I get asked about the tech stack I use to run my consulting and coaching businesses quite a bit.

So, I periodically share a list of tech tools I’m getting the most value from. This week I’m sharing 4 of my absolute favorite programs, and why I love them. Then I share a quick list of 4 more we’re seeing a substantial ROI from at the moment. 

Discourse

My coaching program includes unlimited chat support from me and my team. Until recently, we used a Slack workspace to provide that support. 

The free version of Slack was more than sufficient to get started. Most people already know how to use it and there’s very little friction for new users.

But as we’ve grown, it’s presented challenges:

• The paid version is cost prohibitive at scale, and the free version deletes messages after 90 days. That’s not very helpful if you’re building a long-term knowledge-base.
  
  

• Slack etiquette is such that some people respond in threads, some don’t. And as conversations evolve, that makes them hard to follow (or requires a lot more work moderating threads).
  

Slack promoted an “quick message” style of communication. That serves a purpose, but when I’m providing support on key business decisions, I want space to provide context and organize information.

After testing half a dozen community platforms, I went with Discourse. 

I went with Discourse because it was: 

• Super easy to learn.

• Incredibly affordable at scale. 

• Flexible enough to fit in our long-term plans.

So far, the decision has been an absolute hit. 

We consolidated and organized communications with members. Started building a knowledge-base of questions and answers. And we’ve been able to simplify key processes, like providing feedback on assets members are asking for help with.

You can learn more about Discourse here. 

Kajabi

Overcomplicating tech was a mistake I made early as a solopreneur. I learned really quickly what a tech friend of mine meant when he said, “He with the fewest tools, wins.” 

That’s why I love Kajabi. It’s a Swiss Army knife that allows me to centralize a lot of key assets in one place, including:

• Funnels

• Courses

• Website

• Newsletter

• Sequences

Hell, I used Kajabi as a make-shift CRM using tags and segments for a while. 

We even use Kajabi for our main member portal. It’s where all my courses, trainings, coaching calls, and other premium content get housed for members. 

You can check Kajabi out here.

Notion

Notion has evolved into an operating system for our businesses. It helps us organize damn near everything internally, including:

• Project planning

• Playbooks and SOPs

• Key business documents

• Products & program improvements

It also plays a big role in our content creation process. For example: 

• All my social content is written and organized in Notion. I track the status of posts from Idea to Completed, then add labels to indicate when and where they should be published. Someone on my team grabs thoses posts and drops them in a content publishing tool.
  
  

• I create a blueprint for every course I publish in the coaching program before I start recording any content. Seeing how the content flows saves me a boatload lot of time in the editing process.
  
  

• And we host all the templates and worksheets that members of my coaching program use to build their businesses on Notion. It’s easy to access, use, and share what they’re working on with me for input and recommendations.  

You can check Notion out for free here. 

Figma

Building online requires a lot of digital art, and Figma is hands down the most productive tool I’ve found for collaborating with digital artists and designers.

It’s robust enough for designers to do their best work, but easy enough for non-designers like me to actually use it. Think, Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator for your designer, and Canva for you. 

In fact, my designer and I recently collaborated on an interactive “brandbook” for my business. It has everything a traditional brandbook has, like font, color, and design guidelines. But this puts that brandbook on steroids by turning everything into an editable template that anyone on my team can use to create a new design element in a few keystrokes. 

I’ve loved it so much I’m considering offering it as a new productized service for members of my coaching program. If you’re interested in being one of our beta testers, just reply to this email and let us know.

4 More Tech Tools Worth a Look 

1. Descript
   
   Descript makes it easy to edit audio and video, even if you don’t know much about editing either one. You can cut and paste video using the text in transcripts. And you can even replace audio using your own voice by typing what you want to say. Crazy, right?!
   
   

2. Close
   
   We currently use Close as our CRM, and it’s been a great asset in getting our sales process dialed in. We use Close to manage everything from sales conversations in direct messages to client progress after they become members.
   

3. Fathom
   
   Google Analytics makes me feel like I’m inside John Nash’s beautiful mind, and not in a good way. Fathom is a website analytics platform that makes the data easy to understand. Even better, it’s a simple and effective way to create trackable links.
   

4. Typeshare
   
   Every newsletter I publish now starts in Typeshare, which offers a collection of templates you can use to start writing. Starting with a template may sound boring, but since the page is never “blank,” it’s basically eliminated writer’s block for me.