One of the biggest reasons I purchased my laptop was because I envisioned how great a tool it was going to be for working remotely. I will readily admit that although I look nothing like Mel Gibson, I had big plans on becoming the next Road Warrior.

It did not take me long to realize that there is no easy way to sync information between two computers, especially Outlook email, contacts, and tasks. I have a decent size contact list and a full calendar, so it was too late to switch everything over to online applications. For that reason I started a search into easy and affordable ways to sync Outlook between computers.

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Photo by Gaetan Lee.

If you’ve been freelancing for a while, you probably already know that you often have to juggle several projects at a time. That’s not to say that you necessarily have to multi-task, but simply need to manage overlapping task schedules. The more successful your freelance career is, the more likely it is that you’ll have to manage multiple tasks simulaneously. They might be part of a single big project or parts of several smaller projects.

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Freelancers are always on the lookout for the best way to do their billing, and you will often see the question come up on the FreelanceSwitch forum, “What is the best billing/invoicing software?”

For this reason FreelanceSwitch sent me out to review the software Bill4Time.

Bill4Time is a web-based time billing and project management tool. According to the website it is ‘designed to handle time and expense tracking & billing, project management, document filing, and scheduling for firms who bill for their time.’ But how does it stack up to the needs of the average freelancer?

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Photo by picard_pwns_kirk.

I dream of my perfect office with surreal artwork decorating the walls, the comfy chair and the desk that supports a dual monitor set-up.

Unfortunately, I always seem to wake up from this dream a couch that has stuffing spilling out with my Dell Inspiron laptop sitting next to me.

While my coffee table certainly isn’t going to serve as an ideal spot for multiple monitors, I’ve recently discovered an interesting way to get more screen real-estate on my little laptop.

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Photo by psd.

If you’re a freelancer, I’m pretty sure you know the importance of a USB thumb drive. At a basic level, it helps you store important data and transfer files related to your projects from one computer to another.

If you’ve only ever used your thumb drive for the entry-level tasks of storing and transferring data, it’s time to unleash the hidden potential of this tiny device. Whether you’re a freelance writer, web developer or a freelancer on the move, you should take a look at the following tools, all of which take this device to the next level and convert it to a power drive. Continue Reading

Last week our web developing and designing readers had their Firefoxes pimped with 12 essential extensions. This week we’ll be unlocking Firefox’s web writer capabilities with a set of 9 crucial extensions for freelance writers.

From gaining complete control of your text to keeping your work safe and sound, all the essentials are here. No filler. Just really good tools.

1. Copy Plain Text
   This extension gives you complete control over rich text by stripping it plain. Perfect for research or quoting other sources without links and formatting you don’t want or need.
2. Split Browser
   Pasting from one tab to another can be cumbersome. This extension makes the process a breeze by splitting your browser window into two (or three, or four) panels, allowing for instant copying and pasting between pages.
3. Resizable Text Area
   This extension makes text input areas flexible by allowing you to resize them as you like. Give your writing the room it needs to breathe.
4. AutoCopy
   Clever little time-saver which automatically adds text to the clip-board as soon as you select it.
5. ScrapBook
   When gathering research for an article you’ll often find yourself cutting and saving snippets of text from various websites. ScrapBook is a simple, bookmarks-style interface designed to make this process quick and painless.
6. Signature
   Every web writer finds themselves re-using certain snippets of text again and again — whether it’s your byline or the HTML code you use for that image in every article. Signature allows you to save these snippets and access them at any time via the right-click menu. Lovely.
7. Dictionary Search
   Search Dictionary.com from the Firefox search bar. Great for answering that perennial question: does the word I’m using mean what I think it means, or am I about to embarrass myself?
8. Zotero
   For more in-depth research work this extension is a slick and powerful way to track sources, references and citations. Also includes refined note-taking capabilities.
9. Text Area Word Counter
   An extension for freelance web writers by, arguably, one of the best: Gina Trapani. Instantly retrieve the word count of text in any web form. Perfect for paid bloggers with a word quota to meet.

What would you add to the list?

Firefox is more than a browser. It’s a toolbox, just waiting to be filled with tools.

In this Pimp Your Firefox series of posts I’ll be sharing 12 truly useful Firefox extensions to suit different breeds of freelancers.

I’ve capped the number at 12 to ensure only the highest quality extensions make the cut. This is for freelancers who want only the best tools to make their working day easier and more productive.

This first installment contains the top 12 most useful Firefox extensions for freelance web developers and designers.

1. FireFTP
   A powerful FPT client in one tab, your work in another. Sometimes the simplest solutions can be profoundly useful. (Note: Does not as yet support SFTP).

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Confession time: I kind of, sort of, almost miss my 9-to-5 office grind. Granted, my home office comes equipped with a bottle of scotch and I’m not stuck using Internet Explorer, but there are some things a staff position at an established magazine or company can offer freelancers that harder to come by on our own.

What I miss most about going to the office every day are the people in all those departments that are usually ignored, but are so integral to the smooth turning of the gears: Legal, Accounting, Tech Support, Reception, the list goes on. Whether there was trouble with a libel suit or just a printer problem, it was easy to find an expert with an answer somewhere down the hall. Freelancers aren’t lost though, since there’s a wealth of online resources that’ll act as your support staff and help you through the workday.

Tech Support

Protonic.com is run by a staff of tech-savvy volunteers that offer free answers to questions about hardware, software, operating systems, or even a kink in your CSS. An answer can often take a day or so to make its way to you, but sometimes you’ll get answers within an hour. It’s the next best thing to sending a support ticket to the IT guys on the third floor.

If you’re willing to exert just a little bit of effort, you may want to browse the forums at Tech Support Guy. Chances are, your question has already been asked and discussed at length. If you’re worried about taking the advice of a stranger who might not know what they’re talking about, forum posters are ranked from Junior up to Distinguished Member, and their posts give a little bit of info about their experience and skills.

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Many freelancers depend on Skype for VoIP communication. Never has it been so simple to talk to anyone from any continent with one simple piece of software – and it’s free. Add to that SkypeIn calls for land lines, a nice interface and very good uptime, this little application is basically a godsend. It’s popularity makes it a standard – a standard freelancers can use to their advantage. Collaborating or doing business with different parts of the world is far easier when you can speak to people in realtime, without worrying about the phone bill.

As any application that has become a business standard, Skype too has a plethora of developers making great add-on applications to enhance it’s feature set. From audio recording to user-friendly voicemail, here are a few nice features you can add to the basic Skype setup…
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By Ivan Brezak Brkan

For one reason or another, a lot of freelancers use Macs. It may be the raw power, the stability or they may just look rather – cool? Well, both of us know why that really is. It’s the apps! The software that makes the hardware bling, and it’s not necessarily thanks to Apple. Aperture and iCal may be nice, but often we rely on the smaller, even more useful applications. Here’s a list of great little applications that the Mac-powered freelancer should consider.

1. Text Expander

is a great little application for all those little snippets of text you need all the time. Writer? Typos can trigger Text Expande. Developers? No more code library needed. Designers? Well, we can always add signatures to email, right?

2. Quicksilver

is a world of its own. Unlike most launchers, the best thing about Quicksilver is that it’s not only a launcher. As probably the best productivity application on the Mac, it’s something you need to learn how to use in order to master it.

3. Backdrop

is very simple. Just fill in a color or image and hide the desktop clutter. Need minimalistic? Now you have it…

4. Shoo Apps

does what the long forgotten (or so it seems) Spirited Away did. it hides inactive applications.

5. Hazel

is a maid for your Mac. Have a lot of files just sitting waiting to be organized? Well, Hazel can move those files based on the criteria you set up. Be it name, date, location or what site or e-mail the file came from, this little application takes care of it.

6. Sticky Windows

is an application I personally can’t live without anymore. Say hello to tabs. Drag a window to the top, left or right edge of the screen and a tab will appear. To remove a tab, you just drag it away. It’s that simple.

7. Pzizz

is quite neat. It creates custom nap and sleep melodies for you to help you relax. Need a power nap – take one. It really may help, or it may just work as placebo. But hey, why not try it?

8. Scrivener

is a great tool for writers. From brainstorming, to outlining to writing in fullscreen mode, this application supports all the creative phases that a writer encounters. Say goodbye to Word and just… Write!

9. Writeroom

is a simple, yet very powerful application and full screen writing is the name of the game. Not more, but less. If the complexity of modern word processors isn’t inspiring, work it all out with Writeroom.

10. Avenir

is a writing application specialized for fiction. Characters, locations, scenes. If you’re a fiction writer, Avenir will give you even more flexibility in writing your next bestseller.
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The web is such a big and wonderful place, packed with tools and resources which you all too often don’t know about. So to help all you freelancers out there we have compiled a gigantic list of resources, categorized up for your benefit. If you know a resource that we’ve missed, let us know as we’re always looking to grow this list!

Update: Well it’s actually 126 resources now, thanks to all the people who added resources in the comments.

Update: This article has been translated into Brazillian Portuguese by Rafael Marin.
This article has also been translated into Spanish by Diana at Artegami.
This article has also been translated into Italian by Matteo at Rails On The Road.

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