This week, another popular productivity app when from a license-based pricing model to a subscription-based one.
Chaos and outrage ensued.
I won’t go into the details, because that’s not what this is about. The details don’t matter.
Instead, seeing people on Twitter so upset about paying for a productivity app, a “utility app” they use daily, just made me think about how that exact kind of app is the one I’m MOST happy to pay for. 💰
Let’s talk about why.
Productivity Apps Have the Most Potential ROI
The way I see it, productivity apps are the ones with the potential to make the far-reaching impact on my work.
For example, by paying for a project management app or note-taking app, you’re investing in every single area of your work that you manage projects or takes notes in.
But if you were to invest that same cost in a software subscription for a different type of tool, it would only impact one or two areas of your work.
To prove it, let’s consider Zapier vs. other $20/month software subscriptions.
With the $20 Zapier plan, a business can make DRASTIC changes to its:
- Project management
- Finances & bookkeeping
- Client / customer onboarding
- Customer service
- Email & communication
- Social media management
- Content creation
- Scheduling & calendar management
I could go on, but do I need to? 🙃
But if I were take that same $20/month and invest it in a marketing tool, for example, it would make drastic changes to my business’s marketing and maybe one or two other areas.
They may not be as niche, but that’s their power.
That’s what gives them the far-reaching impact.
Productivity Tools Are (Relatively) Affordable
Plus, a lot of times, especially in online business, the productivity tools are often cheaper than more niche tools anyway.
I pay for Todoist annually, but I think the monthly price would work out to less than $5/month. So not only is it more impactful than most of the other tools I’m paying for in my business, it’s way less money anyway.
That’s why I’m so happy to pay for things like project management tools, note-taking apps, and automation softwares. I know it’s the best place I can invest in my work.
This goes beyond money, even.
If I have an hour of free time and extra energy to spend developing a skill or learning a new tool, it’d be one in the productivity realm.
As an example, one thing I’m spending a lot of my extra time on now is learning Mac OS automation through things like Python and AppleScript. This will let me automate the apps and functions on my computer, aka pretty much any of my work.
It doesn’t directly increase revenue in my business, but it lets me do a ton of stuff on my computer like, twice as fast. Including things that DO directly increase revenue. And freeing up a lot of extra time for revenue-producing work.
In other words…time well spent. And it didn’t cost a dime.
In Work Brighter Automation Academy, I talk in the first module about how important this mindset shift is to getting the most impact out of automation.
But it goes further than automation to productivity and systems in general.
When you improve the way you work in general, you can improve EVERY area OF your work.
It’s a massive ripple effect that turns into a big wave. 🌊
And I want all of us to spend more energy taking advantage of that wave, instead of fucking with things that barely make a splash.