There are better scheduling apps out there 📅

This week we're talking about scheduling tools!

You might think they're not exciting. And they're not. But they're definitely useful and a backbone of an entrepreneur's business.

Want to skip the blog post and book a free call with me? Use the link to try out Cal, the app I'll be talking about today 👇

From TidyCal to Cal

For a while, I was using TidyCal to manage my client bookings and meetings. And it was OK, but there was always something missing.

It's like when you buy a sandwich from a petrol station. It looks delicious, but as you bite into it, you realise all the filling was at the front and you feel a bit let down.

That was me with TidyCal.

Then, one day, I decided to ask Twitter for help.

I figured there must be something better our there for scheduling calls.

And Twitter did not disappoint! A lot of people suggested Cal.com

Benefits of Cal

Cal knows exactly what it's meant to do and it does it very well.

For instance: instead of forcing me to auto accept every meeting request that comes in, Cal tells the user the meeting will need to be confirmed before it's booked.

You suggest a time, I review it, then confirm or reschedule 🗓️ ✅

Oh and Cal free! Did I mention it's open source too?

It also has this fun little feature where it integrates with Giphy, so when you book a meeting with me, you'll be rewarded with a delightful Spongebob GIF.

No, not that one 👇

Automations

Cal also has something called workflows which are nifty automations.

Things like automatic reminder emails to make sure people remember you have a call in an hour. It's like having a virtual assistant who's happy to chase clients for you.

So what happens on my end when someone books a meeting with me?

Cal is hooked up to Zapier which automatically creates a meeting task in ClickUp. All the details from the booking appear on there so I can run the meeting from one place.

And for more automation goodness, ClickUp moves the meeting task to in progress when the start date arrives, and to Needs Review when it ends.

Here's what a meeting looks like in ClickUp 📆

Summary

Cal is a free booking tool that I use for free and paid calls. It has no bloat and can link up to ClickUp or Notion when a meeting is booked.Happy scheduling! 🗓️