Business Software We Love ❤️
We’re in a codependent relationship w/tech
We’re a graphic and web design firm so it’s no surprise we love all things tech! Our deep-rooted curiosity started way back in 1986 when Evelyn became smitten with Mac. 🤓
Our devices are the first thing we check in the morning, (ab)use all day long and the last thing we look at before drifting off to sleep.
We share our time, attention, and secrets with our devices while they read our facial expressions and vocal cues. The tech industry consistently stress-tests our ethics, autonomy and privacy boundaries.
It’s a love-hate relationship, yet we’re hopelessly addicted, currently crushing on and simultaneously revolted by Ai. We’re married to tech. Obsessed. But it’s not our fault! It’s our world.
Tech woo us with sophisticated, sleek design, motivates us with persuasive messaging and earns our trust with beguiling displays beckoning us to choose our level of consent.
Once the attraction sparks, we acquiesce. If the courtship continues, we get attached. Before finishing our morning cup of coffee we’re in a full-blown relationship: an account is created, the free trial starts, and we’re hopeful. Soon it’s harassing us to input a credit card, asking for a commitment! Then we get tired of it, the newness and excitement have worn off, so we cancel it, and rebound to the next one.
The cycle repeats.
I’m making it sound as if I have an unhealthy relationship with tech (my cynical side) but codependency isn’t all bad if it isn’t too one-sided.
We do get A LOT of benefits from tech when managed in a healthy way. It’s a welcomed sidekick that automates our day-to-day, brings us social connectivity, amuses us, and helps our world thrive.
BTW if you’re thinking about breaking up with your antiquated brand identity and/or website, we’re expert tech matchmakers — we want you to love your online presence. Schedule a call to see if we’re a good fit for your business needs.
The best tech to integrate into your business (that we use and truly love)
From cloud-based applications to analytics platforms, there are so many options available that business owners can get overwhelmed when deciding which tools to use for their business.
We want to share the top tools we use every workday to help your business with:
❤️ Efficiency and productivity
❤️ Streamlining processes
❤️ Improving client experience
❤️ Increasing collaboration among employees
This post, like cupid’s arrow, aims to point you in the direction of our favorite tools that help us make the most out of daily business operations so we can truly love what we do.
No doubt, most of this software you’ve heard of because we stick with the tried and true that saves time and money for businesses while increasing overall performance. With these solutions in place, you can unlock new opportunities for growth and success.
Ready to benefit from streamlining your business software, tools, and technology? We thought so!
Adobe CC
Adobe Creative Cloud is at the top of the list because we’re designers first and foremost. Creating communication is at the center of what we do.
We enjoy bringing inspired ideas to fruition and the suite of CC tools helps us do just that. With Adobe, we do good work and make a difference for hundreds of businesses’ visual brand identities and websites!
Adobe CC is the ultimate collection of creative software solutions for all your design, video, and photography needs. With Creative Cloud, you can harness the power of industry-leading tools such as InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects to bring your projects to life.
From creating stunning visuals for websites to crafting marketing campaigns with the latest motion graphics tools, Adobe Creative Cloud offers everything you need to unleash your creativity. With so many powerful tools at your disposal, you can be sure that your work will stand out from the rest.
Adobe also has awesome phone apps like Adobe Capture (Emily’s personal favorite), Acrobat Reader, Adobe Scan, Adobe Fill and Sign, Adobe Spark and Adobe Express. You can literally do business tasks, create social graphics, and edit videos right from your phone and everything syncs in your cloud account so you can hop from mobile to desktop. Get ready to make an impact with Adobe Creative Cloud!
Often people complained about CC because it is a subscription model. But at $30-$50mth it’s simply the cost of doing business. There is so much functionality and crossover, we feel the price is worth it.
Vanessa: I love creative cloud! My favorite software is illustrator because of how many tools they have that cater to digital artists.
Evelyn: I love Premiere Rush! It’s a super streamlined video tool. Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator are the workhorses of Design Powers.
Google Workspace
We couldn’t do work or manage business tasks without the Google suite of tools. We use it every single day mainly for emailing, organizing multiple calendars, storing/sharing files in the Drive and working within Docs and Sheets.
We also use Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) to manage our online presence across Google Search and Maps. Learn how to optimize your profile to generate site visits and quickly turn leads into clients with our blog post How to Improve Your Google Business Profile to Boost Website Traffic.
Google Workspace is one of the best productivity software available in the market today. It is a comprehensive suite of tools that helps you to get more work done faster and better. It includes applications like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and more.
From organizing tasks to creating documents, everything can be done with ease with Google Workspace. With powerful AI-driven features such as Smart Compose and Smart Assistants, you can save time and increase efficiency in your workflow. So if you are looking for the best productivity software out there, then look no further than Google Workspace!
Vanessa: I like Google workspace because it allows me to share many different workspaces with my team! We have calendars where we share dates and manage project timelines, a drive where we share documents, sheets, and slides. Most of all I love how accessible it is to our clients (Google is free and anyone can make an account)!
Evelyn: My google drive isn’t as organized as it could be. Hope springs eternal that one day I’ll get my sh*t together.
Apple
At Design Powers we’re hard-core Apple users. As mentioned, Evelyn has been using apple computers since shortly after they came out. As a matter of fact, it was the Mac that convinced her to switch from being a painting major in art school to be a graphic designer. Who knows where she’d be had that not happened!
We’ve gone through many iPhone versions and Macs over 20+ years (using the devices till they're on their last legs and recycling them). We love their products because of their design and reliability.
Apple's Mac and iPhone are ubiquitous. Both are well known for their powerful software, intuitive design, and ease of use. With their innovative operating systems and vibrant app stores, they provide users with access to a wide range of tools that can help them get things done quickly and easily.
Whether you're looking for creative software to boost your productivity, or just need a trusty phone for day-to-day tasks, Apple's Mac and iPhone have got you covered.
Vanessa: I was indoctrinated into the Apple cult early on. I’ve personally always found it to be an easier interface to navigate and I love how seamlessly all of my apple devices work with each other.
Evelyn: Macs cost more than PCs but I’ve found that I get at least 10 years of 40+ hours a week use out of each computer I purchase. PC users must let me know if they get that kind of longevity with their machines. My informal query about this is “No, they do not.” So if one looks at the fixed costs for computers over a lifetime of usage, I’m investing wisely. I also attempt to get at least 4 years out of my iPhone. Arduously battling planned obsolescence to keep hardware from our landfill is ongoing. I just gave my 11-year-old imac to a friend with young children in hopes of extending its useful life for a few more years.
Squarespace
We started using Squarespace in 2018 after 7+ years of using WordPress and have not looked back. Squarespace is one of the best website builders available in the market today. It offers a user-friendly interface, easy customization options, and a range of powerful features to help you create a stunning website.
With Squarespace, you can create sites with creative designs and content, manage them easily with its intuitive dashboard, and launch them quickly with the help of an experienced team.
You also get access to various tools like analytics and marketing functions to track your website’s performance and reach more potential clients. Every platform has its cons but overall Squarespace is an excellent choice for businesses looking for a reliable website builder platform that offers great features. Paired with Squarespace Scheduling, Email Campaigns, E-commerce, and third-party integrations the Squarespace platform is a powerful tool!
For more info about Squarespace read our blog post Why We Recommend Squarespace for Small Business Owners and WordPress vs Squarespace: How to Know Which One is Right for Your Business.
Vanessa: Although I am new to the website game, I really enjoy how simple Squarespace is. It was very easy for a newbie like me to learn some of the ins and outs of Squarespace.
Evelyn: SQSP makes it so easy for our clients to add content to their own website, I can’t help but love that. I also really love NOT updating plugins!
Slack
Slack is the best business messaging software out there. For remote teams, Slack really comes in handy to stay in communication and we rely on it every day to keep in touch.
It provides a powerful platform that enables businesses to stay connected, share ideas, and collaborate in real time. With hundreds of integrations available, it can be used to create custom workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline communication across teams.
Slack also provides powerful search functionality which makes it easy to find the information you need quickly and effortlessly. With its ability to integrate with other apps and services, Slack has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes.
Vanessa: Slack allows me to stay in communication with my team all hours of the work day (even though we don’t work together in the same space). Sometimes when you dm or email someone, they don’t see it right away (making wait times longer). And it’s made remote work fun! Read my perspective on what it’s really like working remotely.
Evelyn: I like that I can keep tabs on Vanessa and Emily at all times and make sure they’re NOT slacking off! Kidding.
Zoom
We spend hours zooming internally and on client calls! Zoom is an easy-to-use, cloud-based video conferencing and online meeting software that enables businesses to hold remote meetings with excellent audio and video quality.
It is a feature-rich business meeting software that provides high performance, collaboration, scalability and security for your team. With its intuitive user interface and powerful features such as screen sharing, collaboration tools, HD video conferencing, file sharing and more; Zoom is the best business meeting software for any size of team or organization.
Whether you’re hosting a global conference or just need to communicate with your colleagues from anywhere in the world; Zoom will ensure that everyone is connected quickly and securely.
Vanessa: Without Zoom, I wouldn’t be able to live in a different city and able to do this job! Zoom has given me the freedom to be in my own place but still get a lot done with the Design Powers team.
Evelyn: Zoom is good for the environment. Since I don’t have to meet in person all the time, it saves on gas, dry cleaning and water usage. I shower a lot less because of Zoom! 😉
Asana
With every client project, we set up an Asana board to keep projects on track, meet deadlines, and communicate with one another about relevant tasks without having to live in our Gmail inboxes.
We’ve created many internal project boards with SOPs (standard operating procedures) and task checklists to stay organized and create efficient processes.
Asana is the ultimate project management tool for teams of all sizes. It's a powerful and flexible platform that helps you plan, organize and track your projects with ease. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can easily create tasks, assign them to team members, set deadlines and review progress in real-time.
Asana helps teams collaborate effectively so they can achieve more together. It's the best project management software for anyone looking to streamline their workflow and get more done faster.
Vanessa: Asana keeps me organized. I can also share the project boards with our clients and schedule deadlines, and easily communicate back and forth.
Evelyn: Asana gives our clients confidence in our process.
Hover
If you’re looking for the best domain name provider, then Hover is your number one choice. This company provides reliable and cost-effective domain names. With Hover, you can easily purchase and manage domains with features like DNS management, email forwarding, and more.
You can also benefit from Hover’s 24/7 customer support in case you need assistance with anything related to domains. All of the features that this top-notch domain name provider offers to make it the perfect choice for anyone looking to get a unique web address that will help them stand out from the competition.
Evelyn: We often have our clients register their domain address with Squarespace for ease of use, but sometimes, I recommend that clients keep the domain registrar separate.
Termageddon
Termageddon is the best website legal policies provider out there. It makes it easy for businesses to stay compliant with the latest laws and regulations. Their automated services ensure that your business is always up-to-date, reducing any risk.
Moreover, their powerful tools make it easy to generate customized legal policies based on your business needs. With Termageddon, you can rest assured that your website and its content are legally protected. Check out our blog post Legal Policies for Websites (USA) to more about this great software!
Evelyn: Termageddon solved a problem in our business-the need for quality legal policies. We’re incredibly happy to have found this service for our clients.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is one of the best SEO (search engine optimization) software available. It helps you analyze keywords, track rankings and research competitors, enabling you to get ahead of your competition. With this software, you can maximize your organic traffic by leveraging the power of content marketing and search engine optimization.
Ubersuggest also provides useful insights about competitor strategies that can help inform your own campaigns. With its powerful features and user-friendly interface, Ubersuggest is undoubtedly one of the top tools for optimizing your digital presence.
Want to learn more about SEO? Check out our SEO blog posts to get started!
Evelyn: Neil Patel, the found of Ubersuggest actually makes SEO fun. I’m impressed by his ability to convey varied wats to help get your website to rank higher in search in a straightforward way.
Useful + Mostly Free Chrome Extensions
There’s an app Chrome extension for that! As a web designer, my Chrome browser is fully decked out with tons of extensions. Here are a few of my favorites:
SquarespaceWebsites Tools PRO: a tool that allows you to copy pages from one Squarespace site to another, especially helpful when porting over a blog (yearly paid license required)
Squarespace ID Finder: a tool that instantly finds the ids of blocks, collections, and sections on your Squarespace page works with versions 7.0 and 7.1 (free)
WAVE Evaluation Tool: a tool that helps evaluate web accessibility within your browser (free) - for more info on accessibility read our blog post Does Your Website Discriminate? Ours Does.
ColorZilla: an eyedropper tool to select colors from website pages (free)
WhatFont: a tool to help identify fonts on web pages (free)
Download All Images: a tool to help you quickly download all images in an active tab as a .zip file (free)
GoFullPage: a tool to capture a screenshot of your current web page entirely and reliably. You can save and download the image in PDF and PNG format. For more info on image file formats read our blog post How to Choose the Best Image File Format for Your Website
Grammarly: a writing tool to help improve written communication including spell, grammar, and punctuation check (free/paid)
SEO META in 1 CLICK: a tool that displays all metadata and main SEO information, such as HTML headings, for on-page SEO intel (free)
GMB Everywhere: a tool to help you view your competitor’s Google Business Profile categories, audit your profile and improve your SEO (free/paid). For more on Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) read our blog post How to Improve Your Google Business Profile to Boost Website Traffic
Fluid Engine Tablet Spacing Fixer: a tool to make Squarespace’s mobile breakpoint larger (tablet) so you can fix Fluid Engine (the new SQSP editor) spacing issues (free)
Window Resizer: a tool to help you instantly resize the browser window to emulate various screen ratios (free)
We bring people and technology together
While there are many different platforms and software options, this is some of what we use (and love) at Design Powers!
Hopefully, you learned about some new tools and tech that will help efficiency and productivity, streamline processes, improve client experience, and increase collaboration among employees! Let us know your favorite tech tools you use in the comments!
FAQS
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Common challenges associated with integrating technology into businesses include selecting the right tools, managing data security and privacy concerns, ensuring compatibility with existing systems, and providing adequate training for employees.
These challenges can be managed effectively by conducting thorough research before selecting software, implementing robust cybersecurity measures, carefully planning the integration process, and offering comprehensive training programs for employees to enhance their digital literacy skills.
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The mentioned software tools contribute to improving efficiency, productivity, and collaboration within a business setting by offering various features and functionalities tailored to specific business needs. For example, Adobe Creative Cloud enables designers to create high-quality visuals and graphics, Google Workspace facilitates seamless communication and collaboration among team members, Squarespace simplifies website design and management, Slack enhances internal communication and project coordination, and Asana streamlines project management processes.
By leveraging these tools, businesses can optimize their workflows, streamline processes, and foster better collaboration among employees, ultimately leading to improved productivity and performance.
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Key considerations for businesses when selecting software tools include identifying their specific requirements and objectives, evaluating the features and capabilities of different software options, assessing the scalability and compatibility of the software with existing systems, considering the total cost of ownership, including subscription fees, implementation costs, and training expenses, and ensuring that the software provider offers reliable customer support and maintenance services.
Additionally, businesses should prioritize software solutions that offer flexibility, customization options, and integration capabilities to meet their evolving needs and future growth goals. By carefully evaluating these factors, businesses can select software tools that align with their strategic objectives and contribute to their overall success.
