Continuing the theme of an earlier blog post "Tools of the Trade", I wanted to write more about the tools I use for my Architecture practice.. While the last Tools of the Trade post focused on computer hardware, I wanted this post to focus on software I use. And more specifically, I wanted to look at business software. I will leave drafting or Architecture specific software for a later post. This post will be focused towards those of you who are interested in starting an architecture practice or really any small business.
Gmail. Most people are familiar with Gmail so I won't go to deep into it. I like to use Gmail as it is a very versatile email client and integrates incredibly well with many devices.
HUBSPOT
Hubspot is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. Hubspot is a very powerful tool for organizing your contacts. I like using Hubspot to record notes about conversations and to setup tasks and reminders to follow up with people. Hubspot also has the option to work with teams so employees can follow conversations with clients. I use the free versions and its working great so far however, the paid versions does have many more tools
GOOGLE ADWORDS
I like to think of Google Adwords as the digital version of advertising in the local newspaper or in a magazine. Adwords allows you create ads through google that display under certain Google searches.
FACEBOOK ADS
Facebook Ads is basically the same as Google Adwords however, the ads show up directly in Facebook.
WEBSITE HOST
I use Wix for my website hosting. Wix is a great web host as it is very simple to use with many pre-made templates. Wix has significantly simplified website construction. Wix is a visual base website editor that allows you to drag and drop images into templates and to easily ad text. No longer do you have to deal with coding.
BLOGS
This is a good way to put the word out about your business and become the "expert" in your field. The architecture I previously worked for (BUILD LLC) started a blog back in 2007 when things were slow and now a majority of their clients come to them because of their blog.
Wix also has a very nice blog platform integrating right into your web page (which you are reading on right now!).
YOUTUBE
Youtube is a great platform for sharing ideas via video. This is just another way to put content out into the world.
ASANA
Asana is a nice team organizing tool. At its simplest form, it is a todo list. But, where this programs starts to shine is with team collaboration. Asana is a web based app that allows you to break down tasks into project, assign due dates that can be viewed from calendars and assign these tasks to certain team members
INSTAGANTT
Instagantt is a web-based Gantt Chart app. A gantt chart is essentially a linear project timeline organizer. Microsoft Project is a more popular gantt chart program. Instaganttt is nice as it allows you to link your Asana account so you can track your Asana projects in a gantt fashion.
ONE NOTE
Microsoft Onenote is a great tool for writing quick notes to creating complicated notebook projects. I typically utilize the lighter side of Onenote to write down quick thoughts on my phone which I can later develop into larger projects.
FILE SHARING
When Gmail cannot handle large attachments, I utilize s file sharing program. There are many options out there and I haven't found a favorite yet. Typically, I use either, Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft Onedrive. Each of these seem to have very small differences but in the end, I'll use these interchangeably and typically do no see a big difference.
Well that’s wraps it up for the business software I use for modFORM. Stay tuned for Part 3 where I'll dive into Architecture and design specific software that I use for my practice.
Thanks for reading!