There are close to 50 million freelance workers in the United States.
I, being one of them, can tell you that some of the perks of being a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-skirt worker includes being able to literally roll out of bed and into my desk chair, creating my own work schedule (which yes, entails fitting in an occasion beach day should I deem necessary for my well-being – which is, I confess, pretty often), the luxury of selecting my projects depending on what I – not my boss – feels I am able to handle at a single time – and of course, not having to listen to boring watercooler gossip on a daily basis.
I know what it’s like to lay in bed at night, shivering with fear at the thought of not being able to land another gig and possible having to subside on P&Js for another couple of weeks.
For that reason, fellow freelancers, I have put together a list of suggestions in the form of tech tools, apps and other must-haves to help you pave your way to success and alleviate some of that panic that most of freelancers these days have grown accustomed to.
CLOUD–BASED APPS
Most freelancers I know rely heavily on cloud-based apps which permit workers to store and access files easily, and on the go. Here are four you may want to give a go:
Windows users will love this free, portable, tabbed notebook that allows for creating and storing multi-level notes, implement a rich text editor and apply encryption to your files.
Here’s a digital notebook that’s been integrated into Microsoft Office for users to gather and store everything in one place. One Note is touted for its powerful search capability allowing for fast and easy access of files. You can read more about this storage program here. You can get yourself started with OneNote by reading this article, courtesy of howtogeek.com on, on the best ways to use the app.
Lots of freelancers are already hip to this cloud trick. Dropbox. According the introduction of their Dropbox Tour 1, “Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere.” Take the tour, and see for yourself!
This app is you personal information juggler. Windows and Linux users will find it useful for storing, editing and searching textual data like notes, emails, links, contact information and more in a unqique tree format. While the regular version of TreePad Lite is free, there are options for buying versions that offer users more advanced features like rich text formatting tools, spell checking, and the function of playing with multiple databases at once.
OTHER POPULAR TOOLS
Besides cloud apps, there is a huge throng of other tools becoming more and more popular among today’s freelance worker. Here are five of them:
Basecamp: A superb app with the prime objective of making it easier for you to juggle your projects, schedule your time, keep track of deadlines and so one.
Mailchimp: If email marketing is your thing, but driving you bananas, check our Mailchimp. The tool assists you in not only the design of email ads, newsletters and more, but it takes care of the footwork necessary for sharing your work on social networks. Plus, Mailchimp helps you keep track of whether or not your designs are working.
f whether or not your designs are working.
Freshbook: For the especially crappy budgeter, this tool is a must-have. If you cringe at the thought of tracking your time, logging your expenses and invoicing your clients, FreshBooks will rejuvenate you. Let this app be your accountant, you’ll be relieved you did. Their site even offers a free tour,which you can take here.
Mint: Similar to the tool above, Mint makes it easy for you to conglomerate all of your financial woes into one place, and then let them go for someone else to deal with. The app helps you set a budget, list and keep track of your to-do lists and long-term goals, and generally make the most out your money.
Prezi: For the presentation-phobic, Prezi is a gold mine. The app takes your genius visualizations and ideas and then helps you create a kick-butt presentation. Users can import PowerPoint slides, images, videos, YouTube content and more. But that’s not all: users have the ability to tweak their creations by downloading a complementing Viewer App. And when the work is done, present your masterpiece either online or offline, and collaborate with others (even across the globe).
Although it may not seem like it, the world, my freelance friends, is our oyster.
And for those of you who haven’t mustered the gumption to ditch your cubicle and take a stab at the freelancer’s way of life, here’s an infograph, courtesy of mashable.com that may tip the scales for you:
Janice Bevilacqua is a freelance writer with a knack for writing on electronic and technology-related topics. She currently writes primarily for CPS, a retailer of service plans for technology products.
About Guest Author
Cloud tools such as Dropbox really are invalueable when it comes to sharing information and documents, especially with co workers and clients. Whilst it mightn’t be a ground-breaking idea, Dropbox have gotten it right. Previously if I wanted to send things around I was notorious for just emailing or Skyping files. This just ended up in a lot of clutter. Freelance workers can really benefit from this list – Dropbox especially, I feel!
After Reading this article i have install Drop box and it works great. Thanks for the awesome post. This is the best post which are on initial level to start free lancing. Here the link for Google Chrome Free Download which is very good in browsing i must say it is one of the fast browser.
I love that infographics!
It comes as no surprised that the majority of the freelancers who are working in the industry today fall within the Generation X category. I’ve used MailChimp before for a client’s project and it was a dream to use, even though I’d had no mailing experience previously. Also, Dropbox is a magnificent service also.
A lot of freelancers are going to get a great deal of value from this post.
Thanks for showing a list of popular tools! I have to give a vote for Basecamp, Dropbox and Mint, these are the tools I use in my freelancing career. But for time tracking I prefer using Time Doctor than Freshbook, although they’re quite similar but I love the interface of Time Doctor. So if you are looking for the right time tracking software I suggest you try reading first the fundamental flaws in time tracking – this will help you decide which tool is right for your business.
These are great point you have made int his post. Being a freelancer doesn’t come easy and is very demanding, The use of various tools can be of great help. Thanks for sharing this valuable info.
One of the most important things a freelance worker can do is set up a time schedule. When you become your own boss, it is more difficult than you think to keep yourself on track.
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Twitter: ikenedu
says:
Hi, Really This is Awesome post. I agree with you That These application are very useful for Freelancers But its not enough for it.. Well thanks for sharing this info..
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Twitter: geek_noob
says:
The initial days will be very testing and difficult. You have keep your patience.
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I couldn’t agree more, Kundan!
Trying your hand as a freelancer can be a testing experience and you’ve really got to be prepared to put your head down and work hard early on the even get noticed. With so many potential freelancers out there trying to get the same jobs, competition is high so patience is more than a virtue – it’s vital!
The problem I’ve found as a freelance worker is the stress of not knowing where the next dollar is coming from; on balance I would steady work. Dropbox is excellent thought, use it on the move, usually while flying.
Twitter: cloudwork
says:
Really useful post, thanks! It is great to know how users combine different cloud-based apps to make their business more efficient. In this case you should be interested in services like CloudWork which actually connect business apps so that using them together is much easier and faster. Now it´s in the beta version where you can integrate Dropbox, Freshbooks and Mailchimp but soon there will be more apps, as well as the possibility to create the connections on your own.
Very interesting
Thank You For This useful information for the budding entrepreneur Keep it up!!
Twitter: Ajayudayagiri
says:
Among the Cloud apps i consider Dropbox to be a better one and Mailchim provides awesome mail services.
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I Like comment. thank you
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Twitter: emo_ph
says:
I use dropbox, basecamp, and have tried mailchimp, switched to aweber now tho.
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I think that the tools can be applied not only by freelancers but by everyone who really needs. For example, I use dropbox and Basecamp a lot.