The thing about being a freelancer is TIME.
Because the minute you decide to put your slippers on and become a freelancer, you’ve suddenly become more than just a designer, developer, writer… or whatever it is you rock at.
Now you’ve also got to keep track of your hours, expenses, purchases, taxes, meet with clients, communicate with them etc.
It’s tough. But there are some great tools out there that’ll make that stuff so much easier.
We asked hundreds of awesome Donanza freelancers what are their favorite freelancer tools, and put together this comprehensive list of the best tools for 2013.
Check them out, use them, share them with your other freelancer pals, and let us know if there’s anything we missed that MUST be on there, before the year is out.
Time Tracking
First thing you need to take care of when you’re freelancing is tracking your time.
Harvest
Key Feature: Literally get started right away.Such good UI that you don’t even need a tutorial to start.
Freshbooks
Key Feature: Really easy to create and edit time sheets. Plus the timer opens up in a new window which makes you less likely to forget you’ve got it on and ticking away.
Toggl
Key Feature: If all you’re after is a basic time tracker then the this is it. (They have a pro account but you’re better off going for Harvest or Freshbooks if you want more tools).
Accounting
Keeping track of all your accounts is no walk in the park.
Using an all-round accounting tool will save you a ton of time dealing with your company’s invoices, estimates, expenses and bookkeeping. AND guarantee you get paid on time.
Using an all-round accounting tool will save you a ton of time dealing with your company’s invoices, estimates, expenses and bookkeeping. AND guarantee you get paid on time.
FreeAgent
Key Feature: Practically replaces your accountant and with a brilliant User Interface you’ll get everything done in half the time.
Mint
Key Feature: It’s free, and so comprehensive that it alerts you if your current spending doesn’t match your usual spending habits change. The only thing is that it’s only available in the US right now.
CurdBee
Key Feature: It’s free! And what’s nice is that it’s got a great user interface that lets you send out estimates, invoices and get paid online. Plus for a more complete accounting package you can upgrade for as little as $5 a month.
Freshbooks
Key Feature:You can connect all your other tools with Freshbooks (like your basecamp, BatchBook PayPal accounts), for invoicing and online payment.
BillGrid
Key Feature: Let’s you get paid instantly. Plus it’s generally a great accounts tool that’ll help you stay organised and on-track with your invoicing and expenses.
Harvest
Key Feature: So easy to use every aspect of Harvest that you practically have fun doing so. They’ve also got you covered when it comes to connecting your other tools to Harvest.
Xero
Key Feature: Makes accounting easy, accessible on all devices and shareable.
Quick books
Key Feature: connects to your bank account to keep track of your overall finances.
BlinkSale
Key Feature: Let’s you offer automatic online payment direct from invoices.
Expenses
It’s so easy to lose track of all your expenses.
And it’s a huuuge hassle having to sit down and manually insert a massive pile of receipts into an invoice.
So these tools’ll do it for you…
And it’s a huuuge hassle having to sit down and manually insert a massive pile of receipts into an invoice.
So these tools’ll do it for you…
Expensify
Key Feature: You can get faster and cheaper cross-currency reimbursements as they support Bitcoin. Plus you can import expenses from credit cards and bank accounts.
Shoeboxed
Key Feature: Scans all your receipts and turns them into invoices plus automated receipt management
Lemon
Key Feature: As well as scanning your receipts, Lemon offers an easy and secure digital wallet.
Project Management
There’s always that point when you’re working on a project where half the team hasn’t seen your updates, you’ve forgotten what’s next on the schedule and everything feels like one big mess.
Project management tools keep you and the group collaboration organised, and in one place.
Project management tools keep you and the group collaboration organised, and in one place.
Asana
Key Feature: Free task manager. Easy to see and update tasks in order of priority and see who’s working on what, keep people updated and generally collaborate in an organised way.
Basecamp
Key Feature: You can store all files on Basecamp so that everyone knows where to find them. And you can see exactly who’s worked on what.
Trello
Key Feature: It’s free. You get updated in real time. Less comprehensive to Basecamp but let’s you work together, get the whole picture of projects and easily assign people to each task.
Evernote Business
Key Feature: Great if you’re an Evernote user already. Also really easy way to gather all project material and collaborate together.
To Do Lists
Staying organised is the name of the game. Having your own personal to-do list is a big help.
Get The Milk
Key Feature: Its Free. Map where your tasks are located and get reminded of tasks you don’t forget a thing. Plus it works with Siri.
Wunderlist
Key Feature: Its free and beautiful but also lets you invite friends or colleagues to view and help with tasks.
Workflowy
Key Feature: Its free and so easy to use and makes viewing all your lists possible in one glance. Perfect for in-depth list making
TeuxDeux
Key Feature: Free, basic and laid out in a weekly format. A great tool for short lists
File Sharing
So you’re well into a project and you’ve got some big-ass files you need to share with the rest of the team.
Here’s how…
Here’s how…
Dropbox
Key Feature: The quickest and easiest way to share and sync files on the cloud with specific groups and teams.
Dropmark
Key Feature: Lets you collaborate and share with a whole team without them having to sign up. Also a beautiful interface where you can drag and drop files, and even create a slideshow of what you’ve done.
Google Drive
Key Feature: Perfect if you’re all Chrome users and work with Google Docs. And it syncs with all your files on your computer for back-up
CRM
You’re gonna start building client relationships that need to be nurtured. A good CRM tool will come in handy.
And will help you keep track of proposals and deals.
And will help you keep track of proposals and deals.
Highrise
Key Feature: Works together with email so that you can save conversations. You can also store all your contacts in one place, with all their information together on one screen.
Base CRM
Key Feature: Works and syncs across all devices making it easy to track all your relationships and sales on your smartphone or tablet.
Salesforce
Key Feature: Have a custom database to suit your size. Generally a great and reliable tool for strengthening your customer support and relationships
BatchBook
Key Feature: Customer support and relationships have gone social which is what makes batch-book so great because that’s where they are too: You can integrate you Hootsuite, MailChimp and other accounts for an up-to-date way to keep track of your customer relationships.
Stock Libraries
Somehow there always comes a point in a project where you need to source some awesome image for a presentation, your design work… etc.
istockphoto
Key Feature: An incredible range of photos, illustrations, videos and audio files to buy.
Fotolia
Key Feature: Pay-as-you-go option if you’re only looking for one image.
Shutterstock
Key Feature: Great option if you buy royalty free images on a regular basis, they’ve got good plans and nice extras if you sign up like, “free image of the day”.
Flickr
Key Feature: Get one-off images for free to download (you’ve just got to make sure there’s permission to download and use… you’ll normally have to credit the photographer).
Getty Images
Key Feature: If you’ve got a huge budget you can get your hands on some really amazing images here. But beware of the license expiration.
Blog Creation
A blog is the perfect way for you to show off what you’re made of , plus your understanding and passion for the industry you’re in.
It’s also a fab way to create a following and a community where people can follow what you’re up to.
It’s also a fab way to create a following and a community where people can follow what you’re up to.
WordPress
Key Feature: Free. Reliable, tons of templates and widgets, and really easy to use.
Tumblr
Key Feature: Simplicity rules with tumblr. It’s also free. Great for microblogging and as an image-rich, social blog. But not easy to customize and personalize the templates.
Squarespace
Key Feature: Beautiful templates but at a cost. A good choice for a personal blog with style.
Blogger
Key Feature: If you want a basic very simple blog with an easy start then blogger is for you.
Client Communication
It’s all very well emailing to stay in touch but sometimes you just gotta see hear each other and see each other.
Skype
Key Feature: Free when you Skype-to-Skype. Use Skype for regular calls, video calls and written chats. Plus group calls.
Go To Meeting
Key Feature: A perfect tool if you’re going to hold large scale video meetings (up to 25 people)
Extras
We couldn’t find anywhere to put these tools but they’re too good not to be in here.
Balsamiq
Key Feature: Makes wireframing your ideas to clients so easy and effective.
Focus Booster
Key Feature: Heard of the Pomodoro technique? The idea is to help you focus and work by working in 25 minute increments and then taking a 5 minute break. Focus Booster times you and lets you know when it’s time for a break.
