Must Have Online Tools for Freelancers

Freelancing is your own business. It gives you the ease and comfort of being your own boss. It is easy to start. You just need to invest a little money and all your talent. It will provide you the desired profit and satisfaction. However, the difficulties involved with freelancing cannot be ignored. As you are the single "employee" here; you need to manage a number of things by yourself. Sometimes, you have to perform some repetitive tasks which can easily be automated. So, investing in some tools for managing such dull and boring tasks will be an excellent idea. These tools will increase your productivity and manage your business more successfully than ever.

There are a number of tools, which are available on the internet. You can pick any of them according to your need.

A freelance job pattern involves a number of tasks. Sometimes they are hard to organize. Hence, you need to draw a list of the task patterns and choose or browse the tools accordingly. They can be classified into the following:

1) The productivity tools

2) The management tools

3) E-mail applications

4) Social networking tools

5) Customer service tools etc.

1. The productivity tools:

Productivity is crucial for a freelancer. Your business depends on your service quality. So, you need to use those tools which will enable you to increase your productivity. There are a number of options available for you online.

ZenWriter:

Today, most of the freelancers are the freelance writers. However, the freelancers from other sectors also need to write so many things for the completion and success of their jobs. Here, the "ZenWriter" can be a great writing tool for them. ZenWriter is a full-screen writing tool. It will provide you a quick and easy writing option with minimal distraction.

Teux Deux:

Using this particular tool can be a great experience for you. Teux Deux is a "to-do" app. It has minimal features and hence very easy to handle. It will help you organizing your daily tasks with nominal effort. This tool can become your best friend for freelancing.

Toggl:

In freelancing, "time is money". Deadlines must be met for retaining the customers. Toggl will help you by tracking your time. It is a simple but useful time tracking application. For managing your time, you can take the help of this easy and simple time tracking tool.

Password:

While using a number of online tools, passwords can become a headache. Each app has its own password. They are mostly weird and hard to remember. 1Password can be a great help in this regard. This application will help you manage your passwords. It is time efficient and easy to use.

2. The management tools:

Basecamp / CampFire:

In freelancing, sometimes you need to perform your jobs in collaboration with other team members. Basecamp / CampFire can become helpful in this context. This app will keep you and your team members up-to-date about the progress of the jobs. For managing your projects, it is a "must have" application.

Trello:

Trello is another collaboration tool. It will organize your projects and track their progress. Trello will provide you a clear picture of the status of the tasks, information about who is working on it etc.

Google Apps:

You cannot ignore the importance of Google Apps in modern business. It is one of the most popular and loved online project management application for freelancers. It is the best software for keeping your projects in line.

Oh Don’t Forget:

Forgetfulness can become a threat to your freelancing business. Oh Don’t Forget will help by sending scheduled reminders to your phones. It is easy and simple.

MindMeister:

It is a mind mapping application. In the time of your struggle with brainstorming, this tool can become a great help for you.

3. E-mail applications:

FollowUp.cc:

FollowUp.cc is an online tool for helping a freelancer with the most hated task of following up with the clients. You can schedule the follow update automatically in this application.

SaneBox:

If you are tired of arranging your e-mails, you can take the help of SaneBox. It is a fantastic e-mail application. It categorizes your emails according to their importance. It stores the relatively unimportant emails in a separate folder. For every freelancer, it can be a great online tool, which will make him or her more organized in their services.

TextExpander:

We always face the trouble of drafting the same emails. It is an annoying and time-consuming task. TextExpander can help you in this regard. It will form codes to generate standard templates. Thus, you will be exempted from typing the same emails over and over again.

ContactMe:

If you are working online, you know the importance of lead generation in the business. ContactMe is great tools for managing the business leads. It works well with G-mail and MailChimp and thus manages your leads.

Gmail Labs:

Last but not the least, the available tools in the Gmail Labs can be a great help for the freelancers. Here, the "Send & Archive" feature is the ultimate time saver.

4. Social networking tools:

Networking is important for freelancers as it helps them gather the clients. There are a number of social networking tools for the freelancers.

WordPress:

Today, blogging is the most popular networking tool. WordPress will provide you a free platform to publish your blogs. These blogs can become an effective strategy for attracting new clients.

Pluggio:

Pluggio is one of the most useful social networking tools. It helps to manage multiple accounts from a single control panel.  This easy and simple tool is a time saver for every freelancer.

AWeber / MailChimp:

Many researchers have opined that people mostly buy through email marketing tools. AWeber / MailChimp will help you in creating new leads by your blogging efforts.

5. Customer service tools:

SnapEngage:

Customers like the direct chatting facility with his/her service providers. It helps them to clarify their requirements and express the difficulties they are facing. SnapEngage is a live chat application. It helps the customers in contacting you before their purchase and afterward.

Hively:

Hively is an online feedback solution. It collects genuine feedbacks by using some fun elements. It helps the customers to express their views regarding your services.

Join.me:

It is helpful in assisting the customers with the tasks. It connects with them and let them see your computer screen. Whenever your clients face a problem in understanding a task, Join.me can help you in that context. It is a convenient option for video conferencing.

There are many other helpful online tools for the freelancers. These are helping them in carrying out their business by assisting in various related tasks.