With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, love is front and center on my mind. So today I want to share the things I’ve been loving in my business.

I love experimenting with new apps + programs, and I think that you will find value in each of these as well.

(some of the links below are affiliate links)

1. Later

Later is the app I use to schedule and publish the majority of my Instagram content. Not only does this app help me stay on top of my Insta game, but it also helps me plan out my grid. When you upload posts and drag them onto the schedule, you can see a preview of what your Instagram grid will look like. It’s a great tool to use to play around with the order of your posts to make sure your grid looks cohesive and varied.

I use the basic paid plan, which is $9/month. Unfortunately, the free version doesn’t support video posts. And since we are videographers, the vast majority of things we are posting on social media is probably in video format. So if you are interested in trying out Later, I suggest upgrading to the paid version to unlock the ability to upload videos.

2. StoryChic

Staying with the Instagram theme, StoryChic is an app that helps you create beautiful Instagram Stories. I love playing around with different ways I can elevate my brand and my online presence, and using this app helps my stories look on-brand. There are tons of layouts to choose from, and there’s even a lot of options in the free version.

3. Canva

Canva is my graphic design tool of choice. I’m definitely not a pro at graphic design, so Canva makes it really easy for me to design graphics to use in my biz. I use it for creating website graphics, social media graphics, and even use it to create thumbnails for my films.

4. Dubsado

If you don’t already use a CRM (client relationship management), I highly recommend committing to investing in one this year. The CRM I use is Dubsado, but there are several others out there including Honeybook and 17Hats. This is where I keep all my contracts, invoices, questionnaires, client notes, calendar, and more. It’s a really powerful tool that can help streamline your business.

5. Calendly

Calendly is the most recent program I’ve been using for my business. I was finding that when I was trying to schedule phone or in-person consultations with clients, I would end up in a multi-email thread going back and forth about days and times that worked for both of us. I decided that not only did that way feel unprofessional, but it was also a bit frustrating. Calendly totally fixed that problem for me. I set my schedule within the program, and simply send clients the link. They can see my available times, and they can schedule their appointment right there within the app. It’s so much easier than going back-and-forth, and makes the entire process more streamlined.