Dubsado*: my CRM

Tech Tools & Software
Written By Katelyn Dekle

ALL-IN-ONE CRM

Dubsado has all or most of what I need all in one place! Read more about why Dubsado is my favorite business app here, and how I use it for my onboarding process here. Setting up took a long time, but Dubsado has saved me so much time, it's crazy.

You can use it FREE (up to 3 clients), & when you upgrade, use my code DAMN to give yourself 20% OFF your first month OR YEAR and get locked into the current annual rate for your next renewal. As prices continue to increase, yours won’t!

learn more about it
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Today I want to help set ya straight on payment processing fees.

I know, I know. It’s not a sexy topic. But hear me out!

I see and read and hear complaints about this all the time. So let’s walk through it in a way that makes sense.

You’ll learn why there are fees, what a standard fee looks like & where they’ll hide, how to work with them, who I trust (& who I don’t), and what you can/can’t do to work around them in your business.

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As a business newb (or even a business pro), you’ve probably heard other entrepreneurs tossing around phrases like “client management” or acronyms like “CRM” or “PM” and you might not have any idea what they mean.

Maybe you bought something like Dubsado or Honeybook and now you’re confused because you don’t understand why people are also using a PM/Project Management tool –and how do they integrate? Why do you need both?

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If you’re new to the entrepreneurial world, then you might be kiiiiinda sorta flyin’ by the seat of your pants. Yeah?

You never went to business or marketing or even design school, so you’re probably a little overwhelmed with your business.

I totally get it. When I first started, I had about 10 years of print design experience and some light freelancing experience under my belt, plus my college design education, which in no way prepared me to run a business of any magnitude. Back then freelancing just meant we agreed (verbally or written in an email) on a price, I did the work and they sent me a check. No written invoice, no contract. YIKES.

Don’t be that person! Let’s get you started with a few apps I wish I’d been using right out of the gate.

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You probably have a vague idea of what type of design services you need, and maybe you even know who you want to work with. But maybe you have no idea how much (if any) work you’ll need to put in or how much it’d cost to hire the help.

That goes for pretty much anything in the service industry, right? But there’s Angie’s List & HomeAdvisor for those kinds of professionals. So where do you go to find out more about design services? (Please don’t say Fiverr or Upwork. 😄)

That being the case, whether you have/haven’t worked with a graphic designer before, I’d be willing to bet you’re not sure what to expect, especially in a remote work or freelance situation.

It can be scary to hand over your trust & money to a stranger you’ve never met in person & don’t know. Right? I totally get that!

Because I know that there are a lot of you out there who have no idea what to expect, I’m gonna share my process since basically it’s industry standard.

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How I use Dubsado for my Client Onboarding process
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Getting started (or even just knowing where to start) with client onboarding can be tricky. I know this, because I've been there! My old process was cumbersome, unorganized and complicated, because I didn't really have one... at all. 🙈

I'd miss steps during client onboarding simply because I didn't have a system, or even worse, maybe I was so excited to get started on the project that I just bypassed all that "stuff." 

Luckily for me, I have wonderful clients and no problems ever came up because of my previous lack of onboarding organization. BUT I knew then, as I know now, that wouldn't last. Not that my wonderful clients would suddenly become something other than wonderful. No, no, no.

I'm saying my obvious lack of organization would eventually lead to an error SOMEWHERE, whether that was accidentally missing a client's deadline, or not getting paid on time because I had to manually set up invoices in PayPal and send them (or soooo many other possible scenarios).

As I mentioned (in detail) here, in Why Dubsado is My Favorite App, ...it's my favorite business app! I have many others on the list (I 💚  you too, Trello).

But in case you missed that (HINT: go back & read it too!), Dubsado is FREE to try, with no time limit on your trial; it just caps you at 3 clients before you'll have to upgrade.

SO WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? 
LET'S GET STARTED!

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Holy shit, you guys! When something is this good, you don't keep it to yourself; you share it!

I don't know if I've been living under a rock, or what, but I'd never heard of this company until a few months ago. I'm scratching my head now, trying to figure out what the heck took me so long to move forward!?

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This is my favorite advice to share, really.

As a freelancer myself, I know we're always looking for tools that will do everything we need, all in one place, without shaving off large chunks from our profit margin as we grow and scale our businesses.

So, when I came across a podcast about this free resource where several things could be handled all in one place, for less than $20/mo, my interest was piqued. I did some research and found a few different ways to do this!

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We're all SO busy these days! If you're keeping up with the trends then you haveto cook the perfect healthy meal with that new "superfood" ingredient, or complete this particular workout, or go take this particular class, or whatever the latest trend may be.

You may have kids and a full time job on top of it. Maybe you work at home full time, or have a 9 to 5, and then work nights & weekends on your side-hustle (whatever that may be).

No matter the details, there's still every day tasks to do (like cooking, cleaning, yard work, etc.) on top of maintaining a home life and keeping up with tasks at work. There's also the added task of not totally ignoring your SO or your friends and family while you work your little butt off!

So, who doesn't want a few apps that can make life a little easier?

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Katelyn Dekle

This article was written by me, Katelyn Dekle, the owner & designer behind Launch the Damn Thing®!

I love coffee & chai, curse like a sailor, make meticulous plans, am very detail-oriented, and love designing websites on Squarespace. As a Web Designer & Educator with nearly 20 years of professional design experience, I’m still passionate about helping & teaching others how to finally 'launch the damn thing' –and have fun in the process!

https://www.launchthedamnthing.com
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