The Best Tools For Creative Freelancers

With 44% of millennials and 36% of Gen Z workers freelancing in the last year and since the emergence of COVID-19, the gig economy in the world is developing faster than ever. Numerous freelancers focus on creative services that necessitate the use of certain digital tools and equipment. We've compiled a list of best freelancer tools platforms that you can use to ensure the success of your freelancer assignments.

Let's begin with the fundamentals of business.

Best Freelancer Tools

QuickBooks

The all-in-one platform that provides HMRC-approved solutions for managing your business money allows you to keep professional and personal expenses separate. The software enables users to keep track of receipts, payments, and costs at any time and on the road, assisting freelancers and small company owners in maintaining digital organization. The system calculates VAT automatically and generates all the necessary information and data for self-assessment, thereby simplifying the tax process. Additionally, it incorporates third-party payment services such as PayPal. With a modest plan starting at £8 per month + VAT for self-employed individuals, the service is an extremely economical option for handling your funds as a freelancer.

PayPal

The secure payment system enables you to design bespoke invoices with your own branding, track payments, take payments via customized links for further security, and easily email payment requests to your clients. A significant advantage of using PayPal is the added security and pay-as-you-go method. There are no fixed, recurring fees; instead, you pay a fee when you receive payments, ensuring that you never pay for the system when it is not in use.

SumUp

These gateway card readers are ubiquitous, and they are particularly popular with small businesses and freelancers. Similarly to PayPal, SumUp's gateway card readers are free to use. You purchase the machine, download the complimentary app, and pay a transaction cost. This is an excellent tool for freelancers who visit trade exhibitions, sell tangible products, or wish to offer clients another payment method.

SimplyBook.Me

Appointments and consultations can be time-consuming to schedule. This GDPR-compliant appointment scheduling software enables customers to book with you independently through your web platforms, saving you time and allowing you to organize your schedule to fit both you and your clients. It simplifies the process of booking consultations with you for new customers by streamlining the customer journey. There is a free version of the program, but it is restricted to 50 bookings per month. Therefore, if the free version meets your needs, upgrading to the basic plan may be a smart option.

Zoom

Most likely, you already have this program downloaded and are an expert. If you haven't yet ventured into the world of Zoom, here are a few reasons why you should. You can smoothly incorporate video meetings into your schedule without having to account for travel time. Are you ready to discuss the enjoyable aspects of life?

Unsplash

A repository of over a million royalty-free photographs and images that can be used without fear of copyright infringement. These graphics are ideal for mood boards, pitch decks, brand kits, and website design. Creating an account is easy and free, and it lets you put photos you like into different collections so that you can keep your projects separate.

New Old Stock

By collecting stunning historical images into easy-to-download packs, this is an incredibly economical way to acquire photographs and visuals that have an authentic, old-fashioned vibe. The packs are quite reasonable, and once purchased, the collections are automatically updated whenever the designers add new pictures.

Lightroom

Lightroom, one of the programs included in Adobe's Photography Package, is an easy mobile and desktop program for storing and editing your images seamlessly. Create and save presets to expedite and simplify photo editing. This is particularly advantageous because you may upload presets used by your clients to ensure that their imagery and platforms remain consistent as you collaborate. Monthly pricing for the photography package is £9.98 and includes 20GB of storage.

OpenDoodles

A set of royalty-free illustrations that you may copy, change, or redraw for any purpose without fear of infringement. These illustrations are ideal for use in client mock-ups, as placeholders for future photos, or to persuade clients to purchase their own collection of illustrations. The creator of Open Doodles believes in the concept of Open Design, which advocates for the sharing of talents, best practices, and fundamental design principles in order to strengthen the artistic community and foster cooperation.

Google Fonts

Perhaps a more traditional source of information, but one that is strong and dependable. The huge catalog of fonts and font families provides freelancers with hundreds of typography possibilities for mock-ups and commercial projects. Fonts are available for free download, and the majority of licensing agreements allow their use in a wide variety of applications. However, if you want to put your work out there, it is usually a good idea to check the licenses on your own.

ColorLisa

Just for fun: if you're having trouble coming up with a traditional or distinctive color scheme for a client's branding, take a cue from the greats. ColorLisa is a palette picker that enables you to discover the colors used by the world's most renowned painters and incorporate them into magnificent, timeless designs or typography.

Canva

You're sure to have heard of this global powerhouse. Canva is an incredibly simple-to-use design application that enables users of all abilities to create professional-looking and versatile designs, documents, presentations, and social media visuals. This platform is especially popular among freelancers, independent producers, and small businesses due to its enormous library of templates, pictures, graphics, and typefaces, as well as its ability to span a wide variety of mediums, from branded office supplies to video editing. You can use Canva for free, but you will have fewer template options. Canva Pro supports up to five users on a single account and costs £10.99 per month or £99.99 per year.

Procreate

This is an excellent option for designers, artists, and illustrators who specialize in digital illustration but do not wish to purchase the entire Adobe suite. It's intuitive and cost-effective, and it's quite simple to add extensions and create custom tools within the application. Procreate is a free application accessible exclusively through the Apple App Store. The disadvantage of this program is that it can only be used on an iPhone or iPad and is best utilized in conjunction with an Apple Pen. Thus, while the app itself is only £9.99, if you do not already own all of the essential equipment, it is a far larger investment.

Grammarly

While freelancers cannot always claim to be experts in everything, they are frequently expected to be. Occasionally, errors creep through the cracks, particularly when it comes to spelling and language. Grammarly is an excellent program to have installed, as it is always monitoring for any potential minor faults that you may have overlooked. It can evaluate emails, documents, blog posts, contracts, social media, and even messages sent via collaboration platforms such as Teams or Slack. Similarly to Canva, you may use the free version for the fundamentals or subscribe to the premium version for £110 for a year's membership to receive additional advice on tone, language inclusion, fluency, and thesaurus ideas.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers a variety of themes and styles that simplify the process of creating a website. With possibilities for e-commerce and social network integration, the site has built-in SEO tools and analytics to help you better understand your client journey. Marketing automation and client segmentation are excellent tools for customizing how your website interacts with visitors automatically. Squarespace makes it simple to send email campaigns and share your knowledge through blog articles, which helps you maintain a high level of brand awareness by communicating directly with interested individuals on a regular basis. With a variety of price packages available, there is an inexpensive choice for all of your demands.

Hootsuite

This is a fantastic planning and scheduling application that enables you to manage various social media accounts from a single dashboard. Hootsuite enables you to plan and schedule posts in advance and in bulk, so you're not always concerned with creating new content and remaining active on social media. You can easily respond to audience interactions from a single mailbox, which simplifies the process of engaging with potential consumers. The data and insight collection dashboard makes it simple to identify what is working and what isn't for your socials. Hootsuite offers a 30-day free trial to determine if the service is right for you, but plans begin at roughly £40 per month for an annual plan.

LastPass

We've provided you with several tools and a variety of platforms to assist you in optimizing your freelancing work life. Now, you must keep track of the login information for each one. LastPass is an extremely useful browser extension that securely stores all of your passwords for all of your accounts, allowing you to log in instantly even if you've forgotten your password. Best of all, it's completely free!