When you’re freelancing, you wear all the hats. We’re talking business development lead, social media strategist, administrator, copywriter, and bookkeeper.
What you don’t want to do is fall into the beginning freelance trap of “I can do anything and everything, all at one for everyone.” It creates a bottleneck of your deliverables but more importantly, it leaves you stressed out and exhausted.
Any successful business has processes in place to automate, delegate, and optimize their workflow as much as possible. Yours should be no different. That’s why we’ve created a list of the top productivity tools to streamline your freelance business and maximize your impact.
8 Productivity Tools to Streamline Your Freelance Business
1. Dubsado
Dubsado is a business management solution designed to cut out the busywork, build relationships, schedule appointments, and create workflows to streamline your projects from start to finish. This web-based platform helps you manage all client communication after the onboarding process. You can create a client portal that allows you and the client to keep all deliverables in one place, schedule meetings, review agreements, and more.
The best part about this process is automation. Once you create a workflow, you’re free to focus on building your craft and your business.
2. G-Suite
G-Suite is by far one of the best productivity tools within a busy freelancer’s toolbox. It’s a suite connected to your Gmail account that provides easy access to your files, enhances focus and productivity, and creates seamless collaboration for clients and your team.
| Bonus Tip: Did you know that your Google Drive goes on the go with you? Since most phones have Google incorporated into its standard apps, you also have a default folder the takes you directly to your Google drives. If you have multiple Gmail accounts, you can link them for easy access to all of them, regardless of your location. There is also an app called Google Keep, which allows you to jot down notes on your phone, and they automatically store into your Google Drive. |
Looking for ways to maximize your time? Consider time blocking with your Google Calendar. Throughout your day, you will receive notification reminders, which will help you become more proactive in time management.
3. Grammarly
If writing is your bread and butter, then you have to be using Grammarly. Grammarly is great. It goes way beyond being a proofreader (although it’s also excellent at that). It also scores your writing on its clarity, engagement level, and delivery. Plus, it checks your entire piece for plagiarism and also has an AI writing assistant feature. All of that combined with it’s easy to use UX/UI design makes it an productivity tool essential for any freelancer starting out or looking to optimize their content creation.
Did we mention it’s free?
4. Canva
If you’re not on the Canva bandwagon yet, you might want to hop on. Whether you’re an entrepreneur with basic graphic design needs or a professional graphic artist who is an expert with Adobe InDesign, Canva is a simple yet powerful online design platform that can turn any idea into beautiful visuals easily and quickly.
They also have a video editor where you can create engaging videos that you then add to anything from social media to blog posts. Plus, they have a mobile app that allows users to design on the go.
5. ChatGPT
Well, we had to include at least one AI tool, right? Our top choice is ChatGPT, especially if you’re a writer. ChatGPT can kind of do it all. It can ideate, outline, and even generate first drafts. As your freelance business continues to grow, this can be a great tool to increase the work you’re taking in while also helping you maintain a high quality of work.
Just make sure you’re using it as an assistant. It’s for support. It’s not there to do all of the work for you. Plus, the success of your business is based on your uniqueness. That means making sure all your work has your individual human touch to it.
If you want a primer on AI productivity tools in marketing, check out our Marketer’s Guide on AI-Supported Content Creation.
6. ClickUp
ClickUp is a web and mobile application designed to help organize, track, and manage one’s workflow. This tool is phenomenal at keeping you on track for the progress of your projects and deliverables. If you’re familiar with platforms like Asana, Trello, and Slack, this is like having all of those in one user experience. As you’re building your business or team, this productivity tool will help you with integrating everyone’s workflow and permits unlimited users on your team within the free version.
As a user, you receive daily reports highlighting your tasks and upcoming deliverables, along with immediate notifications when assigned to a project if something changes.
| Bonus Tip: For your social strategy, you can also track your content calendar workflow from ideation to scheduling content. |
7. Wave Apps
As a direct competitor to QuickBooks, Wave Apps is designed with entrepreneurs in mind. Users can send branded invoicing, upload and organize receipts, and print reports.
Here’s the best part: All platform features mentioned are free. Within the premium plan, you can manage independent contractors and employees directly through the system to accurately track all of your business expenses. It’s a one-stop shop for your business finances and a reliable alternative with fantastic reviews.
8. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing automation tool that helps you build thoughtful, strategic email marketing campaigns. Through the platform, you receive analytics on your campaigns, which enables you to adjust your strategy to optimize your results. In addition to the email marketing capabilities, you can also integrate your campaigns with your social media pages to create consistency across all of your marketing channels.
If you’re creating and establishing an email list, Mailchimp will help you engage with your clients and customers proactively. The platform also has industry compliance. What does this mean? It means that users are GDPR-friendly, and your brand will adhere to laws that keep consumers safe from spammers.
Your Partner in Productivity
There are tons of productivity tools out there that can help establish your business structure. Regardless of which tool(s) you choose, creating systems is essential for growth and sanity. And if you want to take your productivity (and especially your opportunity) to the next level, it can help to partner with a content agency with a proven track record of freelance success.
That’s where we come in at ClearVoice. When you join our Talent Network, you get access to hundreds of brands across dozens of industries. We can even do the job searching for you, partnering you with companies that fit your exact expertise and skillset. It’s something worth thinking about.
