Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to keep track of in your freelancing business? Staying on top of projects, collaborations, client contacts, and meetings is difficult even with a good physical or electronic datebook. You need many essential tools to help you with your work.
Throw in managing your personal life on top of that and it’s a wonder any freelancer ever gets anything done. Not to worry, though. These four essential tools for freelancers will have you on top of things and feel like the master of the organization in no time.
1. Manilla App
(free)
You can’t expect to get your business in order if your personal life isn’t organized. It’s just bad feng shui. The chaotic energy formed by your disorganized folders and abominably messy desk will keep you from concentrating on your business, and you will lose track of what goes where rather quickly. This is where the Manilla app (now Pocketbook) comes in, and it is a godsend.
This extremely important app makes filing cabinets and cluttered desks obsolete. According to its website, Manilla.com, you can use the app to save all of your personal paperwork in one place. This includes all your financial and credit account statements, household bills, coupons, warranties, loyalty program information, and anything else you need to be able to find easily. This kind of personal organization leaves you with more time to concentrate on your business.
2. Mozy
(plans start from $13.98 a month and up, depending on your needs)
As a freelancer, you probably already know the importance of backing things up. But do you actually apply that knowledge? Failing to back up even one piece of important information could spell disaster for your business. Saving a hard copy at home isn’t secure, either, because you could always lose the backup. This won’t happen with Mozy. It uses Cloud backup and storage for individuals and businesses. It’s the perfect place to store all of your important personal papers, family photos, business licenses and agreements, and copies of the work you’ve done.
Since it’s all in the Cloud, it will always be there whenever you need it, and you won’t lose it. Mozy even automatically backs things up for you, so you don’t have to remember to ask. It works on both desktop computers and mobile devices, so you can access anything you need anywhere in the world.
3. Wunderlist
(free)
Wunderlist is a free to-do list app that you can share. It’s more than just an electronic reminder of what you need to do and when. You can also share your list with other freelancers, and even with clients. In this way, it becomes a virtual task assigner and is ideal for using on collaborative projects, as explained on Wunderlist.com. With super fast DSL Internet service, which all freelancers and multi-employee businesses need to have to get work done in a timely manner, Wunderlist can keep everyone on a project in the loop with no lag time between sending the list to share and the recipients receiving it.
4. Contactually
(three packages available at $19.99, $39.99, and $99.99 a month, respectively)
Relationships make or break a freelance business. Contactually (Contactually.com) helps you maintain your important business relationships. It’s more than just contact management software. It’s a virtual relationship builder. With Contactually, your contact with your clients and business associates will be more frequent and more personal.
The software tracks your progress with clients, prompts you when you need to contact someone, and organizes your previous contacts with each client so the interactions you have are more meaningful. It also shows you social media updates from your clients so you know when it’s appropriate to comment back to them on their posts. It’s like a tiny office full of people on your computer.
Hope that these essential tools will help you succeed with your freelance business.
