My tech stack

Over the few years that I’ve been running my own coaching practice, I’ve found some tech tools I really like. They range from very helpful to indispensable. I’m sharing them here in case they bring simplicity, ease or joy to the folks who read my work.

For starters, I should note that I’m not receiving any kind of compensation from any of the companies that make the products I use. I’m sharing them only because they work well for me. I don’t tend to add new tools very often. I will typically go ahead with something on the recommendation of someone I trust rather than doing a ton of research myself on the best option.

Hardware

I have a pretty hardware-light business. What I do for a living doesn’t require a ton of processing power, graphics capability or storage space. So I have a hand-me-down Mac with a second monitor, external keyboard and mouse, paired with a quite ancient HP printer. What I rely on instead is a trio of accessories to help me look and sound good, and one to keep me organized.

I do at least 90 percent of my client work on video. Whether I’m coaching a client, conducting a workshop or guesting on a podcast, I need to look my best. I use an Elgato Key Light to smooth out the uneven lighting in my home office and keep the monitor glare off my glasses. A Logitech C922 Pro webcam gives me a sharper, brighter picture than my laptop’s built-in camera. And a Blue Yeti microphone gives me great sound without having to wear a headset.

I picked up a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner a few months ago and got rid of all of my paper files. Once a week or so, I’ll scan everything into a Dropbox account and put the paper in a shred pile for a trip to my local UPS Store.

I do not have any work email or apps (except for banking) on any portable electronic devices. This forces me to sit down in my home office if I’m going to do work, and makes it really hard for me to work while I’m away from home or on vacation.

Software

Cloud-based software makes Peaceful Direction go. I don’t store any documents or data locally unless I need to download something for some reason. I do rely heavily on a number of different software services, sometimes every day.

The single most important ingredient in my software mix is Calendly. Simply put, none of the other software would matter if I couldn’t keep my schedule straight. 

I have three options for doing this. I could handle everything by email, devoting 3-5 messages back and forth to finding the right meeting time and repeating the process for each rescheduling or cancellation. I could hire someone to help me keep my schedule, which would be rather expensive. Or I could use software to automate the process for my clients and everyone else I meet with in a week. Automating my schedule and making it self-service empowers clients to get access to me when they need me, and it frees up my attention for more important work. Calendly also eliminates appointment collisions when I’m coaching in different environments with different calendars – now up to four and counting. As for the competition, I’ve played around a bit with Acuity and ScheduleOnce, and I find Calendly to be much simpler to use while providing everything I need.

I was coaching on Zoom before the pandemic, and I’ll be coaching on Zoom after Covid hits the dustbin of history or becomes like the common cold. Simply put, it works really well. Each new release seems to get just a bit better. I’ll have clients whose IT departments block Zoom and require them to use Teams, WebEx or some other software, which is fine. But my first choice remains clear.

Squarespace powers my website. A fellow coach was using it before I did, and I liked her setup. I used to know how to code web pages by hand 20 years ago, but those skills are long gone. I’m glad to have the drag-and-drop templates with hosting included here.

I chose Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) for email and document management because I’ve been using the free version in my personal life for years. I don’t do any heavy duty spreadsheet work and find Slides to be more than adequate, so the Microsoft versions of these products end up being unnecessarily complicated for me.

Mailchimp powers my email newsletter. The version I use is free, customizable and makes it easy to get signups on the go if I’m doing a speaking engagement.

I keep my books in Wave, a simpler and free alternative to QuickBooks. Invoicing is a snap, and the integrated payment system allows my clients to pay their bills instantly via EFT or credit card. I can set up checkouts for book or class purchases and embed them in my website. I am in the process of transitioning out of the company’s free Wave Money add-on for banking. It seems like it will be a great product someday, but it’s given me some headaches I’d rather not repeat.

A couple of email add-ons round out the list. WiseStamp provides me with an attractive email signature that I can easily customize if I want to share a message for a short period of time. SaneBox helps me keep my inbox under control with an AI-trained system of filters, folders and making certain types of messages disappear forever.

What lies ahead? I’m toying around with the idea of using a project management software to help clients and me keep track of the bits and pieces of their engagements. Some coaches swear by their all-in-one practice management solutions, and I’m going to spend some time checking those out as well.

Image: Steve Jurvetson from Los Altos, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons