As a freelancer, sometimes money can be tight. Fortunately, many free or very affordable tools exist for freelancers to make their businesses run more efficiently. Consider using these 5 tools to help grow your freelance business without breaking the bank.
Mint – Mint, most frequently used for managing personal finances, can be a great tool for freelancers as well. When operating a freelance business, personal and business finances get mixed, and Mint can be a great way to get a better grasp on your finances and help keep track of spending in various categories. Not only can this help you monitor and cut back on certain expenses, it can help you save money during tax season by helping you classify expenses as business or personal. Best of all, Mint is absolutely free. Whether you are trying to better manage your personal or professional expenses, Mint is an excellent option.
Toggl – If you are charging clients by the hour, you understand how important keeping track of your time can be. Bill too many hours and you can lose a client’s trust, but bill too few and you are short-changing yourself. Toggl is a great free solution that helps you track where every moment of your work day is spent. Toggl is available on all types of devices, so wherever and however you work, Toggl can keep track of your progress. Furthermore, by keeping a close track on how you spend your time, Toggle can keep you accountable, boosting your productivity, and allowing you to take on more client work.
MailChimp – Many businesses mistakenly live by the adage, “If you build it, they will come.” Marketing a new business is difficult and can often be very expensive. And for a freelancer, simply having an UpWork profile is not enough to guarantee consistent work. So what alternatives are there, then? Depending on the type of business you are targeting, email marketing can be quite effective. MailChimp is a robust and feature-rich email marketing solution that will easily suit the needs of most freelancers. MailChimp is also free to send up to 12,000 emails per month. While email marketing does take some time and effort, executing an email marketing campaign through a free solution like MailChimp can save a freelancer some serious marketing money.
Asana – When running your own freelance business, time is money, so it is important that communication between you and your clients goes smoothly. Constant communication is key, because the last thing you would want is to have a project delayed or to have to redo work that you thought was completed. The way to avoid that is to constantly update your clients, and a great way to do that is with Asana. Asana is a project management tool that allows you to assign tasks to others, share updates, and track the progress of projects. Asana also integrates with Dropbox, Github, and Google Drive and is free for the first 15 users. To make sure your project is going the direction your client wants, try working with them through Asana.
Bitwage – If you work with international clients, you know the many pitfalls of accepting international payments. Payments are delayed or sometimes even lost. Transfer fees are astronomically high. Bitwage, however, provides a better option for international money transfers. By invoicing your clients with Bitwage, you can save 5%+ on transaction fees and receive your money several days or even weeks sooner. This means that you end up with more money in your pocket and spend less time dealing with banks.
Header via Ken Teegardin
