Star Spangled Tools to Spark Your Creativity & Celebrate Working Independence

Today, all of our creatives here at Impulse are at poolside BBQs or the beach, enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, watching fireworks, and hopefully consuming a good number of cocktails.

Celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence isn't the only thing we are lifting our glasses to this Fourth of July. Today, and everyday, we celebrate all of those tools that aid our creative mission. We’re talented individuals but there are some tools and apps we rely on to get the job done.

We’d like to share the tools/apps that give Impulse Creative the fire to work or give us maximum independence/freedom in our work life! Hopefully we’ll help spark your own creativity on this 4th of July, because (yes, I am going to say it) baby you’re a firework.

Each member of our team here at Impulse confessed what helps to increase their creativity in our marketing mission, as well as what makes them feel independent, not just today, but everyday.

So grab your red white and blue swag, light your sparklers and get ready for a great read with a boom.

Rachel Begg - COO

For creativity, I like the Google Chrome App, Momentum. It gives you a moment of calm with an inspiring photo and inspiring quote to start your day off positively. You can also set a daily goal/focus/intention, which is awesome if you like conquering one goal or task at a time.

Remington Begg - Chief Remarkable Officer

Podcast Roulette helps spark my creativity. I find that when I consume lots of knowledge, I get more creative. I try to find one or two new podcasts to listen to every week. If I like it, I add it to my library. It’s always great to hear other opinions and tie in unexpected things to the strategy.

Having defined goals and surrounding myself with bright and motivated people that I can rely on gives me all the independence I need.

Audrey DeMartinis - Project Manager

I love Trello, it makes my life as a project manager so easy. I like being creative and thinking of new ways to use Trello to help the team be more efficient. I also enjoy Zoom. On Wednesdays, we can work from home and still can communicate face-to-face with Zoom.

Courtney Allbee - Inbound Marketer

One marketing tool I utilize at work that sparks my creativity and gives me freedom is the use of video. Whether it's creating a video for a blog post or our monthly internal meetings, I love having the freedom to write my own script and come up with ideas on whatever topic I want. It's also fun getting to work with our video marketer, Noel, who helps us bring our crazy ideas to life, just like my Leads Rock music video. Check it out!

Danielle Rhodes - Content Marketer

I get maximum location freedom by having the Slack, Zoom and Google doc/sheets apps on my iPhone. As part of the remote team, mobile Slack messaging and mobile Zoom video conferencing keep me as connected to my team as I'd be if I was working from headquarters, even when I'm away from my home office. Somedays, the best time to touch base with each other is 7 am or 9 pm. With those apps, that’s fine. I can get and give important information while I’m brushing my teeth or even walking the dog.

The Google apps are an awesome addition and allow me to access and edit docs in seconds, right from my phone. There’s never a moment I’m not able to answer a question or put out a fire, no matter where I am.

George B. Thomas - Inbound Evangelist

I love having video technology at my fingertips. My favorite is ECamm Live, where I can easily go live to Facebook, Periscope, YouTube, and even record a local version by itself or of the live stream.

This is amazing for me because ideas come and they go. But, when you can jump online and create that content before the idea fades away, you can double and triple your content creation efforts.

Being scheduled and organized in some type of project manager is also important. In the past, I have used Trello, HubSpot, and several others, but right now, having my micro tactics listed in TeamWork and scheduled, help me reach my macro goals!

Jackie Pfriender - Sales Development Specialist

The HubSpot and Slack integration has made life exciting– when a deal closes, the entire company is notified so we get to party on and celebrate together! But it also allows me to create tasks, see contact records and do a billion other things to keep me focused and make life super easy. It gives me superior freedom because I don't need to be on my computer to update HubSpot– I can do it anywhere that I have my phone

Jenn Villa - Content Marketer

As a writer, I like to keep things old-school. I just need a steamy cup of tea and a bright white Google Doc to get started, but I do have a few helpful tools up my sleeve.

Any marketer can benefit from Google AdWords Keyword Planner, which serves a grocery-list of search engine-friendly keywords to weave into your content.

This is nothing new— every SEO knows about this foundational tool for all things keyword research. Nonetheless, it’s an essential part of my content marketing strategy.

How do you ensure you’re growing in your career?

For me, it’s maintaining a constant “student” mindset and dedication to learning. That’s why my app of choice is Goodreads, which is basically an online bookshelf.

See a killer marketing book, but aren’t ready to buy it? Scan the barcode and add it to your “Want to Read” list. Check out individual ratings and user reviews. Set a yearly Reading Challenge goal and use the app to stay on track.

Don’t hit Barnes & Noble without it!

Jeffrey Lewis - Graphic Designer

Loving Soapbox from Wistia right now. It's a browser add-on for Google Chrome that lets me record quick explainer videos for clients. Recording a 5 minute video to explain a design comp gives me freedom to spend less time in endless email chains or phone calls. I hit record and show the client what I'm working on. It's greatly improved my efficiency and freed up more time for being creative.

Jonathan Engelbrecht - Inbound Marketer

Slack really helps me work effectively and creatively. I am a firm believer that teamwork makes the dream work, and Slack makes sure we are all communicating and collaborating. It also means we don't need to schedule extra meetings freeing up time and letting us all work with freedom and independence.

Noel Beltrand - Videographer

My tool of choice is what makes a videographer awesome, and that's the Sony a7 camera. Its customizable settings make shooting a breeze while all looking AMAZING. I never leave the office home without it. My app is more in a software form that is powered by Adobe. Premiere is my prime choice for editing my masterpiece while After effects gives it that extra hot sauce to make it really POP. These items provide me with maximum effort to conquer the marketing day!

Russell Benzing - Developer

Zoom because without it, I would work from the office.

(He isn't much of a writer.)

Ryan Vandenabeele - Inbound Marketer

Creativity and coming up with magic marketing sauce is more about a state of mind for me. No fancy apps or programs. All I need is a marker, a whiteboard wall, computer keyboard, some great minds to collaborate with and maybe a little liquid inspiration from an aged sipping rum. Put those ingredients into a pot, and you'll see some pretty good awesome sauce come out of it. Boom.

There you have it, that is how we bring the creative fire to work in our agency every day.

BONUS

Here’s how the Team Impulse #wayfinders top their hot dogs!

Audrey - A lot of mustard, onion, cheese,  jalapeño.

Courtney - Ketchup....or if I'm feeling like a real savage, chili and cheese.

Danielle - Tofu dog with Sauerkraut and mustard.

George - Ketchup or mustard, but sometimes when I am feeling creative, I will take the basic and add onion, sauerkraut, chilli and cheese.

Jackie - Chili, cheddar cheese, mustard, relish and chopped white onions.

Jeff - Sauerkraut and mustard.

Jenn - Tops her fake dog with fake chili with real cheese (yes, she included link so you can easily make your own).

Jonathan- Mustard and ketchup with onions, peppers. Cheese or chili is always great too.

Noel -  Ketchup, mustard, a good amount of sauerkraut, onion and pickled jalapeño.

Rachel - Mustard, relish, and raw onions or chili and cheese.

Remington - Cheese.

Russell - Bare dog.