To do list task managers and full productivity software is essential to a freelancers business. The style of design your looking for in a to do list app will differ based on the size of your small business, the nature of the services you offer, and your personal preferences.

You may be a one man freelancer and prefer a stripped down, easy to use task app that syncs well in the cloud and works with your preferred devices. Or you may regularly work with a team and need some specific features to have you all working in harmony and efficiently.

While every user will have different needs in a to do list manager, there are some features that clearly add functionality, and looking at them will help you choose the best to do app for you.

How a to do list task manager implements these features has a big impact on it’s user base. Here are some of the most prevalent and useful features to consider in reviewing task based productivity software:

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Usually two words “freelancer” and “time” go together. Freelancers can’t juggle multiple tasks simultaneously and that’s why we need to allocate time carefully. Time is an essential source of freelancer financial success.

There are lots of web apps that help track time and create reports. If you use one of the tools on a daily basis, you can turn your work into a structured schedule, get more spare time for fun, and improve your productivity. Here’s is an overview of 10 top free apps for time management for freelancers. Continue Reading

Every once in a while you need to do freelance work while you’re traveling.

Trying to stay on top of your freelance tasks while on vacation can be stressful, especially if you’re traveling with your partner or family. Trying to find a balance between work and play isn’t easy. It’s important to avoid letting work dominate your holiday time, even when you need to complete assignments while on vacation.

Here are the 9 steps I follow when I’m traveling, but still need to get work done. Continue Reading

Many freelancers use Gmail but have you considered sprucing up your settings so that each email looks more professional? Wouldn’t you prefer to have your customers and clients receive emails from your name @ your domain name dot com instead? This is really simple to set up and gives your emails a much more professional look.

This article will show you how to add additional non Gmail addresses to your account, how to add labels and filters. Plus it will cover certain Add-ons that are available and will make using and organizing your account easier.

The final section shows you how to use Rapportive as a way of connecting with your prospective customers and getting some background information before making your initial contact. After all first impressions count and what could be better than knowing a little bit more about them in advance? Continue Reading

Physical and mental distractions are stunting the growth of your freelance business. In line with getting focused on my writing career for 2012, I’ve vowed to cut out as many distractions as possible, at the computer and beyond.

Here are eight strategies to get your business in a distraction-free zone!

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Mozilla Firefox is a real treasure for freelancers worldwide. Why? It’s an advanced, fast and secure web browser.

In the last 7 years the open source browser has proved – it’s more than a web surfer. Mozilla Firefox is translated into over 70 languages, enriched with dozens of extensions, and beautified by many persona designs.

Firefox may be modified according to your needs on the fly. With a couple of useful add-ons the browser turns into your developer, designer, or SEO fellow-worker. Today, we continue our top Firefox extensions topic with a roundup of excellent free Firefox addons. These extensions will improve your productivity and level up your freelancing performance. Continue Reading

If you are a typical freelancer, your office may range from your home to your car to the local coffee shop. While I used to inhabit my local coffee shop—to the tune of having my drink waiting for me at the counter before I even got there—I am now a convert of working at my local library.

Here’s Why

• Free high-speed WiFi. Yes, my local coffee shop had free WiFi, but it also seemed to have every online movie watcher and gamer there too hogging up the bandwidth. Their “free high-speed WiFi” was usually quite slow and frustrating. This hasn’t been the case at the library.
• A quiet place to work. Coffee shops are usually so loud I can barely think, let alone create. With people talking, orders being shouted, blaring music, and coffee grinding in the background, the cacophony could drive you mad. The library has enforced quietness, which I like.

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No matter how well you plan, there will be times when you’ll need more clients. During the “famine” periods of your feast and famine cycle, the best thing you can do is cut this time as short as possible.

To do this, you need a system for contacting leads, qualifying them, and converting them into paying clients as fast as possible. Communication templates can help you do this.

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Chrome Web Store

Google has recently launched Chrome Web Store – a dedicated marketplace with various applications for the browser. The marketplace idea is simple: install an app once and you will always have it at your fingertips on Chrome’s start screen. So you can save time and use your favorite tool immediately.

As Chrome is in vogue among freelancers, the new Web Store collection is worth checking out. There are many entertainments tools, online games, utilities and productivity solutions. The last category of getting things done apps deserves freelancers’ attention. Chrome has free web applications like to-do lists, calendars, note takers to help you work faster, easier and more efficient. Let’s browse the top 10 productivity leaders in Chrome’s Web Store. Continue Reading

Want to make your tax preparer the happiest person on the planet? By spending a few minutes on your financial paperwork now, you can make your life easier, as well as theirs.

As a freelancer, it’s easy to tell yourself that your financial paperwork really isn’t that complicated and that you can put it off indefinitely. If you do so, sometime in early March — assuming that you’re based in the U.S. — you will frantically go through all your old receipts and invoices, trying to run some numbers that you can hand off to your tax preparer, so that she can finish your tax return in time for that April 15th deadline. I’ve taken that approach more than once myself.

But there is a perfectly valid alternative to spending most of March freaking out, provided you’re willing to put in a little time now. You can get your paperwork in order early.

Start a Folder and a Shoebox

I realize that we’re all living in the digital age and hard copy is just one more thing to lose, but the fact of the matter is that a large portion of the paperwork you’ll need for your taxes is not going to come electronically.

So, write ‘Taxes’ and the year on a file folder and put it in your filing cabinet. Every time you have something that you know that you’re going to have to give to your tax preparer, put it in that folder. It’s harder than it sounds, but it’s necessary.

The ideal result is a shoebox with neatly organized receipts inside and a report totaling up your business expenses in different categories.

You also need some sort of storage device for your receipts. I use shoeboxes because they’re free, although I don’t ascribe to the paperwork philosophy of ‘throw it all in and let the tax preparer sort it out.’ Personally, I use two shoeboxes — one for personal receipts and one for business receipts.

I really ought to have a third, for medical expenses and other receipts that can be tax-deductible in the right situation, but since those are fewer and farther between, I generally just put them straight into my folder. Continue Reading

Every freelancer out there has a bag of tricks they wouldn’t want to do work without—whether it’s their computer, useful software, or their favorite radio station. Find out what sorts of things help FreelanceSwitch.com contributors during their workday.

Perhaps their advice will inspire you to try something new, or reaffirm that what you currently use is the best in the biz.

Hardware

My Apple Kit

I regularly use a MacBook Air, iMac, iPad, and iPhone for work. I love the style and function of OSX and iOS, and the quality of these tools is just amazing.

I can enjoy a huge screen at home for digging into some in-depth work, and take the super lightweight MacBook Air on the road. My iPhone never leaves my side, and I’m constantly amazed at how much work I can get done on such a tiny device. –David Appleyard

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While the end of the year is likely not in the minds of many, it’s closer than you may think.

So before the ball drops and that tax deadline gets even closer, it’s a good time to think about the many things you can do to prepare for the end of the year–and the promising year ahead.

Here are 4 tips to get you started.

1. Create a New Filing System

If you’ve been meaning to find a better way to get organized, now may just be the time to do it. Put new systems in place for organizing your files. I work out of my home office, which is also a hub for my personal paperwork–so having a work file cabinet and a personal one was key to helping me stay together. Continue Reading