How to Use Notion for Your Online Business: The Complete System

Written by Alyssa Schneider, Founder/CEO of Creating Freedom Agency

When we first started out, many of us were sold on the $10k months that we could make working from home in our pajamas. The building is something, but actually running the business? That’s a whole other layer of learning. One that isn’t taught nearly as much as the marketing and sales of it all.

Google Docs. Bookmarks. Whiteboards. Post-Its. Spreadsheets. Email. Slack. Asana. ClickUp. AirTable. Trello. Monday.

And that’s not even mentioning all of the other softwares needed in your tech stack like Dubsado, ThriveCart, Showit, or Interact.

…But what if it could all live in one place? 

That’s where Notion comes in. Now, I’m not going to say it’s perfect (no software is), but it’s flexible enough to handle project management, client portals, content calendars, lead tracking, SOPs, strategic planning, and much more. Basically, it can handle a huge chunk of your business operation without making you pay for twelve different subscriptions.

In this guide, I’m going to walk you through exactly how to use Notion for the core functions of your online business. Whether you’re a solopreneur, a growing team with contractors, or a small business with a few employees, you’ll see how to build a system that actually works instead of just looking pretty (though that is one of the perks of Notion!). 

Does Notion live up to the hype for online businesses?

Yes. Obviously. Why else would we be here?

Before we dive into building anything, let’s talk about why Notion makes sense for service-based businesses specifically.

It’s an all-in-one workspace.

Instead of toggling between X for projects, Y for docs, Z for teaching, and A-B-C for… actually, what are we paying for again with this one? – everything lives in one singular place. Your team can access what they need without hunting through multiple platforms, Slack messages, and email threads – while giving you the power to keep specific dashboards private.

It’s customizable without being overwhelming.

The beauty of Notion is that you can make it as simple or complex as you want. Unlike rigid tools that force you to accommodate to their structure or workflow, Notion bends to how YOU work.

It grows with you.

I’ll be honest – Notion can be overwhelming as heck when you first start. For this reason, I’m the first person to tell you to start small. Start with a task manager, then add a project tracker. Add a client portal when you need it. Build out your content calendar later. Get the need-to-haves in first, then add the nice-to-haves. From there, continue to edit and optimize it as you grow (or have your OBM do it!). 

It brings your business into one searchable place.

You know when you need that one link to the piece of content that inspired you last week, or that one photo that your client sent you that she wants to see in her deliverables, or that one message that your team sent with a vital piece of information that you can’t seem to remember now? And you can’t seem to remember where any of it even happened? Not in Notion, you won’t. It’s all searchable in ONE place now – meaning you don’t need to use your mental space on silly little details anymore and you can get back to the big-picture visionary you are.

Notion can become a procrastination project if you let it – I’ve seen it happen many times. The goal isn’t to have the most beautiful, high-level, or even functional workspace on the internet. It’s to have a system that helps you run your business without thinking about it too hard.

Project Management in Notion

Sh*t can hit the fan really quickly when you’re tracking your client projects across email, Slack, your brain, and that Google Sheet you haven’t updated in three weeks.

Notion project management isn’t just another simple task list – it’s part of a bigger system where everything connects. Open a project and you see the client’s preferences, your team’s notes, related tasks, all the context you need without clicking through five different tools.

Your team has what they need without asking you twelve questions (right as you’re about to log off, mind you). You have visibility on the full picture and all of its moving parts without chasing people down for updates. Clients can check progress themselves instead of sending “hey, where are we at?” messages.

Here’s what makes it work: projects link to client information, tasks, meeting notes, deliverables – the whole picture. Update a project status and everyone sees it. Need to reference something from a past project with this client? It’s right there. No more digging through Slack threads or scrolling back through email to piece together what happened.

Open Notion, see what’s active across every client, know what’s next. Nice, right? Well, that’s just the start.

Building Your Client Portal in Notion

A Notion client portal is less about organizing YOUR backend and more about the experience you’re giving your clients – and how much easier it makes your life when you can say “it’s in your portal” instead of digging through email for the fourth time.

You can make it completely customized to your brand. Clean, simple, aesthetic – however you want it to look. Not some generic software interface they have to figure out, but something that feels like an extension of you and a part of their service.

Everything they need lives there: project timeline, meeting notes, shared resources, office hours, call booking, that link they keep asking you to resend, deliverables, communication updates. Just one bookmark for them to save vs. the 6+ you may currently have.

Here’s what this actually does for YOU: clients stop emailing you questions because they can check the portal. They stop asking “can you send me that link again?” because it’s already there. They feel taken care of because everything is organized and accessible – which makes you look like you have your sh*t together (even if it only took you 20 minutes to set up).

The best part? You set it up once, duplicate it for each new client, customize a few details, and you’re done.

Content Calendar & Asset Management in Notion

You probably already have a content calendar somewhere – an Airtable database, a Google Sheet, an overflowing Notes app, sticky notes on your desk (please no).

The difference with building it in Notion as part of your business system: it’s not isolated. Your content calendar connects to your project tracker, your brand assets, your repurposing log, your launch planner. You’re not jumping between tools to remember “wait, did I already post this on LinkedIn?” or hunting through folders for your brand colors.

Track your content ideas, plan what’s publishing when, see what you’ve already repurposed where, store your assets so you’re not searching for that one Canva link every single time. It’s all there.

Strategic Planning in Notion

Strategic planning usually lives in some document you wrote in January and haven’t looked at since February. Your quarterly goals are in one place, your product suite is tracked somewhere else (maybe), and your daily work? Completely disconnected from any of it.

Notion lets you see the big picture all the way down to the day-to-day, and it’s all connected. Your annual goals break down into quarterly priorities. Those quarterly priorities link to actual projects you’re working on. Those projects connect to the tasks you’re doing today.

You can track your full product suite – what you’re offering, what’s actually selling, what you should probably stop delivering because it’s not worth it. Plan your launches with all the moving pieces in one view. Review what happened last quarter and adjust for the next one.

The difference: planning isn’t separate from execution. You’re not wondering “am I actually working toward my goals?” because you can see if your current projects tie back to what you said mattered. If they don’t? That’s certainly important data as well.

Open your planning dashboard and know where your business is headed, what’s working, what’s not, and whether your daily work is moving you forward or just keeping you busy.

So that’s Notion for your business: project management that connects everything, client portals that make you look organized as hell, content planning that’s integrated as an ecosystem, and strategic planning that links to your daily work. It’s not about mastering every feature or building it perfectly – it’s about setting up what you need and actually using it.

Ready to Build Your Notion Business Hub?

Now that you know what’s possible with Notion, you’ve got options for making it happen.

You can absolutely DIY it. There are tons of YouTube tutorials out there, we have a growing library of Notion resources on the blog, and Notion’s resources are pretty solid. If you want to build your system from scratch and customize every detail, go for it – that’s what I did!

Or you can skip the setup entirely and grab a pre-built template.

I created the Organized Chaos Notion Business Hub for online business owners who want a functional system without spending weeks building it. It includes everything we covered in this post – project management, client portals, content planning, strategic planning – all connected and ready to use.

You’re getting the databases, the templates, the structure. Just plug in your information and you’re running.

It’s designed for service-based businesses who need systems that work for actual client work, not just look good in screenshots.

Get the Organized Chaos Notion Business Hub →