As a small business owner, it’s imperative to find the right business resources and tools to assist in making your life easier and as productive as possible. Over the years, I’ve tried, tested and discovered many great tools that I use in all aspects of my wedding coordination business – from social media scheduling to client management tools to styled stock photography – and have rounded up some of my favorites I currently use and would recommend to others time and time again!
Here are business resources and tools I use in my very own wedding coordination business. I’ve also linked a few special offers just for the JDWC community!
Business Tools
- Honeybook – The client management tool that has allowed me to automate our client experience. I use this to keep track of leads, contracts and online payments. Having Honeybook has freed up SO much of my time – leads automatically filter in to my dashboard when someone inquires on my website, I can create and send client contracts in less than 5 minutes, and clients can ultimately sign and pay electronically. It truly is amazing and one of my favorite business resources I could not do without! // Get a free trial + 20% off when you sign up!
- Gusto – This is what I use to run payroll on auto-pilot. It reminds me of items I need to review, sends me updates and general business reports, and even files important tax documents for me come tax time! // Get a $200 when you sign up!
- Quickbooks – The accounting software that helps me track every incoming and outgoing dollar for my business. Everything is tracked and categorized to easily hand off to my CPA at the end of the year. // Save 75% on your first 6 months when you sign up!
- Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite) – This is the lifeline of my business. Making the switch to Google Workspace several years ago was one of the best business decisions I’ve made. I have access to anything I need anytime, and anywhere. From documents to emails to calendar to photos. // Email me at hello{at}jessicadum.com for a referral code for 20% off your first year!
Website + Blog Management
- Showit – A super user-friendly, drag and drop website builder that gives me creative freedom without writing a single line of code. With our recent rebrand, we switched our entire site over to Showit and could not be more thrilled. It is clean, easy to use and they have great customer service! // Get 1 month free!
- Google Analytics – An incredible business tool that allows me to really understand and track the people who come to my website. I can analyze time spent on my site, bounce rate, user behavior and various other stats.
- Yoast – I love this WordPress plugin. It helps me prepare blog posts for optimal SEO (Search Engine Optimization), allowing me to create key words for each post and tells me how my blog posts could improve.
- Storytailer (formerly BlogStomp) – The program I use to resize images for web-use without slowing down my website. I love how I can easily create collages for blog posts of our real weddings and customize the files for export!
Social Media Management
- Planoly – For being a visual person, I love how this tool allows me to drag and drop images to create a cohesive Instagram feed, schedule them out days, weeks or even months in advance, and can even post on my behalf. Adding this app to our tool belt has saved so much time and gives me confidence when scheduling and posting images. // Get started for free!
- Plann – Another social media scheduling tool I use that allows me to quickly and easily plan and schedule out my Instagram feed. // Get $10 when you sign up!
- Tailwind – The tool that took my monthly Pinterest views from 45k to 150k in less than a month (now, well over 350k monthly views), and drives more traffic to my website than ever before. Tailwind allows me to stay active on Pinterest on a daily basis with little effort and I only wish I had implemented this into my social media workflow earier! // Get a free month + $15 credit when you sign up!
- Canva – My go-to design tool for creating graphics for Pinterest, Instagram and even my newsletter. For someone that’s not design-savvy, this has been a godsend – I love that they have pre-sized graphics based on what you want to create as well as pre-made template designs to inspire! // Try out Canva for free!
- Social Squares – Professionally styled stock images created specifically for creative businesses that give me incredible, high-res images to use for both social media and my website.
Email Marketing
- Flodesk – Another one of my FAVORITE business resources is Flodesk. I use Flodesk for my email newsletter that I send out to wedding planners and day of wedding coordinators on a monthly basis and I love how beautiful and easy to use their custom templates are. You can even create pretty opt-in forms for your website or schedule out email workflows months in advance. I am SO happy I made the switch when I did! // Get a free trial + 50% off when you sign up!
On My Desk
- Simplified Planner – I’m a paper-planner-girl through and through, and would be lost without my Simplified Planner. Emily Ley is a genius product maker and I just adore her entire line!
- Traction Book – A great read for entrepreneurs that provides practical methods and strategies for more focus, more productivity and more growth in their businesses. // Get it on Amazon!
- A Simplified Life Book – The book every woman should read to live a more intentional life. From home to meal planning to style to finances to parenting – Emily’s tips are invaluable and this is one I read multiple times a year! // Get it on Amazon!
- Building A Story Brand Book – This one’s for the business owner looking to improve how they connect with customers, their messaging and grow their businesses. // Get it on Amazon!
Client Gifts
- Winc– Winc is a great wine club, that will ship right to your client’s doors. Perfect as a welcome gift, or post-wedding to celebrate their anniversary. // Get $10 off your first order!
- BoxFox – These luxury gift boxes are perfect client gifts! You can select from pre-curated boxes, or customize with over 100 gift options, in various price points. // Get $10 off your first order!
- Kendra Scott – Kendra Scott makes incredible jewelry that is perfect for client, vendor or team gifts. From everyday pieces, to fine jewelry, the options are endless! // Get 20% off your first order!
- Amazon Client Gifts – Looking for easy-to-ship items right from Amazon? I have created a list of Client Gifts, available right on Amazon – and most have Prime shipping! // Shop them on Amazon!
Other Tools
- My Emergency Kit – Curious what I have in my wedding day emergency kit? Check out the complete list, and shop it on Amazon! // Shop my kit!
- Wedding Registry Must-Haves – If you are helping your clients create their gift registry, I have created an Amazon Shop with my favorites! // See them on Amazon!
- My Amazon Shop – I have created multiple Amazon Shops for all of your business needs! From books, to client gifts, and office must-haves. // Visit my Amazon Shop!
Xo,
Jess
Related resources
Amazon Affiliate Disclaimer – We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Affiliate Disclaimer – We are participants in the Honeybook, Flodesk and Quickbooks Referral Programs, affiliate referral programs designed for active users like ourselves to provide a means for us to earn fees by referring genuine leads to their CRM, email marketing and accounting software.
