The Optimization Toolkit of Apps and Tech That Can Propel Your Native-Owned Business
Successfully marketing a Native-owned business means more than just running ads or raking in profits – it also means figuring out how to boost productivity within your workforce, finding the most effective methods of connecting with your target audience, and overcoming obstacles associated with a lack of internet access.
At the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Arizona’s recent Virtual Workshop, we introduced our members to a wide array of online and offline platforms and tools they can use to build their business’s footprint among both Native and non-Native communities.
From simple desktop and mobile device tools that help business owners assess the success of their websites - and optimize them accordingly – to apps and sites that help streamline document execution, payroll processing, note-taking and graphic design, we introduced our members to an assortment of proven online (and offline!) platforms that help entrepreneurs raise not only the profiles of, but the profits for, their Native-owned businesses.
Calendly
Scheduling sucks. Going back and forth via email to lock down a meeting time . . . costs time. Give your clients, employees and key vendors clickable access to your schedule with openings that you pre-select.
Perfect for Native businesses who need to spend less time in the inbox and more time on the road or in the shop –– without missing a scheduled call.
RezRizing.Org
Connecting your Native-affiliated business to both urban and rural communities can be tough, and the biggest hurdle is often a lack of internet access. Rez Rising is a FREE online/offline database of more than 600 Native businesses, giving your audience ‘round-the-clock access to business transactions opportunities, social media and products. Register now.
Use Your Phone –– Voice Memos
It’s a powerful tool that’s already in your hand. Recording hands-on or hands-free voice memos on-the-go can help capture ideas when a pen isn’t handy. It can debrief a meeting and stimulate action among your team members. And it can convey personality and tone in a manner email simply can’t.
Sometimes, a blinking cursor and a keyboard kill creativity and voice. (PS –– I used voice memos to draft much of this content. Get your message heard, and then hit send for your team to get fast info on-the-go without wasting time typing, tapping, clicking or writing.
Proposify
Cut out the back-and-forth of PDF proposals, then contracts, then faxes, then copies. Proposify combines all of the above into a one-click experience so that you can email proposals that are instantly “signable on the dotted line” with a simple click. Both parties get emailed signed copies, and it’s beautifully customizable.
Otter.AI
Still manually taking notes? Save time with Otter.
Generate rich notes for meetings, interviews, lectures and other important voice conversations with Otter, your AI-powered assistant.
Design Pickle
Scale your business and fix your design bottleneck with flat-rate, unlimited graphic design and custom illustrations solutions.
Eliminate creative bottlenecks
Get your creative to market 3x faster
Supplement your existing graphic design process
Monday.com
Hulu, Coca-Cola, ABC, NBC . . . global creative teams across multiple industries love this easy-on-the-eyes project-flow management platform. No creative person loves an Excel spreadsheet. This connects a desktop experience with on-the-go-apps to keep everyone in sync, no matter where they are.
(Alternative: Asana.com)
Namechk
Domain and Social Media Name Availability –– the first stop before you start your branding journey. (Don’t forget to do a trademarking search, too!)
Google PageSpeed Insights
Great insight into how your website loads on the desktop and or on a mobile device. While a low score doesn't always mean a bad website, it gives good insight into ways to help it load faster, giving more opportunity for people to visit versus leaving due to a slow-loading site.
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights
Quickbooks Online
Work today, get paid today. Quickbooks is more than accounting and invoice creation –– it expedites instant online payments. Do you want to keep waiting months for a check? Or would you rather do auto-subscription billing and instant deposits?
Scheduling Social Media = Less Time On Social Media
What if you only spend 30 minutes a week on pre-scheduling your social media content instead of panicking that you forgot to post today? Build your brand on social media without having to jump from platform to platform with these easy-to-use tools.
Hootsuite
Buffer
Facebook + LinkedIn Groups
You’re not alone. That’s why you’ve partnered with groups like the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Arizona.
You’re also just a search bar click away from a collaborative community that enables you to connect with your client type, interact with your target audience, and ask questions and share information with your industry colleagues.