There are almost as many tools and apps for freelancers as there are WordPress plugins. The challenge here is also to find the right tools for your needs. I'll introduce you to my favorites from the perspective of a location-independent web designer.

Save time: The best tools for freelancers

Every self-employed person needs certain tools to be able to work efficiently. That's absolutely clear. However, you should make sure that you end up spending more time actually working on projects instead of investing it in feeding the tools.

For this reason, it is very important for me to mention that I only use tools that generate a high benefit for me. I could certainly use other services, but the added value would then be limited from my point of view. As I mentioned, I want to spend as little time as possible feeding the tools with my data.

I mainly use premium software, i.e. no free tools. Free providers are certainly good and useful to start with. However, I realized relatively quickly that either data protection was not a high priority or the features were simply missing.

So let's move on to my specific tool tips (not to be confused with a tool tip, but its use needs to be carefully considered either way).

Acquisition and offers

Customer acquisition is the be-all and end-all for every freelancer. Without customers, there are no orders - and without orders, there is no income. I don't use any separate software for this, but have been holding back a bit more recently when it comes to cold calling. When I do, I use existing contacts directly on LinkedIn.

I try to make sure that the potential customer doesn't feel under pressure. In this case, I usually take a look at the WordPress website in question and then give specific tips on what I would improve. Completely free of charge.

My recommendations for improving the website usually include technical aspects that a website operator is often not aware of.

Advantages of LinkedIn acquisition

• Potential customers already know me because I am in their network
• Very easy to contact
• Usually very quick feedback

Disadvantages of LinkedIn acquisition

• Can come across as a sales pitch
• Unclear whether there is a need at all
• Recipient simply forwards my tips to the existing webmaster and I gain little or nothing from giving away a free tip

For quotations, I use good old Microsoft Word, in my case for macOS. There are of course a few alternatives, but I simply get along incredibly well with this tool. I know that's not the case for everyone...

What I also like about it is the model of Office as a full version. Unlike Office 365, I install the software completely on my laptop, pay for it once at the beginning and then never again. Updates are included, which I think is great.

Advantages of Microsoft Word

• No subscription model and therefore no fixed monthly costs
• docx a very well known format
• Simple export to PDF possible

 Disadvantages of Microsoft Word

• Some find it difficult to use, for example when it comes to moving images

Finally, I convert my quotation into a PDF in Word, which is also very quick and easy.

I use my own tool for PDF files: PDF Expert. What I particularly like about it is the option to add signatures, edit the PDF if necessary and add annotations. Here too, I rate the price/performance ratio as very good. 

Advantages of PDF Expert

• PDF files can be edited
• Insert signatures or create new ones directly
• Good price and one-off acquisition costs

 Disadvantages of PDF Expert

• none

Project management

For smaller projects, I primarily use email for communication and logging. This has worked wonderfully with my "Inbox Zero" principle so far.

I personally like Trello for larger projects. In my opinion, the organization in tiles and columns makes it extremely easy to keep an overview. If you are working in a team, you can assign each task to a team member, add a description, images and links. A defined date per task (deadline) and reminders make it easier to keep the project on schedule.

Advantages of Trello

• Clearly arranged
• User friendliness
• Up to 10 team boards free of charge

 Disadvantages of Trello

• The default email notifications for tasks that are due soon can be nerve-wracking

Time recording

The ValueTime tool has recently started helping me with time recording. The web app was mainly developed by Jonas Kamber, a UX designer from Lucerne (Switzerland). I notice this immediately: the UX or user experience is impressively good. The functions and design elements are clearly and logically arranged.

To be able to use the web-based tool, I simply registered and specified at the beginning how many hours I work on average per week, how many days of vacation I take per year and my hourly rate.

Then you can get started. Projects, time per project, expenses (e.g. for plugins) and, of course, invoices are easy to view. The handling and creation of invoices and the recording of time are indeed child's play. 

The tool becomes more and more accurate over time and shows the following values, which are of great interest to any self-employed person with irregular income:

• Turnover in the selected time period
• Time expenditure in hours
• Effective hourly rate in EUR, CHF or the selected currency
• Chargeable hours in percent (unfortunately not usually 100%)
• Turnover per working day
• Time required per working day

However, the highlight for me remains the dark mode, which the tool also offers. I just like reading white on black and not the other way around.

Advantages of ValueTime

• Free trial version (7 days)
• Ingenious user experience
• Fair price for all features
•  Data location Switzerland and complete SSL encryption

 Disadvantages of ValueTime

• Although the standard overview can be adjusted temporarily, the view always switches back to the last 30 days
• No reminders when an issued invoice becomes overdue

Accounting

As I don't have any employees myself, I keep my accounting as simple as possible. Banana is completely sufficient for my needs. Furthermore, I only want to invest as much time as necessary, as this topic has not been a source of joy for me for a long time.

Advantages of Banana accounting

• Perfect for the self-employed and freelancers
•  Double-entry bookkeeping possible
• No subscription, easy on the budget

Disadvantages of Banana accounting

•  Unsuitable for complex accounting

Communication

A boring topic? Not at all. Without the right communication channels for you, it will be difficult to hold your own in the market. It is important that it is pleasant and easy for you as a freelancer as well as for your partners and customers to communicate with you.

I personally attach great importance to efficiency and clear communication. This is to prevent misunderstandings from arising in the first place. This is because clarifying them is always very time-consuming, which you can avoid directly in many cases.

My most important communication tool is, old but gold, e-mail. I have been using a paid and encrypted solution, ProtonMail, for several years. However, there are also good alternatives from Germany, such as Tutanota.

I generally prefer written communication because I then automatically find a protocol in the email conversation. Of course, this only works if the communication is well structured and it is clear what the next steps are.

In certain cases, however, it is of course necessary to communicate verbally. I like to use Whereby, a tool from Norway, for video calls. It's secure and, in my opinion, much better than the better-known Zoom.

Now you might be asking yourself: "Do you also talk to your customers on the phone?" Yes, sometimes I do. But not in the traditional way, but better. A good friend recommended that I create a local Skype number some time ago. So I did that too. Quite an ingenious solution, in my opinion.

I can still work from anywhere and take free calls on my smartphone (via the Skype app) or directly on my notebook.

Incidentally, this was triggered by an e-mail from Google itself, which pointed out to me that 90 percent of consumers are more likely to contact me if a telephone number is stored in Google My Business. Google refers to a study, I looked for it, but unfortunately I didn't find anything. I guess I have no choice but to simply believe these figures. Although faith is a different faculty.

Also important for communication and, above all, personal organization: the calendar. I simply use the Apple calendar app on my notebook and smartphone. Synchronizes (almost) flawlessly.

For larger projects, I also like to use Slack for communication. The great thing about it is that both 1:1 chats and diversified channels are possible. Are you already a member of the Raidboxes Slack community? I can only recommend it.

As a web designer, my daily bread in communication is of course the browser. I used Firefox for a long time, but have now opted for Brave, which is based on Google Chrome (but without the advertising tracking via Facebook pixels and the like). In other words, Brave blocks many external scripts, which is very important to me.

Backup, file storage and cloud

No, neither Dropbox nor Google Drive, sorry. I use Tresorit, which is also a solution that works completely encrypted. I even managed to hack myself once. If you would like to know how this is possible, please leave a comment below. The story is a little longer, but all the more embarrassing for that.

Reviews and testimonials

In my opinion, this is clearly the most important tool for reviews: Google My Business. I sometimes find it helpful to read the reviews first, not least when it comes to restaurants or other cultural institutions. Nowadays (unfortunately) practically everything is rated, which doesn't always bring advantages. 

Conclusion

I recommend the same approach for freelancer tools as for WordPress plugins: as many as necessary, as few as possible.

Tools should support you in your work and, if possible, in such a way that you do not incur any disproportionate additional work by using them. Nevertheless, you want to use the various tools to obtain data that will help you or that you can use again at a later date (template for a quotation in Microsoft Word or a sophisticated backup strategy).

I hope that this article has given you a brief but exciting insight into the software tools that I consider useful.