If you are finally establishing yourself online you may feel a little behind the 8 ball. That’s okay! The awesome thing about growing your business online is that the landscape changes all the time. What worked today, may not work as well tomorrow. The trendy platform this week, may get booted for a new trendy app next week. What is important is to have the right tools to support your business goals no matter what the new online fad is.

Here’s are some tips for finding the best tools to help grow your business.

1. Don’t be afraid to ask other entrepreneurs what they recommend. There are so many entrepreneurs online these days, you’ll be able to find someone in your niche who has had success using a technology, tool, or new software.
2. Clarify what is a real win for your business. Look back at your past experiences with the clients you really enjoyed working with. What was that journey like? How did the interaction start? Was it a phone conversation, a personalized email, an ad, a referral? If you dive deep enough you’ll see a trend in those who become great clients, and a win WIN for your business. This is important because when you know your WIN, you can identify the best tools & softwares to invest in to help you convert more WINS with less time, money, and sometimes effort.
3. Don’t be afraid of technology! There is not much you break that can’t be fixed. Testing, failing, fumbling through is a part of the process.
4. Be willing to spend money on technology. Technology is changing all the time, and you’ll want to stay up-to-date with what works best for your business and others like yours.

Everyone can agree that it makes sense to invest in software and tools you need to grow your business. The truth is, this can be expensive, and you don’t know which technology will have the greatest impact on your business until you implement it into your process. Buying, Testing, and Implementing can get expensive and time-consuming, but here’s a site I use to help me make the best decisions without a lot of risk.

Appsumo has become my go-to site for tools for my business. It’s almost like becoming an early investor in a tech startup.

Here’s how appsumo works.

– You pick a technology to invest in, usually the cost starts a $49.00 and that gets you a Lifetime Deal on different softwares or tools relevant for your business type and niche.

– Once you’ve picked the technology, it’s yours forever…hence the LIFETIME DEAL I mentioned above. You’ll get access for the life of the technology at up to 90% off regular prices!

– If this technology doesn’t work as well as I need it too I can contact them within 30 days and they will refund my money – no questions asked!* This makes investing in technology risk-free!

Appsumo partners with companies like Mailchimp which we all know about but what other great technologies have they helped bring into lives? They’ve partnered with some really great brands during their startup phase. For example:

Intercom

AppSumo Launch Date: December 2012

Price: $49 for lifetime access

Shopify

AppSumo Launch Date: October 2012

Price: $149 for four-month access

Zapier

AppSumo Launch Date: January 2013

Price: $39 for lifetime access

Hopin

AppSumo Launch Date: October 2019

Price: Starting at $59 for lifetime access

So, I can’t give your the Pros without the Cons. The only thing I don’t like about Appsumo is the fact that some of the tech startups become successful and get brought out by a bigger company. This usually happens over a period of time (the quickest I’ve experienced is 1 year). When these businesses buy them out they can make adjustments to your Lifetime Deal, or Cancel it all together. The Founders of the technology and Appsumo do a pretty good job of making sure that they keep you informed of what going on, and figuring out ways to migrate appsumo customers into the new tech or issue some form of refund/credit.

I’ve had no real issues, and I use a lot of technology from this platform. Everything from social media management tools, to CRMs that help me organize clients and sales. Take a look for yourself. Just click the link below.