PHONE CAMERA
Like most of you, I use my phone for everything. So much so that I had to borrow another phone just to record this video of my phone! I currently have the Samsung 21+ and it’s awesome. These days, most smartphones have great photo and video capabilities so it just makes sense to skip the $500 vlogging carmera. Maybe one day I’ll think differently, but for now, my phone meets my needs. I love using a phone for everything so much that I’m even considering buying another one just for business needs. A lot of the newer phones including mine now includes a pro manual photo and video capability as well where you can manually adjust the ISO, aperture and focus. If you’re into that level of ability, it’s there. Personally I’m good with using the auto features and it works very well for me.
One quick tips for android phones (I have no idea about Iphones). If you plan to upload short form videos like reels and tiktoks, go into your video settings and turn off the HEVC. It causes video compression on most apps and will cause your videos to look grainy and weird. It took me way too long to figure that out. Also IG and TT don’t really allow 4K so I just don’t record anything in 4K. So far it is working for me and the video quality is always great. No n Considering buying another a second phone??
HARD DRIVE / BACK UP CLOUD STORAGE
If you have a small business, I’m sure you realized very quickly how important additional storage is. My current external hard drive is the Seagate Portable Drive 1G. I’ve had it for about 3 years and it has been great. It keeps all these files off my laptop which means my laptop works a lot more smoothly and its nice and small so it’s so easy to throw in my bag. The type of hard drive is a HDD drive which is cheaper, but, because it has moving parts inside of it, they tend not to last as long SDD hard drives. SDD drives are more expensive but it’s really just preference when choosing one. If a physical external drive is too expensive or not your jam, jump into the cloud! A free 15BG comes with every gmail address. A 100 gb CLoud storage with google is $1.99 a month AND 2TB is $9.99 a month. Between my external hard drive, google storage and my one drive storage, I’m all set.
THERMAL PRINTER
I have only had this thermal printer for a few months and I am kicking myself for not getting on earlier. This one is the ZRHI thermal printer that is Bluetooth enabled. I currently use it for shipping labels, packaging stickers and the pricing stickers for my products in the retail store. It is so fast and I love that I no longer waste any of my precious printer ink. I will say that you will need to be careful with the kind of thermal labels you use with it. I bought some cheap knockoff ones from Amazon and they did not work with this printer AT ALL. However, the munbyn labels work perfectly and I also use an Amazon seller called Memoqueen. Those labels work as well. My main complaint is that the printer has to be physically connected to your computer in order to print which sucks if that’s the only way you plan to print. However, I have no issue printing from my phone by Bluetooth and it works great.
CRICUT
If you’ve watched my studio vlogs, you’ll know that my first Cricut (the original Air) conked out on me a few months ago. I had that cricut for almost 8 years so it definitely held up well. MI replaced it with the Cricut Explore Air 2 and, straight out of the box, it was a workhouse. It is SO fast. It has significanty changed the amount of time it takes to crank these products out. As a one woman show who still makes every single product in house, I love this cutter since it cuts down on the production time. Now I know that Cricut has a bad rep and I get it. I was on the phone with them a few weeks ago with a small issue that I had. However, in my personal experience, Cricut cutters have worked so well for me. And, if you’re just starting out, you can get an older model for a pretty low cost these days. As with anything, there is definitely a learning curve and a lot of trial and error. But the Cricut community on Yourtue is so helpful and so knowledgeable.
PRINTER 8550
This list is in no particular order; However, if I were to order these items, this printer would be in the top 2 and its definitely not # 2. I have had this Epson Ecotank 8550 for about 2 years and, within days of buying it, it completely leveled up my business. The print is ridiculously vibrant and beautiful. It can handle borderless printing for sizes up ti 13” by 19” so, for those of you who offer large prints, this would be great for you. It uses a cartridge free printing design and its very easy to refill.
Let’s be real. Ink is crazy expensive for any printer these days and this printer is really no exception. However, due some ink related science that I could not even begin to explain, I do not have to refill very often. I use this printer every day for business and the ink lasts a very long time. I started with the Epson 4700 series and loved it. I do believe I’ll be an Epson girl for life.
Quick tip: though the printer quality is awesome straight out of the box, if you want the print color to be as accurate as possible, I highly recommend getting a custom ink profile. A custom ink profile will make sure what you see on your computer is what is actually printed. I used a private company that is no longer accepting orders for this. I’ll leave some other options for this service in the description box so you can check it out.
STANDING DESK
Next up is this adjustable electric standing desk. It is 48” long and can be adjusted in height between 27” and 45”. When I first started making notepads, I would sit on the floor to use my $20 paper cutter and it was HELL on my back. The standing desk was a great investment. No more stooping. No more long periods of bending over. My old lady back is grateful! It was pretty easy to put together and the it has a few programmable memory presets so it moves up and down at just the push of a button. My only complaint: I wish I had gotten the 55” one! I would love an even bigger one.
PAPER CUTTER
My industrial paper cutter is a beast. My original paper cutter was a little $20 from michaels that only cut about 5 pieces of paper at a time and the cut accuracy was questionable. This HFS cutter can cut up to 400 pages (or 1.5” thick) at one time. I don’t attempt to cut that much at a time, but I regularly cut up to 250 pages with medium chipboard at one time with no issue. Now I admit that I think I may have to replace it soon. It has been jamming quite a bit and I’ve had to adjust the handle mechanism in the last few weeks. However, I have had this for over 3 years and, for the price and the amount of accurate cuts its made over that time, I think it is absolutely worth it.