Episode 13 Transcript

Hey everyone. It’s me, Lisa. And welcome back to another episode of the other 99%. Today, I thought I’d come to you and talk to you a little bit about five of my favourite tech tools. So those of you who know me, you know that I love all things tech. Give me an app that will make my business run smoother and I’m all for it. And I’m a big believer that everyone out there, regardless of your tech experience, can use technology to build your business and my goal is to help everyone be able to use tech to basically better your workflow, make things easier. The whole goal with our business is to work smarter, not harder. And the way I look at it, tech tools are definitely out there to make life easier. And I wanna help by taking away the overwhelm. So I wanna give you a run through of five, maybe, maybe six. I mean, I had a hard time narrowing it down, but definitely five of my top tech tools, apps that I use basically on the daily. Like, I mean, I use these things. I’m giggling right now because I’m looking at my computer screen and yep, all of the tabs are open and the tabs are all of the ones that I’m gonna share with you today. So let’s just dive right in.

Can anybody guess what number one is? Well, if you haven’t guessed Canva, then you don’t know me too well because I love Canva. I could spend hours, even though it’s not profitable, but I could spend hours in Canva. There are just so many things that this app can do. I mean, you have the free version. Now, I’m a big believer in that you shouldn’t be paying for things that you don’t need in your business. There’s a lot of stuff out there that, I mean, we technically don’t need to pay for. And although I said that, Canva is one thing I do highly recommend the pro version of. I’m not even an affiliate and I would recommend that you get the pro version of Canva. Why? Because I find that a lot of people…..their overwhelm from that app comes from the fact that they have to navigate all the the pro feature pre sorry the pro features. So take for example like you’re trying to create a great design but everything that you like you know has the little pro icon on it and you just end up getting frustrated because you can’t use the font you want and you can’t use the picture you want and you can’t remove the background and if we would just eliminate that frustration, our designs in Canva would go a lot smoother. So if you haven’t used Canva, I highly recommend it. It is something that every direct seller needs because as a direct seller trying to grow your business on social, I mean you need to be unique. You need to be you. You need to brand you and you need to stop using other people’s images you need to create your own images. And they don’t have to be like extravagant designs, but as long as they’re consistent and they maintain your brand, pick your colours, pick your fonts, whatever it is, but stick with a style that you like and create content that you can use on social media so that you could be recognized, so that you can stop the scroll you can learn how to import things. And if you have the free version, then learn how to use frames so that your images don’t look so clunky in the middle there with like all the white space around it. Like use the frames, that’s what they’re there for. They’re there to help design. And there’s so many great magic features. Like, oh my God, I was on there the other day, literally picked like seven different images and I made a reel that like guys it wrote all the words for me. Like I all I had to do was go in and edit it. There was like one phrase that I didn’t like that didn’t sound like me and I just edited it and there I have like a cool a cool video that I can share on social that talked about you know what’s for dinner and never having to struggle with me all time again when you you know take advantage of Epicure’s Epic Box. And I was just amazed, I’m blown away by the video that it created. And all I did was input a little prompt and a few images and it did it all from start to finish. It was, it’s truly amazing. If you haven’t tried Canva and if you haven’t played around with all the magic features that it offers, I highly recommend that you take a peek. So that’s tech tool number one, Canva.

Number two, can you guess what it is? If you know me, you know it’s gonna be Boards. Well, I love everything Boards. Why do I love Boards? Because to me boards is a gigantic filing cabinet in the cloud. So I don’t know if you’re like me, but honestly, I struggle finding all the things. Even when I’m looking for images, it’s like scrolling through my camera roll drives me crazy because I’m a lover of screenshots and if I see something, I just screenshot it. I don’t save it. I don’t do anything. I just screenshot it so that I have the information there in my camera roll. Well when I go to make a social media poster or something, I don’t want to share the screenshots that I took. I’m looking for my images that I created or I’m looking for maybe a sales graphic or you know a graphic that I might have created for the opportunity and trying to find that even though I know we have albums and all that stuff, it’s just not easy. So that being said, I mean, I love boards because it’s easy for me to organize. Another reason that I love boards, I could put my images and my text in one place. I don’t have to have my images on my camera roll and my my texts say in like a notes app or something like that I can have it there right at my fingertips, but the best thing is that I can actually use the Board’s keyboard and I don’t have to remember any shortcuts, I don’t have to remember, you know, what notes file I put it in. All I have to do is go to my Board’s keyboard, find the Board that I have it in, I have it nice, neat and organized, again, treating it like a filing cabinet, so my board is the actual cabinet vessel then each file within that cabinet is what I consider the drawer. And then I open that drawer and each of those cabinets are either a file folder or a, you know, one of those hanging folder with multiple folders in it. Just think of it as a filing cabinet when you’re creating your Board so that when you go to look for things, it’s going to be super easy. But what I love about the, the board’s keyboard is that you have everything at your fingertips. So if I wanted to go and make, let’s say, do something like a party in a post. So it would take me a long time to copy, paste, edit, and then post. But what could I do in boards? I just duplicate my past party in a post. I edit it right there in the app so that when I am…..when it’s go time, when I’m ready to go and do my party in a post, all I have to do is bring up the keyboard, go to the folder where I have my updated party in a post content and then paste paste boom. I’m done. So I can simply paste. Um, now, keeping in mind, I use an iPhone, so I could paste a picture in comments and I could paste my, um, text in the comments, but it’s just so super easy. Now if you have, um, issues, I mean, use Boards on your desktop and get the Chrome extension that allows you to use like a keyboard function there as well. There’s so many different ways that you can use boards, not to mention I love doing parties in boards so we call them scroll parties and some people they just don’t want to party on social media anymore or they want just a catalog party or something like that and you know we need to up our game for catalog parties in 2024 and why not create something like a scroll party where you’re giving them more than just here take a peek at the catalog. Why can’t they have a web link that takes them to the scroll party that offers them so much more. There’s a personalized welcome there from me. There is the link to their hosts party. So it’s easy to find. There might be a top three list of what myself or their host, their favourite products are, which will help the guests decide what they want. It could be a quick demo on some of the products that I have. It could be just a quick reel that was created or I created that I drop in there. There could be a little blurb on some products you name it. Like I have information about the opportunity on there. I share about, you know, how you can host a party and help your current your current host get some extra freebies. There’s just so much that you could put in this party in a post. I even do it where I try to have it as interactive interactive as possible and I insert forms and say, hey, fill out a form for a chance to win a little prize. And that way I could build the know, like and trust factor because when these people fill out this form, I reach out to them and I thank them for filling out the form. I asked them what they’re enjoying about what they’re seeing on the scroll party so far. I asked them if there’s any questions that they have, if they need help, can we set up a time for a personalized checkout so I can help you? Make sure that you have everything that you need. There’s just so many ways to build your business digitally and Boards, I highly recommend you checking it out if you haven’t. And feel free to come and join me on Facebook in my digitally direct hub. I’ll make sure I link the group in the show notes, but over the next few weeks, I’m gonna be doing some little snippets of training in that group about boards and some of the boards features I am actually a Board’s advisor and I kind of a sneak peek at some of the stuff to come. And I am just in awe at all of the things that are coming. This app is going to be so useful in business. It already is useful, but the things that they’re bringing out, the additions that they’re making, every business owner, not even direct seller, but every business owner definitely needs to take a peek at that.

All right, so let me talk about my number three tech tool that I absolutely love. And it has to be, but it has to be Word Swag. So Word Swag is an app. I only have the free version. I don’t find the need or I don’t see the need to pay for the Word Swag, because Word Swag is just something that I have when I’m on the run and I have to create a eye-catching graphic, but I don’t have time to jump into Canva and start from scratch. And Word Swag basically is, you could either upload an image or pull an image from their free library and then insert some text on that image and then download it. And because I don’t have the paid version, I get the little Word Swag logo stuck in the corner. I don’t care. Like, who cares, right? And then I just post it but the great thing about that is that you can maintain the brand colours again You could pick the your colour palettes that you like in word swag and you can pick the fonts that you like there there’s like a huge selection of Free fonts and colours and stuff like that So I again for the amount of I use it like I do use it quite a bit But for for the amount that I use it, I don’t find that I need to pay for the extras so take a peek if you haven’t taken a peek at Word Swag yet. I’m not sure if it’s available on Android and Apple, but I’m pretty sure it is. But I have an iPhone, so I know for sure it’s on iOS.

All right, so the next one is InShot. If you haven’t tried InShot, InShot is a video editor. Now, even though I have an Apple, an iMovie does basically the same thing. I just find that InShot is so much more user-friendly. And again, I don’t pay for InShot. I just use the free version. All I’m basically doing in InShot is taking long video and importing it into InShot, or I might be taking multiple video clips and importing it in there, splicing it together, maybe shortening some, maybe speeding up sections, stuff like that, but…Basically, I am just editing video snippets in there. I don’t use any of their other features like music or anything like that. I just basically use it to edit my video into a usable piece of content. And then I will download it and I’ll upload it into say Instagram and use it to create a reel or put it in my stories or something like that. But if you haven’t tried it in shot, I would highly recommend taking a peek at that one as well.

Number five would probably, and I’m sitting here thinking, I’m like, I don’t even know if I’m gonna be able to handle six. I think I might have seven, but we’ll see. So number five would have to be ChatGPT. If you haven’t used AI, I know AI is like controversial. Some people love it, some people hate it. I love it as a..conversation starter for my own head. Like, I mean, if I have questions or if I’m not sure what to write, if I have writer’s block, if I can’t think about things, I just ask chat GPT questions and it spits out like some great information. Do I copy and paste that information and use it? Absolutely not. Like I want the content that I put out there to become or to be original to me, but ChatGPT will actually give me a great starting point to where the brain power just starts flowing and I don’t have to like stress so much about thinking, oh, well, where do I begin? Or sometimes, I mean, I second guess myself, like, am I saying what I’m saying, is it correct? And then I just ask ChatGPT a question and…when it spits out the answer, it’s like, yeah, okay, okay, I’m on the right track. Okay, let me go where I was going with this. But I use it for, um, to help me create workbooks. I use it to, um, help me get like, um, podcast layouts. Like, you know, what do I want? Like sort of give me a guideline on what to say, not necessarily word for word, but just like little snippets. Okay. Here, you want to start with with an intro and do this and you want to do this and then you want to have a conclusion. But it helps you with all of this stuff. It can help you write blogs. So many things that ChatGPT can do. I mean, even in terms of helping you create hooks and content for social media. Like it’s amazing. You just have to keep asking it questions and be very specific. Don’t worry about if it spits something out and you don’t like it, don’t worry about saying, okay, yo, try again, because that doesn’t make any sense. Like it’s a computer, it doesn’t really have any feelings. Although I always find myself saying please and thank you to it. Many times I look at my, like, why did I just ask it? You know, please do this or thank you. But that, I guess that’s just me coming out, right? I mean, that’s who I am. But…Chat GPT, again, I only use the free version. I think you can pay to upgrade it, but I don’t never find the need to use an upgraded version of it. So just make sure you’re Googling the right one. I find that there are other AI programs out there that charge you and definitely not something that I think at a direct seller’s level that we need to really start paying for just yet. It gives you enough information on the free version. So if I can save you money wherever I can I will definitely help you do that All right. So again told you can’t stick to just five.

So let’s go number six Number six has to be project broadcast Project broadcast is pretty new to me. I mean, I’ve been in direct sales for 18 years I don’t even know how long project broadcast has been around but I probably just started using it probably a year and a half ago, and I still don’t use it to its fullest potential. That is my goal in 2024 to maximize my use of Project Broadcast. But what I do in Project Broadcast is I have follow up. I use it for follow up. I use it for team communication. And I am going to start introducing past customers. So I’m going to try to rebuild customer loyalty from customers that may have fallen off the books. So that’s my goal for 2024. How that’s going to work? I don’t know. We’ll see. I mean, I’m trying to be of service. So I’m not going to be offended if people response stop. But just going to say, hey, because I often get the message from people who, who I’ve lost touch with is like, Hey, are you still selling Epicure? And it’s like one of those things. It’s like, Oh my God, yeah. Like I, I feel so bad because we lost connection, but yeah, I’m still here. How can I help? And it’s always a positive response. So people do really want to know that you’re still doing things. So I don’t feel bad in trying to reconnect with my past customers, so wish me luck on that one, guys.

The last one I think I’m gonna share about is OhMyHi. So OhMyHi is a template website that it was created by a direct seller for direct sellers. So even though I am techie and I have two other WordPress websites that I have created from scratch and have up and running. Oh My High is just so user friendly and is definitely for everyone. So as things are changing, you know, we’re in 2024, social media isn’t the same as it was three or four years ago. I highly recommend people taking a peek at Oh My High to start building your brand virtually. Things like blogging are very important. If you want to get your name out there. So take a look at Oh My Hi.

I’ll make sure that I link all this stuff in the comments, anything that I have links for so you could take a peek. If you have any questions or want to ask me about any of the tech tools that I’ve mentioned, feel free to drop me a DM. You can find me on social media either under Spice It Up with Lisa Duck or Lisa Duck. And I’d love to have a chat or I’ll drop the link, like I said, to the digitally direct group in the show notes. And then you can always just reach out to me there, pose a question. And like I said, I’m gonna start doing more small little snippets of training in that group. So if you’re looking for help with tech tools, I suggest you find me there and join the community. And then the last thing I just wanted to say is that I don’t know if you know, but I do offer a one-on-one coaching, let’s say training. So if you’re stuck with tech tools and you’re, you’re getting to the point of frustration and overwhelm, I never want you to be there. I, I’m more than happy to set up a call with you. I do have paid paid per use timing, let’s say so if you wanna book a call with me, let me know and I’ll send you a link where you can see the information on booking, but we sit there, it’s a one-on-one call, it’s all recorded, we go through your questions and we make sure that you’re getting the most out of your apps and using them to run your business. So I hope you got a little bit of information out of this little podcast here. Some of my favourite tech tools for sure. I love anything tech and if there are some tech tools out there that are new or maybe you might not think that I know about them, send them my way. I love learning new things. I mean, I’m, I’m an information junkie. So if there’s something out there that’s new and exciting, I want to know about it because I just want to dive in and learn everything that I can about this tech tool because if it can help me, if it can help someone else in business. I’m all for it.