I have a confession to make: I’m a tools guy.
If there’s an app or a tool out there, I’m going to investigate it and see if it will work for me. I can’t help myself.
It doesn’t matter if I have no need for it off the top of my head. I hear about or see a new tool and I think, Can I use this?
Now, when you hear this, you may want to completely dismiss this post. The list could change in 6 months, right?
Well… not this time.
Instead of just slapping together a list of cool tools that run my business, I put together a list of THE tools.
In other words, these apps and services are the ones that have either stood the test of time or quickly became a foundational part of my day-to-day operations.
Without these, I would struggle mightily to get things done at the level I want/need.
Okay, enough chatter. Let’s get into this:
1. CleanShot X
Kicking off with easily the tool I use the most.
I bought CleanShot X a few years ago and was blown away by its usefulness.
For those unfamiliar, CleanShot X is a screenshot application. But my goodness, it does more than that:
- Annotation in just a few clicks
- Video recording – screen and camera (handy for whipping up videos for my writers inside Solo Copy Empire)
- Scrolling screenshots
- Lots of fancy design tools
- A hosting service so you can quickly upload and share screenshots/videos
Yes, other tools do a lot of these things, too.
But I never have found one that does it all – and does it as well as CleanShot X.
2. Gemini
I want to be clear: I am not married to Gemini.
I find AI tools to be incredibly useful in all areas of my life, including my writing.
No, I don’t outsource my writing to it. But there is a LOT of brainstorming I can accomplish with it. And it does research in a fraction of the time I would take.
I switched to Gemini from Grok because of the larger context window. Seems to work well for me for now.
This is the one tool in the list that I could switch away from anytime, but I would just switch to a similar tool with the same functionality.
3. Apple Notes
Hoo boy.
I love note taking apps.
When I first struck out on my own as a freelancer, Microsoft OneNote came with my Windows Vista laptop (yikes).
I loved it. I used it for everything.
Then came Evernote.
The glory days of Evernote were something to behold. The screenshot app and web clipper alone were enough to use Evernote forever.
It was a daily tool.
At a certain point, though, the pricing model started to squeeze.
I have jumped around since then to other note taking apps.
Notion worked for me for a while, but eventually I was spending more time on setting up Notion than actually benefiting from it (not to mention some of the functionality issues I had with it).
After taking a big step backward, I realized I didn’t need anything fancier than Apple Notes.
It supports what I need. It can handle what I throw at it. I can organize it however I want.
It just works. And it’s free. And it’s baked in to my Apple ecosystem.
4. Google Docs
Guys, I started freelancing back in 2008. You know what we had?
Microsoft Word. Desktop version.
Dealing with client work meant saving files locally, editing them, and then sending them off. Depending on the client, you had to Track Changes. Sometimes I’d be sent 2-3 different revisions from different people and have to incorporate them all.
File names like “Newsletter Promo V8” were common, as were emails asking, “Which version is the latest again?”
And we paid for this experience!
When I ditched Windows Vista (a story for another day, but again – yikes) for Ubuntu, I used Ubuntu’s word processor, and it was mostly compatible with Word… but not perfect.
Then came Google Docs.
It was a revelation. It worked well, it was free, and I allowed us to all work off of the same draft.
It took a couple years for everybody to get on board with it. But since then?
Every piece of copy, every manuscript, everything I send to clients… it’s all in Google Docs.
I don’t have to teach them how to use it or anything. It just works!
5. Stripe
I hesitated to put this one on here right now.
My Stripe experience has degraded. It’s not perfect.
But when I need to collect payments, Stripe is the way to go (for now).
Easy to set up, everyone already knows and trusts it, and it’s integrated into just about everything.
I can sell products/services, and also create invoices and recurring subscriptions.
In the coming months, I can see myself just getting a merchant account and setting this up myself. It’ll be a slight pain, but I’ll get it done.
For now, though, for ease of use: Stripe wins.
6. MacWhisper
The newest tool on the list.
I could make an argument that MacWhisper may be the most valuable, most useful tool on the list. Even moreso than CleanShot X.
Gemini helped me find this one, and I can’t thank it enough.
MacWhisper is a very powerful transcription tool. But that doesn’t begin to describe its usefulness or implementation.
I can have it transcribe any audio or video file, and format it for export.
I can hit a hotkey and start talking, and it will instantly transcribe whatever I’m saying and copy it to the clipboard (invaluable for my Gemini conversations or brainstorming).
I hit a button and discreetly record any Zoom or Slack call and have it transcribed with one-click after the call is over – super handy for sales calls or client calls so I can focus on the conversation instead of trying to take notes.
I even have my Gemini account connected to the app, so I can pull up any transcript and have an AI conversation based on it (ask for summaries, bullet points, tasks from a call, etc.).
Best of all? It’s a one-time payment to buy and install it.
I find the AI-powered transcription is often excellent. Better than Dragon, back when I dabbled with Dragon. And I don’t have to speak the punctuation!
MacWhisper is a daily driver for me. Highly, highly recommended.
7. Alfred 5
Speaking of daily drivers…
The rest of the list will probably be shorter explanations because they are either A) pretty self-evident or B) single-focus tools.
Alfred is an app launcher on my MacBook. I hit a hotkey and it can launch an app, run a search, do math so I don’t have to open a calculator, and a whole lot more.
Plus, it has a text expander built right in, which I use all the time to send out client contracts and generate documents for clients.
Super flexible and can do a ton more than I do with it.
8. Canva Pro
Forget Photoshop.
Canva does all I need it to.
I love – LOVE – Canva.
I’ve created all my book covers in Canva, designed books for clients, use it to create my YouTube thumbnails, posters for my Plex server, Christmas cards for my family, and so on.
Indispensable.
9. Flow
It’s a Pomodoro timer. There are a billion of them. I like this one because it adds a site blocker while it’s running. I also just find it pretty easy to use.
10. Freedom
The gold standard for site blockers and distraction blockers.
11. Hand Mirror
Sits in my toolbar. I’m big on appearances when going on client calls.
With one click, I can check how I look on my camera before jumping onto the call.
Easy little tool.
12. Zoom
Needs explanation?
Client calls. Live Q&A calls with my writers.
Like Google Docs, everybody already uses it.
13. Continuity Camera
Not an “app” necessarily, but uber-useful.
I have an iPhone, so I can use it as a webcam. And I’ve found the video quality to be 2-3x the quality of the last 4K camera I had.
I grabbed a magnetic mount off of Amazon so I can mount my phone to my computer monitor whenever I need to record myself.
Or I throw it into a tripod for YouTube video recording.
Super-high quality and just works. One less thing I have to buy and plug into my computer!
14. Things 3
Finally, I haven’t found anything that beats Things 3 for task management.
I can organize my tasks however I’d like – which I change frequently.
It’s clean, it’s fast, and it works for me.
So there you have it!
These are the tools I use daily to run my business (and to be honest, most of my life).
My goal is always to be as efficient as possible, so I can be as prolific as possible.
These tools have given me that ability, and I’m more productive than I have ever been in the last 17+ years.
