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VRS121 - Books, Productivity and Bright Shiny Things

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Looking back over the years since I started in this business, I’ve tried hundreds of apps, resources, and systems, read books, and articles, and am always on the lookout for new and innovative ideas that will improve my businesses.

It’s been a while since I shared my favorite productivity resources, and the books I’m reading, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to catch up and tell you about what I’m using daily to keep my business in good shape and assist in creative and operational processes.

I start off by talking about what’s on my desk – the two books I’ve got on the go this week.

The Art of SEO is a book I mentioned in my interview with Conrad O’Connell and has been sitting in my bookshelf for a while. Since it came back to mind when I spoke with Conrad, I’ve become immersed in it again and I’ve just ordered the updated version. This is such a great book for a layperson that even I am finding it a great read!

My second good read is the Customer Service Revolution by John Di Julius. His message is at the core of my keynote address at the Vacation Rental Success Summit in Toronto at the end of next month, and I have been a Secret Service fanatic since I first read this book. I urge you to pick this one up.

Lead Generation is another interest although I’ve not got into the technical side of the two resources I talk about….or rather that Mike explains. He uses both Aweber and Infusionsoft, so I brought him on to tell you about which is best for different purposes.

From my productivity perspective, I limit myself to two tools – one for a simple To-Do list, and the other for mind-mapping. Given that one is very linear and left-brained and the other is more abstract and right-brained, even I have difficulty in explaining how I use both so thoroughly and exclusively, but hey, it works for me.

Finally, I touch on two resources that help my business operationally. A complete CRM solution that we use for our agency business, particularly for onboarding new owners, and a great app that produces checklists for our housekeeping staff. Check those out and let me know if they might work for you.

Here’s the links to everything I’ve mentioned in this episode:

The Art of SEO

Customer Service Revolution

Aweber

Infusionsoft

Mindjet

Simple Minds

Mind Node

Zoho

Properly

Canva

Wordswag

Snagit

Webinar link

VRSS

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