Essential Tools for the Freelancer

Source: Sentences.org

Let’s be real. It’s already hard enough for us designers to meet deadlines, create original designs (each with goal of being a masterpiece, but we all know how that ends up), keep up with time spent and such. That’s why it’s so important for us to utilize all the tools developers are pumping out. It seems like every day a new app is coming out that’s aimed towards us…The following is a list of tools that I think are essential for freelancers. These apps have proven themselves in the field and are definitely worthy of taking a look if you haven’t tried them out yet.

Basecamp:

Basecamp is the absolute essential tool for any Freelancer. I can’t put into words how important it is for someone in the industry to take advantage of this tool. The prices are fair, and producer 37 Signals is one of the most respectable and well known names in the market. Sure there are free alternatives, but none look at good as or function as smoothly as this.

Reinvigorate:

Reinvigorate is a fairly entrant new to the stat/traffic market, but it’s definitely made an impact. I personally use Reinvigorate over all of the other counters such as Google Analytics, AWStats, and even Mint. The great thing bout Reinvigorate is the ease of use (you simply copy and paste one line of code, or install a WP-Plugin), and price (it’s absolutely free). It provides the most in-depth traffic details you could imagine and delivers it in an appealing manner.

Blinksale:

Blinksale is a powerful and free way to send clean and simple invoices to your clients. This is an absolute must for Freelancers who deal with clients who require multiple ways to pay (Blinksale can support 2CO, Google, PayPal, and Credit Card). It can also integrate into Basecamp which is a nifty feature that I use to bill all of my clients. You can set up nice looking templates so that in the end, you look as professional as possible while eliminating any basic questions about payment your client may have.

Pingdom:

If you’re clients require that you take care of them from beginning to end, including keeping track of their website and uptime, I would suggest you use Pingdom. It’s an affordable alternative to having nothing to monitor the uptime of your clients websites.

Magento:

Magento is a new and powerful open source eCommerce platform. If you’re clients need to be able to open an online store and sell products, I would suggest you look into implementing Magento. It’s fairly new, but looks fresh and intuitive. It’s a great alternative to existing platforms that are less user friendly, and more of a pain to integrate (yes, I’m talking about you ZenCart!)

Porchlight:

Porchlight is a great way for designers and programmers to track bugs which may be in their applications. This is a powerful tool to help beta test the application before you launch it and give it to your client (or while it’s in beta mode with your client).

Harvest:

Harvest is a wonderful time tracking tool for the freelancer who charges by the hour. You’ll be able to send invoices, track time for your projects, and list everything so your client can verify and approve times. I’ve been using Harvest for ages now and I wouldn’t suggest anything else. It’s an absolute must if you charge by time.

BigFileBox:

BigFilebox is a great way to send files to your clients or team. There’s been plenty of times when I’ve worked on projects that end up having about 20-30 different .PSD files, and each one is too big and tedious to upload onto a FTP server. So, I use BFB and it helps streamline everything while looking professional and inviting. My clients love it.

Xero:

Xero is an extremely powerful accounting tool that allows people to watch their businesses and keep track of it. You can view how much money your business is making, you can put out company expenses, and even reconcile bank statements. Unfortunately, it is unavailable to people in the United States.

Mailbuild:

Mailbuild is a great and easy way for freelancers and marketers to allow their clients to really control their email marketing campaign. It makes them feel like they are in control, but yet, you look good doing it. It’s very simple, and I’ve used it with a couple of my clients and they absolutely love it. It’s affordable, simple, and extremely professional.

You:

You should always make the smartest decisions when your client/organization is on the line. Make sure that their satisfaction comes before yours. It’s not about what YOU want to do, instead, it’s about finding out the most efficient way to do what THEY want.