images on instagram!!! I am not a professional photographer and unless I am gramming an image from a wedding that the photographer took, the majority of my instagrams are taken on my iPhone! I take photos in square format, drop them into Afterlight and ONLY use the Brighten and Highlight tools! Sometimes I will use Exposure or Saturation, if needed. I don’t want to use pre-set filters because I want to keep my photos looking VERY natural, bright and full of color – which fits my brand and the feed I want my followers to see!! (I did pay a small, one time fee for Afterlight but it was 2 years ago & I don’t remember the amount – sorry!!!)
5. Google Docs … The C@H Team and I use Google Drive to organize all of our information; it’s great because we can each log in individually to access and edit the data. I also use Google Drive to store “Favorites” folders for weddings & shoots. It’s nice to have access to my favorite images and heashots on the go so if I need to send them on to a friend, or use them for a social media post, they’re right on my phone! I love using this free app & use it a LOT!!!:)
This is only skimming the surface – there are SO MANY APPS that small business owners should take advantage of!! These are just the apps I use most frequently and find the most helpful!! Do you have any questions about these apps?! What apps do you find to be the most helpful?!
PS. Registration for the #ONTHEROADTOFULLTIME E-Course opens TONIGHT at 8pm!!! I hope you can join me!! Sign up for the newsletter to be the FIRST to hear about registration specials & upcoming courses.
xo!! kat
Image by Andrea Pesce Photography
