Sally's
Tools Of The Trade
No matter what phase you’re at in your business journey, the right tools can:
- Save you time and stress leaving you more time to do the things that you love
- Save you money as you won't be trying out every software under the sun to find one that works for your business
- Automate email marketing, admin and list building so that your business runs on auto pilot
But how do you know the right ones to use at the right stage?
...and how can you avoid having software sitting there not being used?
My commitment to you is that I will only recommend the tools that I use in my own business.
Access the full list of tools & Special Discounts below
Some of the tools may have affiliate links which means the Sparkle Class Academy gets a small commission, but rest assured the prices are the same or in most cases you get an extra special deal!
YOUR CORE TOOLS
When you’re just starting out, your main focus should be on building your systems, creating consistent content for your target market and growing your email list.
The tools below will help you get started in the right direction and save you time and money in the long term.
These tools are all you need until you reach 5-figure months.
COURSE CREATION, LANDING PAGES & WEBSITE
Kajabi
This is the online software I use for my website, and to house the Sparkle Class Academy Library. Its a complete content management system for digital products to share your knowledge with the world.
Commerce Platform / Online Courses / Membership Management / Webinars / Content Marketing / Funnels / Webinars / Affiliates
If you join Kajabi under the Sparkle Class Academy, you will get a FREE Kajabi Kickstart Course with Sally
Sparkle Special: Join the 14 Day Kajabi Ideas to Income Challenge
- 14 Days of Kajabi Free
- Daily Lessons, Video Guides, Downloadable Resources
- FREE Kajabi Kickstart Course "Ideas To Income"
MARKETING & ADMIN AUTOMATION
Keap
The complete package for your customer relationship management.
Sally has gone through to become a certified partner and pays an annual fee, to ensure that the Sparkle Elites can get the best value when they join Keap. In Sally's opinion, it is the #1 automation platform for small business. It has saved us tens of thousands of dollars in employees and stops people from falling through the cracks.
Features: CRM, Marketing Automation, Sales Pipeline, Analytics, Integrations, Payments, Online Sales.
Sparkle Elite Special: contact Sally to discuss a special discount and offer only available for Sparkle Elite.
Please email [email protected] and request a dashboard walk-through and to get an Elites Special Price if you decide to proceed with using Keap.
IMAGE CREATION
Canva
Canva is a simplified graphic-design tool website. It uses a drag-and-drop format and provides access to photographs, vector images, graphics, and fonts. It is used by non-designers as well as professionals. The tools can be used for both web and print media design and graphics.
Sally is one of only 100 Canva Certified Creatives in the world and has advanced skills she can teach you and help you when needed.
CALENDAR BOOKING
Acuity
Clients Can Quickly View Your Real-Time Availability, Self-Book, Fill in Intake Forms, and Even Pay. Try it Free! No More Emailing Back-and-Forth Trying to Schedule Appointments. We particularly love this app because you can limit availability to decrease no-shows.
INTEGRATION TOOL
Zapier
Connect your apps and automate workflows
Easy automation for busy people. Zapier moves info between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work.
ADDITIONAL TOOLS
When you have reach consistant 5-figure months its time to scale your business.
You still need all the tools in the first stage but the tools below will help you scale your business.
These tools are not essential but will make life easier. Pick the tools that will fulfil a need in your business plan.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Asana
Asana will help you stay organized. Asana helps my entire team keep track of our work. We use this tool to communicate, share links, stay on top of deadlines and keep everybody in the loop.
PERSONAL VIDEO MESSAGING
Bonjoro
Convert, retain, and grow your customers with delightful personal video messages sent at just the right moment
COUNTDOWN TIMERS
Countdown Mail
Design countdown timers that perfectly match your email style.
Your timer will look amazing in every inbox, on every device.
Beautifully designed templates that can be further customized
No coding required - instantly set it up in a matter of seconds.
NEXT LEVEL IMAGE CREATION
Creative Suite
Sally is subscribed to this as a graphic designer she could not survive without it. She teaches the following programs Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Premiere, Bridge & Spark.
Enjoy the entire collection of the creative desktop and mobile tools, like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro and more with Adobe Creative
Find the perfect high-res, royalty-free, stock image to enhance your next creative project. All from within your Adobe Creative Cloud apps. Preview watermarked images inside your designs first. Then license, access and manage them directly within Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and other Adobe desktop apps.
Adobe can facilitate a variety of electronic signature processes. One of them is digital signatures, which is a form of e-signing that requires a digital certificate issued by a certificate authority to verify the signer's identity.
PROFESSIONAL LIVE STREAMING FOR MACS
Ecamm Live
Stream in HD quality with one click, using any connected mic and capture device, including your DSLR or mirrorless camera.
Integration with four leading broadcast platforms means there's no need to worry about stream keys or complicated set-up steps. Whether you're streaming to your Facebook business Page or YouTube channel, or scheduling a broadcast in advance, the app takes care of the details.
And once you're live, you'll see audience size, comments and reactions showing up right in Ecamm Live.
Add Overlays, Animations and Countdowns.
NOTE APP
Evernote
It’s great for taking notes and brainstorming -- especially on-the-go.
STORAGE & SHARING
Google Drive
Accessible from anywhere with internet, Google Drive is a great collaborative tool for teams to use. Also great for storing files that need sharing or storing. Multiple parties can be in a file at a time manipulating data or text without having to download and re-upload the file.
PASSWORD MANAGER
Last Pass
The perfect tool for storing your passwords securely so you don't need to rely on your memory. If you have a team or VA you can grant them log in details to your accounts without them being able to see the passwords.
PERSONAL VIDEO MESSAGING
Loom
Record video messages of your screen, cam, or both. Faster than typing an email or meeting live.
Personalise video messages to send to large numbers of people.
Otter
Otter.ai is a web application which provides speech to text transcription. Otter converts live speaking into a written transcription. The thing I love the most about it is that you can also listen back to the voice when you have to correct if there is any spelling errors. PLUS it is totally free for up to 600 minutes.
COMMUNICATION
Slack
Slack is a communication tool that can literally eliminate the hassle of having to go back and forth via email with your team. It allows you to communicate with everyone at once or just one person. Create separate channels for different topics.
DIRECTORY FOR COACHES, CONSULTANTS, COURSE CREATORS & SERVICE PROVIDERS
Sparkle Directory
Join our directory for coaches, consultants, course creators & professional service providers. This is your chance to advertise your product, course or service. FREE for Sparkle Sales Marketing Students or subscribe for a small fee if you are not a Sparkle Class Academy student.
PAYMENT GATEWAY
Stripe
Stripe: is the best software platform for running an internet business that allows individuals and businesses to make and receive payments over the Internet.
The fees are extremely reasonable, and way cheaper than PayPal. Sally recommends this payment gateway over any other on the market.
FORM CREATOR
Typeform
Create conversational forms and surveys that people enjoy answering.
ONLINE MEETINGS
Zoom
We love Zoom for online meetings, webinars and a place for the Team and our students to work together.
