Our Favorite Business Software and Educational Resources
Whether you are starting your wedding business or in the thick of running it, 2 things always seem to be true. The first is there is never enough time: enough time for admin work, enough time for creative thinking, enough time for yourself. The second is there is always something you can learn—because you’re always sure to have questions about the best way to get things done! But on an internet that is seemingly endless, it can feel impossible to search through all the results you get—let alone type in the right combination of words to find what you need. So today, we wanted to round up some of our favorite business software and educational resources to help you make the most of your time and learn all you need. Read on to see what we love (and personally use!) to run Sourced Co. and our personal businesses too.
Business software we love (and personally use!)
Flodesk – When it comes to email marketing, look no further than Flodesk! Because (honestly), when you are running a small, wedding, or creative business, you don’t need to be on some super complicated platform that is hard to set up and even harder to make your newsletters look pretty on. We switched to Flodesk back in 2019 (shortly after it launched) and have zero regrets about it! Want to try it out? Click here to get 50% off when you sign up.
Enji - We talk a lot about marketing around here because figuring out what you should be doing can be hard. But now getting a marketing strategy that is customized to your business (and all the tasks you should think about doing to make it happen) is super easy! Really—just answer a questionnaire and get what you need to crush marketing… and organize all your brand files and track your metrics…oh and you can customize the colors of your account. Start your 14-day free trial and get 15% off your first 2 months when you subscribe.
Cloudspot – Organizing the images in your portfolio is one of the biggest challenges for any wedding pro. Because even though Dropbox and Google Drive will totally get the job done, it’s hard to find what you need since you can’t see what’s inside the folder before clicking in. So, you try to come up with weird ways of naming your folders (years, colors, couples’ names, etc.) to try and jog your memory. Still not ideal. Uploading our library of styled stock to Cloudspot was a game-changer for us, and we think you’ll love it too! Want to try it out? Click here to get 20% off the plan of your choice.
Slack – Communication is key when you are in the service industry, but between all the ways you can send information to another person, it’s easy for stuff to get lost. Is this super time-sensitive? Should I DM or text the person? Can it wait and be an email? We signed up for Slack after a few months of trying a combination of text and email for team communications, and we have never looked back. The best part? It’s totally free to use!
Asana – There are a ton of project management platforms out there, and depending on how your brain works, it can be a process of trial and error to find the right one. While I (Tayler) really love Basecamp 2 (unfortunately no longer available and I am hanging onto my legacy account for dear life!), Asana has been very helpful in keeping our Sourced Co. team tasks organized. And just like Slack, Asana is free to use!
Google Docs/Sheets – It should come as no surprise to see Google’s suite of products on this list! So, we’ll keep this short. When you want to have shared access to something that is a living document (read: regularly being edited by more than one person), this is exactly what you need.
Dropbox – When it comes to long-term document storage and archiving, Dropbox is where it’s at! Sure, you can use Google Drive if it fits your brain better, but Dropbox works for us. We pay for an account, but it is worth every penny to know our important documents are safe and sound. (Plus, storing things on the cloud frees up memory on your computer!)
Later – Social media is a big part of almost anyone’s marketing plan, and gone are the days of needing to post everything live—thank goodness! We have been using Later from years now and love it. It lets us get posts in the queue as far in advance as we want, which frees us up during the day-to-day grind. There are paid tiers you can look at, but we use the free one and it works for what we need.
Rock Paper Coin – A newer kid on the block (so to speak) is Rock Paper Coin! Perfect for sending online contracts and invoices, it’s an easy way to digitize this part of your business—and with the lowest transaction rate around, let’s you keep most of your money! Want to give it a try? Click here to get a free 30-day trial and 100% off your first year.
Courses and education providers we love
Brenda Cadman – Want to become your own graphic designer? Brenda’s Canva courses will show you how to make the most out of this great platform!
Sarah Chancey – Looking for resources to help you get your wedding planning business off the ground? Sarah’s wedding planner bundle is for you!
Planner Life Academy – Need or want to make sure you have a strong foundation when it comes to everything you need to do as a wedding planner? The Planner Life Academy wedding planner certification is just what you need!
Gabby Pinkerton – Pinterest is another popular and powerful marketing channel for a lot of wedding pros. Gabby will teach you everything you need to know in order to make sure it’s helping you get leads in her Pinterest for Wedding Pros course!
Margaux Fraise – Once you’ve booked clients, it’s important to onboard them really well (to make the best first impression). Margaux’s client onboarding course teaches you the process to you nail it every time!
