My Toolbox

Email Reminder System WHAT IT IS: A tool that allows you to create emails and schedule follow ups using email. WHAT IT COSTS: Free; Premium Level is $4.99/month or $49/year. WHAT TO USE IT FOR: Throughout the day I (Kyle) have reminder emails coming into my inbox. It could be to remind me to follow-up with a prospect. To ask a client if they have a certain ‘Action Step’ completed. Could be to remind me to reply back to something related to church or my kids school. I simply add “1day@followupthen.com,” “2weeks@followupthen.com,” or something similar to the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) line of emails that I send out. Followupthen.com does the remembering and reminding for me! I use the free version of this program everyday (haven’t found the need to upgrade to the paid version.) I love it and my remodeling clients who use it love it too. MORE INFORMATION: Visit the website for more information on both levels.

Free Screenshot & Screencast Tool Kyle Says: “I use Jing everyday - with my employees/colleagues and with my remodeling clients. It's been a great time saver.” WHAT IT IS: A downloadable tool that helps you capture screenshots and record short screencasts. WHAT IT COSTS: Completely free. WHAT TO USE IT FOR: Screenshots: Take a photo of your screen and mark it up with text, arrows, highlights, etc. Sometimes a picture is worth 1,000 back and forth emails – or at least it feels that way! For example, rather than going back and forth on design changes with a client, mark up the plan once with all changes then provide the screenshot to the designer. Screencasts: You can record up to five minutes of a video of your screen. Great for showing people how to do what you want them to do! MORE INFORMATION: Check out this informational video. Visit the Jing website.

Cloud-Based File Storage and Sharing WHAT IT IS: Dropbox is a cloud-based storage service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily using your computer, tablet or even smartphone! WHAT IT COSTS: The first two GB are free, then you pay for additional storage (between $10-$15 per month for business users.) WHAT TO USE IT FOR: Any file or image you are currently storing on your computer and frequently emailing to share with another user. Key features and benefits include: Accessibility: Access your documents from anywhere you have wifi or cell service. Share-ability: Give your team or clients access to certain documents at your discretion without emailing files back and forth. Security: All files have 256-bit AES encryption and two-step verification. Additionally, if your computer crashes your Dropbox files will not be lost. MORE INFORMATION: Check out this informational video explaining how Kyle uses Dropbox with clients. For more general Dropbox information, visit their website.

My Speed by Enounce Video Speed Editor WHAT IT IS: For a one time investment of $29.95 you can speed up or slow down videos. WHAT IT COSTS: One-time fee of $29.95. WHAT TO USE IT FOR: Speed up video to save time: Speed up video up to 5 times faster with perfect clarity, zip through Flash and HTML5 videos online, save time and enjoy more with no audio distortion or “chipmunking.” Works for lectures, seminars, training, speeches and even Google Voice messages. Slow down video to learn or take notes: Slow down video as much as 3 times slower than original. Perfect for foreign language learning, complex material, dance steps, guitar chords or more. MORE INFORMATION: Download a free 7 day trial and give it a shot! A nice way to save time.