The 5 Top Tools for Effective Online Communication

Are you working from home and need to figure out how to deliver your keynote, conduct a strategy workshop, or host a project stakeholder meeting?  Wondering how to communicate and collaborate effectively with your team, clients, and partners from a distance?

In this post, I’m not going to list every tool you can find on Google, but I will share the top tools I personally use and have learned about through my collaborations with successful business owners.

These tools help me stay connected, productive, and efficient—whether I'm hosting a virtual retreat or managing client relationships. In this post, 

1. WhatsApp: Quick Chats, Calls, and Video Messages (5 mins) 

For short messages, video calls, and staying connected with family and team members, WhatsApp is a game-changer.

I was a big skype fan for many years traveling the world the Skype app was my HOTLINE to my family and loved ones and a min of Telephone was 5 USD and more. 

The Whatsapp Call function is the best! We reduced the costs of voice communication significantly. And the BMW had this Whatsapp functionality build into the car display.

Awesome to pick up wifi calls on the road. Looking forward to better internet connections on the highways.

Today I use Whatsapp for:

• Family and friends chats, team collaboration, and private client communication.
• Sending short  text messages, photos, videos, and quick voice messages.
• Running popup group chats for events like special team events or birthday parties.
  
  

10 Tips for Using WhatsApp Effectively:

• Upload your photo and connect with family, friends, clients, and team members.
• Start conversations with a friendly greeting like “Dear...”
• End with an emotional note like “Much love” or “Kind regards.”
• Use emoticons to make your messages more engaging and fun. 🌞🥰👏
• Use group video calls for up to 8 participants.
• Share pictures and short video messages.
• Install WhatsApp on your computer to easily manage documents and attachments.
• Create groups for family, friends, or projects and use video chats for meetings.
• Make temporary popup groups for specific events or quick discussions.

Cost: Free

Device Compatibility: Mac, PC, smartphones

Limitation: Limited search functionality within chats

Download Whtasapp

2. Slack: Organize Communication Like a Pro 

SLACK  helps to get organized faster than with email and have fun communicating online

Slack is ideal for managing team communication, especially for those working on multiple projects with distributed teams. With its structured channels and search functionality, it’s much easier to organize conversations and find information.

It's a must if you have more than one group, a distributed team, you want a dedicated channel for different projects Now as we are at home and maybe you have 100 or 100o of projects, clients - it will be hard do find your information in the chats, find the video or the picture from a year ago or to have all the links to documents at your fingertips.

But you probably agree it would be great to have as well a structure by projects or departments so you know where to look first.

Slack is a great work and project app that I use for communication with my Team and designers for chat and approval of any issue and morning standup meetings. I love Slack and they are improving. .We connected now our Slack with our Asana Project management system, 

I use Slack to:

• Create dedicated channels for each project or department.
• Have fast communication with my team and designers.
• Hold morning stand-up meetings and share project updates.

10 Tips for Using Slack Effectively:

• Set up channels foreach  specific projects (P1, P2, P3) and archive he channel once finished

• Create extra channels like:

  • Channel for  your Leadership Team or your family board - you can discuss appointments, vote on options, have polls, chat and do decision making, inform about an update, share documents 
  • Channel for Clients - C1, C2, C3...
  • Have fun channel where everybody can upload  video and 
• Mute channels that aren't relevant to you at the moment.
• Integrate Google Calendar to sync your Slack status with your availability.
• Share documents from Google Drive or Dropbox within channels.
• Install the app on your phone for easy access to messages and approvals. Using the app on the phone helps you saving so much time by reviewing the design sent by my designer popping up and I can approve with the click on y phone which with fingertip in seconds.

• Slack is very reliable and responsive and it works on y desktop and phone in sync.
  
  
• You can automatically sync your Slack status with your Google Calendar so everyone can see your availability,  respond to invites, and get updates when a calendar invite changes, join a call directly from your calendar reminder.
• We can vote as a team for options w in seconds and I can go on my Laptop for and look at all conversations like in a cockpit and the best I can search for keywords and checking to all conversations.
• There are a private chat function and video chat as well.
• Awesome easy to use but the bigger your team and client base you may want to set up some communication rule of the game to play the same game and have fun.

Cost: Free (Paid versions for larger teams)

Device Compatibility: Mac, PC, smartphones

Limitation: Not ideal for video training or presentations

Sign up for Slack

 Teams is the Microsoft  answer  to  Slack  and  it is included in the paid pro version Microsoft office. This will replace all skype for business apps and the  TEAMS app is used for conversations  in all large corporations who historically used Microsoft applications.. In my experience as of today it is less fun than slack but it is perfect into the Microsoft suite .

3. Zoom: Host Meetings, Negotiate, and Collaborate (30 mins – 4 hrs)

When it’s time for a deep discussion or important negotiation, Zoom is my go-to tool. It’s perfect for video meetings, training sessions, and hosting virtual workshops with breakout rooms. While I know many people use **Teams** in large corporations, I personally prefer Zoom for its reliability and ease of use, especially for coaching sessions and team meetings.  But if you want us to talk on team  of course I will connect. Because business is not about tools but about people. And if we want to talk and collaborate we will  find a channel that  works for both parties.

What I love about Zoom:

• You can record meetings and even have them transcribed for minutes.
• It offers whiteboard functionality to facilitate collaboration in real time.
• You can easily host role-play scenarios in breakout rooms.

Why I Love Zoom Over Other Tools:

Even though **Microsoft 365** is an essential part of my business tools (and I have many templates in my Google Workspace for my online business), I still prefer to use **Zoom** for its user-friendly interface, high-quality streaming, and seamless breakout room functionality.

While **Teams** is great for internal corporate communication, Zoom’s flexibility and ease make it my favorite tool for coaching, training, and large-scale presentations.

One benefit of using Zoom: Zoom offers unparalleled video quality and easy integration with other platforms, making it the top choice for online meetings and webinars—whether you're leading a session or collaborating with clients.

While others may prefer *Google Hangouts**, I find that Zoom’s tools for interactive communication, such as screen sharing and webinar hosting, create a more dynamic and engaging experience. It's the reason I continue to use Zoom for nearly all of my coaching sessions and webinars.

To stay safe and secure in your Room please read my recommendations:

1. do not use your personal ZOOM room ID that is permanent but that you create for each meeting or each Team a special ID to be sure nobody breaks into your personal meetings.
2. Use the option of a waiting room. This is set by default so you can control manually all entry, I only check cit of when I want y small team to chat with each other in the room before I join.
3.  protect your meeting with a password if you want to prevent foreign people to join meetings and private negotiations.
4. Setup your meeting so that participants need a Zoom account  
   
   

Cost: Free for up to 40-minute meetings; Paid versions for longer meetings have fee t

      For example a monthly fee toda:y is 14.95 USD

Device Compatibility: Mac, PC, smartphones

Limitation: Recording space is limited to 1 GB

Sign up for Zoom

4. Email: The Backbone of Professional Communication

While WhatsApp and Slack are great for quick communication, email is essential for sending formal proposals, long-form messages, or building relationships.

I use:

• Gmail for personal communication and work emails.
• Microsoft 365 for business emails and collaborative document editing.

Tips for Effective Email Communication:

• Use a professional email address
• Include a signature block

• Keep the subject line clear and direct.
• Think twice before hitting 'reply all
• Avoid using exclamation marks excessively—keep it polite.
• Review your email for clarity before sending.
• Use email for formal communication, not for conflict resolution.
• Take your time to review your writing and add s nice inspiring positive first opening line.

Please remember:

Email  is the wrong  tool for conflict negotiations. Please use the right voice or video meeting tool.

My favourite Tool for CRM and Email automation is Kajabi

I use Kajabi's CRM system to track whether you've opened my emails, automatically respond to your queries, send out important documents, and keep track of reminders for my coaching clients and group calls.

While there are plenty of other CRM systems out there, I love Kajabi because it helps me keep everything in one place and make sure you get all the info you need  right on time. I can set up a lot of automations. It’s become an essential part of how I manage communication with all my clients and students.

And it’s not just for emails; Kajabi allows me to send invitations for my webinars, track your engagement with my courses, and send reminders to make sure you don’t miss any of our sessions.

In short, Kajabi’s CRM system keeps me on top of everything, and it means you get a smoother experience. Everything works together in one place so I don’t have to run around setting up reminders in 10 different apps. It’s just easier and more efficient—and who doesn’t love that? 

What CRM system do you use?  

Cost: Free (Gmail) or Paid (Microsoft 365)

Device Compatibility: Mac, PC, smartphones

Limitation: Not suitable for informal, quick chats

Sign up for Gmail

Sign up for Microsoft 365

5. Kajabi: Build Your Own Secure Community and Host Webinars

For managing courses, webinars, and community engagement, Kajabi is a powerhouse. I use Kajabi to:

• Host my Project Leader Academy courses and content.
• Run webinars and coaching sessions (live and with replay).
• Build a Facebook-like community inside Kajabi, where members can interact, share ideas, and learn together — and I control the environment (not Facebook).

Here’s why I choose Kajabi’s community & webinar features (and why I prefer it over alternatives like Facebook groups):

Community Features

• You can create topic-based spaces (“Circles” or “Access Groups”) so people only see the content relevant to them.
• Built-in analytics: see who’s engaging, how often, what’s working, and adjust.
• Live “rooms” or meet-ups: host live sessions, have replays for those who missed it.
• Custom branding and design: make the community reflect *your* brand (banner, logo, colors) not a generic Facebook group.
• Mobile app/optimized for mobile: your members can access content everywhere.

Webinar / Replay / Meeting Benefits

• You can run live webinars inside the platform and automatically provide the replay for those who couldn’t join live.
• You get to track attendance, interaction, and replay views — which gives you real insight, not just “somebody watched”.
• Everything (courses + community + webinars) lives in one ecosystem, so your members don’t jump between five different platforms.

Why Kajabi vs Facebook (or others)

• Facebook groups are free and popular — yes. But you don’t own the data, you’re subject to algorithm changes, distractions from unrelated posts, ad changes, privacy settings you don’t control.
• With Kajabi, I own the space, I set the rules, I brand it. That means the environment is safer, cleaner, more aligned with my audience.
• Also, Kajabi keeps everything in one place: community, course material, webinars, replays, coaching calls — less complexity for me and them.
• I’ve tried other platforms (and ran a Facebook community before) — but I love Kajabi because I can constantly improve the features, roll out new ones, and I don’t have to rely on “some external social network decides to change the rules tomorrow”.

Cost / Device Compatibility / Limitation

• Cost: Free trial available.
• Device Compatibility: Mac, PC, smartphones.
• Limitation: It’s a paid plan after the trial; you’ll invest in your community for the long run.

Want to try it? Try Kajabi for Free - Extended 39 Day Trial

Conclusion

These tools are essential for any leader or business owner looking to streamline their communication and stay connected with teams, clients, and stakeholders. Whether you prefer the simplicity of WhatsApp or the organization of Slack, there’s a tool here for everyone.

What tools do you use for online communication? I’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback or suggestions by emailing me at [email protected]

Please make your choice and keep app diet. So less is more but use the great opportunities wisely and enjoy the new possibilities.