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It is predicted that over 50% of the US workforce will comprise of freelancers in the years to come.
Already, the number is high, and the growing dependence on a single-person setup means freelancers need all the tools they can find to make their lives easier. There is no dearth of options when it comes to such tools, but sifting through all of them can be a hassle.
After all, wouldn’t you rather spend your time working on the projects at hand?
To make things easier for you, here is a list of 10 incredible tools you should have in your arsenal. These will help you ensure client satisfaction and retain their business.
1. Freelancer
Being a freelancer means you have to find work for yourself, and there’s no better tool to use for this purpose than the aptly titled Freelancer.
Freelancer is an online virtual marketplace designed as a platform for freelancers to find projects they can work on.
Usually, people post jobs they need done and then freelancers bid on them. The user who posted the job decides who he/she wants to award the job to.
Using this tool, you can find a variety of jobs related to your niche. You can bid on 8 jobs using the free package, while paid packages, ranging from $4.95 to $49.95 a month, allow you to make up to 500 bids. The membership fee is a mere $5 for paid members. For free users, Freelancer will deduct 10% as charges.
2. Toggl
Once you have a few projects in the pipeline, you can move ahead with planning them as per priority or any other metrics you want to use.
This is where Toggl comes in.
Toggl is a task management tool using which you can plan the tasks for the day or even a week and it will remind you constantly if you miss something important. The best part about this tool is it is available as an app for the leading mobile platforms, so you can have it on your smartphone on the go and if you are forgetting something, it will alert you there and then.
In addition to planning ahead, you can also look back on the tasks you have completed in case you need to track the time you spent on a particular activity or want to make sure you got it done in time.
Overall, Toggl is a highly useful tool you should definitely use and it only costs $5 a month to access all the features it offers.
3. Ultimate Business Planner
If you lack experience of setting up a business, which is likely as you are reading this article, you will find it difficult to write a business plan.
Well, you don’t need to worry as you can use Ultimate Business Planner. It is a simple tool which you can use to write a comprehensive business plan that can help you stay on track and become a successful freelancer.
The best part is you don’t need any technical expertise to be able to use this tool. By using this tool, you can improve your chances of success.
4. Apollo
As a freelancer, life can get hectic. Having to balance work and home can become a chore and there are times when you yourself aren’t aware of what you should be doing at a given time.
This is where Apollo can help.
Apollo is a project management software which you can keep track of all your projects. The features include support for saving contacts, so you can have the data for all your clients and other related parties on this tool as well. Regardless of how packed your schedule is, Apollo can help you streamline the tasks you have to perform on a particular day and make things easier for you.
5. FreeAgent
Perhaps the most common complaint, or let’s say concern, freelancers have is not having a stable cash flow.
Yes, sometimes clients do take their sweet time making payments but in most cases, freelancers lack the financial acumen to properly track their income and expenses and it leads to a mess of huge proportions.
This is where FreeAgent can help you out.
For just $20 a month, you can use this tool to track your cash flow, both the cash coming in and flowing out. This way, you can stay on top of your income and expenses and be able to plan your finances on a monthly, quarterly and even yearly basis.
6. Harvest
Just as it is important to keep track of money when working as a freelancer, you also need to keep track of your time as well. It is a given that time is a finite resource you can never have too much of.
The key is to be able to make the most of the time available to you, instead of wishing you had 30 hours in a day instead of 24.
This is where Harvest comes in.
Harvest is an easy to use yet effective time tracking software you can use to calculate the time it takes to complete a particular task. You can also allocate certain number of hours to the tasks you have to get done.
The best feature of Harvest is it can be used by multiple users, in case you are working in collaboration on any project. The tool only costs you $12 a month and will prove worth your while.
7. Quicken
Tracking your finances using FreeAgent will free you up of the mental stress which financial uncertainty can bring. Yet, at the same time, you need to create a budget which reflects the income and expenses you are expecting over a given time period.
Fixed expenses are easier to track but sometimes you have to spend money on stuff you hadn’t accounted for.
This is where Quicken can help you.
Quicken is a budgeting tool you can use to set up a budget, marking out the main categories under which you can list expenses, such as rent, utilities, and supplies.
Quicken can be synchronized with your bank accounts and also your debt accounts, if you have any. The tool can be downloaded on to any mobile device you use. The tool is available in different packages, which require you to make a one-time payment, starting from $74.99.
8. ToutApp
There is no doubt that as a freelancer, email becomes the premier mode of communication. Moreover, as you usually send emails with similar subject lines and are likely to have repeat clients, managing your emails can become a hassle.
Well, not to worry as ToutApp can save the day for you.
You can easily categorize the different types of emails you send, professional or personal. You can also ensure you don’t miss out on any new emails, as that is something you cannot afford. The app also provides a number of email templates you can use to make sending emails more convenient and easier.
The best part about the app is that any changes made to your email account are synced automatically. This includes emails which have been read, new emails, and emails which you have deleted. This can help you streamline your inbox and prevent clutter, enabling you to keep your emails strictly focused on work-related correspondence.
9. Lithium
Do you want to get more work?
Obviously, you do.
One of the best ways you can attract more clients is promoting your services on social media.
You can leverage your existing network to create a buzz around your services, which will help you make your services known to a wider target audience.
However, social media management can be a hassle and hiring a professional for it can prove expensive in the long run. You can instead work on your social media strategy on your own and optimize it with Lithium.
Lithium is a social media management tool, which can help you reduce the time and effort it takes to set up and stay up to date with your social media profiles, regardless of the platform you are using. You can also use Lithium to bolster your social media marketing efforts.
The tool also gives you access to analytics you can use to track the progress of your campaign and make informed decisions regarding the future of your brand on social media. The tool is highly rated and you can select from one of three packages, depending on your requirements and preferences.
10. SEO Toolkit
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Social media can help you establish a solid online presence and expose your services to a wider audience. But, at the same time, you need to improve the search engine ranking of your website so that it ranks among the first few results which show up based on relevant keywords.
SEO Toolkit can help you in this regard.
The tool provides a number of features which you can use to improve the structure of your website and enhance its search engine friendliness so that it ranks higher. This way, optimizing your website becomes easier and the chances of success increase.
Final word
So, these are 10 incredible tools every freelancer should use now.
Yes, you may be wondering about the cost you will have to incur on a monthly basis, but at the same time, using them can help you attract more business.
To put it simply, these tools will pay for themselves in the long run, ensuring you don’t have to bear any expenses out of pocket.
In fact, these apps will save you time and effort which you can spend on doing extra work, and hence boosting your income.
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