7 Tools I Use Daily For Content Creation
Howdy Howdy
Life has been a rocky journey lately but I think I am finally starting to be on a slightly upward trend compared to the last few months. To say that 2023 has been rough would be an understatement to me.
That is what this 12 week challenge is for though! It is to push me to create content consistently and share things I love, what has me down, how I am pushing through, and how I am becoming more resilient by the day in the hopes that you can feel less alone, know that it is possible and how you are feeling is 100% NORMAL.
This week I want to talk about the tools I use Daily… well almost daily… to create all of my content!
I will include how I use each tool, a description of the tool, the cost (if there is one), and links for you to use these as well as my opinion on things I love about them or things I think could be better.
Lets get into it!
The Tools
Squarespace
Description: Website Host Platform
Cost: 14 Days FREE then Ranges from $23-65/month depending on package!
Links: https://www.squarespace.com/ there are also a ton of creator codes for 10% off the first month domain or website I used Ten Hundreds code when I started!
Pros: I honestly can say I don’t think I have found a con yet. I tried out 6/7 different website hosting platforms when I first started my business and this has been the best one I have found by far. I can touch on all the different website platforms I have used before in a later post if that is something you are interested in hearing, it is ALOT to unfold! I think the value of what you cost is phenomenal, the 24/7 support has been amazing when I needed them (it wasn’t an issue just seeing about certain features and plans) and I have not needed anything that I haven’t been able to find through the website!
Cons: None so far!
I currently use the Basic Plan ($35/month) which I believe is now called the Commerce Plan. The other plans are great to start on though! When I started I knew I would need at minimum the Business plan since I offered products and wanted to be able to sell through my website and I honestly decided on the Commerce simply because I thought the $3 difference for 0% transaction fees was worth it.
If you don’t plan on selling products to start, if you are just starting out, or if you just don’t need all the bells and whistles I recommend starting on a smaller plan BUT it is super simple to upgrade at any time!
The one part of Squarespace I cannot talk on is buying a domain through their website. I bought my domain separately through Bluehost I believe…that was a long time ago haha. The transfer process was stupid simple where in the past it was an entire process and made me want to rip my hair out from stress.
Like I said nothing but good things for Squarespace from my books. If I have a question I honestly normally just google or YouTube the solution and it will either pull up a YouTube video from Squarespace or a creator that uses them OR it will go back to the Squarespace FAQ page with a simple way to fix the issue or how to find something!
Squarespace hosts my website, blog, and my entire e-commerce platform so I think it is worth the price 1000x over.
META Business Suite
Description: The Creator Studio for Facebook and Instagram!
Cost: FREE
Links: https://business.facebook.com/
Pros: schedule all posts and ads within the FB/IG compatible software. Analytics for both websites, tips and tricks, etc.
Cons: Sometimes it can be very user unfriendly. I personally hate using it on my phone but love it on my laptop.
I solely use the Business Suite to schedule my static posts for Instagram and Facebook. That said I have not REEL-y tried (sorry I had to put the pun in there haha) but I have not tried super hard to upload a reel to either platform. Normally I do all my editing or finding audios, etc. within the Instagram app so often I do my entire reels either within Instagram or through CapCut. (I 100% forgot to add them to this list but I will make a bonus section below!)
Notion
Description: My Everything, My Journal, My Organizer, My Planner, My Calendar, My Notetaker
Cost: FREE - $15+ (AI is an additional $8-10 BUT SO WORTH IT)
Links: https://www.notion.so/product
MY LINK: https://affiliate.notion.so/njm2fbdq7s61
Pros: I have no Cons for this software. I use this everyday for personal, business, with my coach, to plan trips, anything you can think of Notion likely has the feature.
Cons: NONE that I have found so far!
I use Notion daily from planning my to-do’s to tracking my wins, even writing out this blog post. Notion is my home base for everything in my business. With integrations like connecting to your Google Drive account, the ability to print and share from Notion, to being able to add comments on notes to edit and plan.
*BONUS #1* - And now one of Notion’s newest features is Notion AI.
I probably don’t use it in the most standard way but as someone who is the jack of all trades, woman behind the curtain of my business Notion AI helps me simplify parts of my process or help me out when I can’t remember a word or just need a brainstorming session on off days.
I will say I am a little biased because notion is my FIRST and currently the only company I am an affiliate with BUT I can say even if I wasn’t an affiliate I would still be using this product and I would never recommend something to you that I haven’t used and loved!
I honestly do not use the paid options of Notion but if you are a larger business or want some of the features that come with it I recommend it 100%. As I need it I plan to increase my plan but for now I am using the Free plan with the AI upgrade!
By using this link when you open your notion account and purchase either the Plus or Business plan I will get a small percentage!
Later Blog
Description: LATER is a Social Media Scheduler and Resource - The Blog is a Resource for Marketing and Content Creation.
Cost: FREE - Later Content Scheduler ranges from $18-80
Links: https://later.com/blog/
Pros: get resources weekly on different topics relating to social media see trends and knowledge on what is current.
Cons: I don’t really have any cons for this!
How I use it: Years ago I used the actual scheduler part of Later and I enjoyed it but I never used it to its full potential I do think it is a good platform for that if you want to plan everything in one area! There is a free version but they are taking it down to you being able to post 5 times per month on each platform (up to four I believe…take that with a grain of salt! There should be more information on their website if you are interested.
Personally I just use the later blog to learn more about marketing and the current trends in social media. The top two articles I constantly refer to are the trending reels and trending TikTok videos. They update weekly and they can help get out out of a creative rut!
Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
Description: a series of creative apps for everything from graphic design to animation
Cost: $10-85/month
Links: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html
Pros: Access to many apps and unlimited creative potential
Cons: the price, I am currently on the student discount from when I was able to attend classes so I get it for around $40 a month but soon it will change over to $85 a month. I do think that once my business is bringing in more money it will me more than worth the cost though!
How I use it: I went to school for Graphic Design (technically Digital Media Design) the key software through all of those classes has been/is the Adobe Suite. I think they are wonderful pieces of software and make everything an option with the amount of platforms and resources available.
Best-Hashtags.com
Description: Hashtag Research
Cost: FREE
Links: https://best-hashtags.com/
Pros: puts together lists of optimized hashtags based on one or post topics etc.
Cons: you have to copy the entire chunk of hash tags. If you want to change even just one (there are often a small handful within each post that I want to change) then you have to copy the whole block, post it in your notes, and then delete and replace the hashtags you want to replace.
I use Best-Hashtags for research on hashtags to use if I am looking for new ones to try this is normally my starting place.
I don’t think that I have ever used an entire block without replacing at least a few hashtags but it is a wonderful free resource that consistently provides great results for me!
Google Drive
Description: File and Cloud Storage
Cost: FREE* (you can upgrade for more storage)
Links: https://drive.google.com/drive/
Pros: Free Cloud and File Storage, easy access, easy sharing between multiple devices and people.
Cons: I had to upgrade my account to maintain the amount of space I needed (it was cheap though!)
I use Google Drive for multiple things from simply saving files I frequently to using it for transferring images from computer to phone and vice versa. I’m sure there are plenty of other cloud based storage systems, such as Dropbox, but I think that Drive is super simple and integrates everything I need simply!
*BONUS #2* - Another Resource I have started using recently (especially as I am branching into creating more reels) is CapCut!
Personally, I have only used the CapCut app BUT while I was writing this article I found out that they also have a version for Windows so I will definitely be trying that out!
This app has been useful in finding trending reels and TikTok videos along with simple templates that instantly edit your photos and videos. You can also post directly from Capcut using one button once your accounts are linked which makes for no issues with the formatting, it can automatically download to your files for easy recycling!
Now What?
To get started you DO NOT need to use these exact tools. You may not even need half of them or you may just need the free version of them!
More important than finding the perfect tool to help you create perfect content will cause you to never start. In the last few day’s I have been watching a few different podcasts, youtube videos, etc..
For me ALOT of what they said hit home. The one that did the most was that (and I am paraphrasing here) to not be successful in life you should wait for perfect conditions.
There was more to the video that I am referencing but the take away that I got from this one section was that if you wait for the conditions to be perfect you are never going to start and you are never going to do what you dream of. (you can find the link to the video here!)
Just rip the band-aid off, jump in with both feet, dive in head first, whatever you want to equate it to:
JUST DO THE DAMN THING!
Life is not perfect, the situation will never be perfect, everyone is flawed, and it will never be “the right time” so why not make the perfect time right now.
If you use any of these tools yourself or if you think I am missing out one one let me know in the comments or DM me on any social media!!
XOXO,
Allie