Five of the most valuable digital tools for freelancers
Need help running your freelance business? Here are five of the most valuable digital tools for freelancers.
Navigating the digital world as a freelancer can be complicated. Unlike other businesses, you don’t have a dedicated in-house technical team or a large pool of resources to draw upon. When the right digital tools are leveraged effectively, they can help you to increase your visibility, reach new customers and stay working as productively as possible.
1) A well-designed website
A well-designed website is an essential tool that every freelancer should have, no matter what industry you are in, which is why many people choose a digital web agency.
Your website is not just a way for potential customers to get in contact with you, but it’s also an online representation of your brand. If you work in a creative industry, for example, your site should be inspired by your style. This will help visitors quickly ascertain the type of work you do.
Not only should your site esthetically represent your brand but it should be easy to navigate. In today’s busy and competitive market, it is not enough to simply have a website; to secure customers you need to have a website that’s well designed and intuitive.
2) Accountancy Software
As a freelancer, your time is one of your most valuable resources. Unless you excel at accountancy, chances are tasks like organizing receipts and filing your taxes take up a large amount of time.
Applications such as Expensify allow you to upload images of your receipts onto your phone. The uploaded information can then be synced with other accountancy software like QuickBooks, which automate your taxes for you. You can also use QB on a cloud desktop with QuickBooks Hosting which allows you remote accessibility feature to work from anywhere on the go.
There are also lots of resources that are designed to help freelancers track, plan and manage your budget. Whatever part of accountancy and finance management you struggle with, chance is that there is a software available that can help.
3) Productivity software
One of the hardest parts about being a freelancer is working outside the standard nine-to-five working hours. Not going into the office every day means that it is much easier to leave some tasks right to the deadline.
Software like Toggi has been designed to help people keep track of their time. The software has a timer, which you can set when you begin a piece of work and end when you finish, which makes it easy to see where most of your time is being spent.
4) Digital security
It is an unfortunate fact that freelancers are often victims of cybercrimes due to the amount of time they spend online. Cybersecurity is vital for freelancers to protect their work and their business from the damages of a cyber-attack.
There are lots of security software options on the market, but some of the best ways to protect yourself and your clients is to make sure all operating systems, applications and plugins are up-to-date and to use a VPN.
5) Manage communications
Another challenge freelancers experience is balancing work with customer relations. It can be hard to find a balance between growing your future leads and completing ongoing projects.
Software like Mailchimp can prove invaluable for freelancers struggling to manage customer communications. Mailchimp is one of the many customer relationship management software that personalizes emails, automates follow-ups and measures email marketing performance.
