The Essential Apps For Freelancers, Suggested By Freelancers

To compliment all the skills we have as business owners and freelancers, there really does seem as if there’s an app for everything, but finding the right one can be tricky.

For example, Google the term “CRM for freelancers” and you’re left to wade through a mere 519,000+ results. Good luck with that!

As part of the Freelance Heroes FB group, there is a weekly interview that goes behind the scenes, called the “Featured Freelancer”. The following are some of the key tools used by the freelancers that have been interviewed, which should save you some Google search time.

Organisation / CRM

Dropbox

• “Without Dropbox I wouldn’t be able to receive and share documents with my clients” — Tracey Smith, Virtual Administrator
• “As someone who uses twitter every day to drive engagement, it is so important to me to have all of my quotes, documents or tools I have developed available to me — at any time” — Chris Orrick, Man Coaching

WeTransfer

• “Perfect for transferring large photo files when I’m delivering work.” — Tara Sura, Product & Lifestyle Photography

Google Docs

• “I travel a lot and it’s so easy to add things that pop up in my head, or update documents, etc.” — Marianne Miles, Digital Marketing

Google Drive

• “Google Drive is a lifesaver as I can access documents whilst on the go, I don’t have to worry about version control and I can work at it whether I’m on my PC in my office, or tablet whilst I’m on the go.” — Elizabeth Harmon, Social Media Consultant

Evernote

• “It has some amazing features such as the business card reader too — you can scan someone’s business card on your phone, and it will save a virtual version along with all the information on it. No more piles of business cards in your bag!” — Gavin Forster, Photographer

Pixifi

• “It keeps all of my clients in one place and makes it easy to manage all of the invoicing” — Gavin Forster, Photographer

YouCanBookMe.com

• “It’s an online booking system which is easy to use, easy to edit and easy to embed on your website. And it’s never let me down!” — Kathryn Peden, Physiotherapist

Social Media

Hootsuite

• “I’m often not around during peak times, so it’s great to be able to schedule a post or two in advance.” — Rose Parkin, The Freelancers Cookbook
• “Because otherwise I find it easy to forget to turn up on Twitter hours” — Debbie Stokoe, Freelance Writer, Copywriter, & Blogger

Buffer

• “It is a great time saver and I highly recommend it for anyone who is using more than one social media platform.” — Annie Browne, Hello My PA
• “It lets me plan out mine and my clients posts so I can get one with other things” — Sam Martin, Social Media Management

Design

Weebly

• “I’ve built loads of websites over the years but I’ve never found a website builder that’s as easy to use and as professional looking as this one.” — Rob Allen, Bid Success

Adobe Creative Cloud

• “I couldn’t do my job without it” — Karen Arnott, Web and Graphic Designer

iStock Images

• “I have a monthly subscription which gives me a number of images that I can use. That way I steer clear of any copyright issues and my accounting content becomes a little more interesting; well that’s the hope!” — Elaine Clark, Accountant

Accounting Software

Xero

• “At a glance I can see all of my live quotes, current invoices and those most importantly that are overdue or unpaid.” — Tara Sura, Product & Lifestyle Photography

Freshbooks

• “It’s the single biggest time saving tool. It’s a website and app that helps you mange client invoices, expenses, time, reminders, payments and late payment fees.” — Dawn Baird, Content Developer

Project Management

Trello

• “Trello allows both easy Agile project management AND it allows the client to get involved and collaborate on each part of the project. It’s intuitive, there’s no learning curve for the client. And it’s free!” — David Orchard, Web Designer

Asana

• “It gives me an overview of what I need to get done and helps me to plan in new jobs or negotiate deadlines for new projects, if necessary.” — Hannah Keet, Translator

Basecamp

• “For managing internal business tasks and external client projects.” — Dawn Baird, Content Developer

Security

LastPass

• “Passwords — my own and clients’ — are really important and must be kept safe and secure. I daren’t even check how many I have saved in there! I certainly couldn’t work productively without it as it saves me masses of time.” — Jo Harrison, Virtual Assistant
• “When you manage so many different software tools for your own business and then more tools for your client’s too, it’s an absolute must.” — Imogen Allen, Web Design & Online Systems Management

And to Finish With…

Headspace

• “One of the big lessons it teaches is not to fret because the thing you’re worried about might not actually happen and, if it does, you’ll have needlessly suffered it twice. I can’t recommend it highly enough for both your personal and professional lives.” — Sean Hargrave, Freelance Journalist

What app or website could you not live without and why? Contact me here to let me know and I will add you to the blog.

You can also meet all these freelancers in the Freelance Heroes Facebook Group.