Gone are the days when people relied on a fixed 9 to 5 job. Most people today have started freelancing along with their regular jobs. According to Indy, Over a third of the workforce in the US are freelancers (59 million people); what’s even more is that this figure is projected to reach more than half the workforce by 2027 – that’s 86.5 million people in five years’ time.
Some people have even shifted completely to freelancing as it is considered a more flexible way of earning money. Based on Flexjobs, The growth of freelancing can’t be denied. According to Upwork’s “Freelancing in America” survey, 56.7 million Americans freelanced in 2018, up 3.7 million from 2014. That’s more than 1 in 3 people freelancing.
And younger generations are freelancing more than older groups. In the 18-34 age group, 42% freelanced in 2018, compared to 38% in 2014. And the 35-44 age group increased to 35% freelancing in 2018 from 34% in 2014. Older age groups actually showed a slight decline in freelancing.
Freelancing allows you to work whenever you want and do what you like without getting bossed around. As a result, you can be your own boss and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
No doubt there are a lot of perks of freelancing, but at the same time, you must know that this job comes with many hurdles. The main challenge you would face in freelancing is that you have to work without a team.
You have to manage everything on your own. You have to take out time for communications/biddings, finish projects before the deadline, ensure quality, be your advisor, manage accounts, create content and handle all petty issues.
It can be difficult to wear all hats together without using online tools and resources for freelancers.
If you are looking for utilities that can help you in freelancing, then you have landed in the right place. Here in this post, we will discuss must-have tools that can assist you in your journey as a freelancer.
By utilizing digital resources, you can make your life easier. Many experts always recommend using online tools and resources for freelancers as it streamlines the project management process, especially if you are working without a professional team.
So let us dig into details of the best and must-have tools and resources for freelancers across the globe.
Most Helpful Tools for Freelancers in 2022 & Beyond
Out of hundreds of resources available on the web, we have selected the most reliable and useful tools and resources for new and experienced freelancers.
Smart Task | Project Management
The first tool in our list is Smart Task. This is an online based project management resource. If you want to manage multiple projects at the same time independently, then you must try this tool.
Smart Task doesn’t only help you cultivate multiple projects, but it also helps you connect with your clients in a better way.
Freelancers can also add details of clients for which the project needs to be done, along with the deadlines. You can also set priorities for which task needs to be completed earlier.
The feature we like about smart tasks is inviting your clients and connecting with the tool as a guest. This way, the client can keep themselves updated about the project’s progress and give real-time feedback.
There is also an option for video conferencing, using which you can contact your clients. You can also generate e-bills and invoices with smart tasks and share them with the client.
Key Features
- Real-Time Tracking
- Free Estimation and Billing
- Conference Calling
- 1000+ Integrations
- Task Lists, Boards, Portfolio Views
- Available on the website as well as on the mobile app
To know more about the smart task, register yourself with it and enjoy easy management.
See also: 30 Best Apps & Software to Be Aware of When Going Freelancers
Online-Notepad | Quick Note Taking
The second tool in our list is an Online Notepad. This online notepad, as the name tells us, is used for taking short and detailed notes.
With this tool, you can create plain text notes, rich text notes, and task lists, and that too for free. Gone are the days when freelancers had to create and keep handwritten notes.
Managing handwritten notes is quite impossible when working on different projects, so you need to use the online notepad tool.
This tool is cloud-based, so you can create notes on any device you want, including PCs, Laptops, Tablets, and Smartphones. Of course, you need a browser and a web connection to take notes.
Research is very important before you start a project. Without research and ideation, you cannot complete a project on time.
The online notepad can be used to note down all the requirements given by the client; it can be used to create a task list regarding the project. You can also use it to note key points related to the project that you have to focus on.
Key Features
- Note Taking without any restrictions
- Protecting notes with passwords
- Free word counter and character counter
- Multiple Import Options (PDF, Word, TXT)
- Built-in Google Search for Research purposes
There are tons of benefits to using the online notepad. So stop wasting paper and navigate to this useful utility.
Time Camp | Accurate Time Tracking
The best tool for time tracking is Time Camp. This tool can not only help freelancers track their time, but it can also increase productivity.
As a freelancer, you must know that you can charge your clients in two different ways. You can bill them for the complete project, or you can also charge them hourly.
It is difficult to calculate the time spent on each project, so it is best to use online time-tracking tools like time camp.
This tool can help you track the time of your daily work. You can easily calculate how much time you have spent on each project and send daily reports to your clients accordingly.
You can easily switch to multiple tasks while using time camp or finish one and move to the other.
Once you switch to another project, the time for the previous one will stop and will resume only when you switch back to it. Using this tool, you can record the time for each task with complete accuracy.
Key Features
- Digital time tracking on your device
- 14-day free trial and affordable packages
- Easy work hour calculation and reporting
- Smooth activity tracking
- Options to send invoices and hourly bills
This time tracking tool is very easy to use, and this is all because of its user-friendly dashboard!
See also: Design Agency and Freelance Designer. Which One to Hire?
MergePDF.io | Streamline Documents
The mergepdf.io is a free tool to help freelancers manage their files/documents smoothly.
Manually combining PDFs is not easy, so you should use an online pdf combiner. The pdf combiner tool can help you join as many documents/pages as you want within seconds, and that too free of cost.
When you are working as a freelancer, you send and receive plenty of project-related files. Especially if you are working as a freelance writer, you might be exchanging dozens of files daily.
Now managing, storing, and protecting a huge number of files is a challenging task, especially if you have no assistance.
With the merge pdf tool, you can make your work easy by combining relevant files together. For example, you can join files that belong to a single project or with one client.
After merging, you can easily lock pdf files or can also archive them if they are no longer in use.
Key Features
- Free PDF Combining
- No Limitations/Restrictions
- Universal Compatibility
- Easy Sorting of PDFs before merging
- Multiple import options
You can not only streamline document management but also optimize storage space with the pdf merger.
See also: 10 Fantastic Tips to Become a Successful Freelance Graphic Designer
WordPress | Easy Website Builder
WordPress is no doubt a must-have tool for freelancers. Every freelancer today wants to create a channel for independent earning. Well, WordPress is a resource that helps in this regard.
WordPress can help you generate your own passive income, or you can also use it to connect with more clients. You can find hundreds of prebuilt website themes on WP that you can use for free.
You can use the theme which intrigues you the most and also aligns with the purpose of your site.
On WordPress, you can add textual content, images, audio files, videos, infographics, and other elements. You can also integrate your WP site with third-party SEO tools, which would help you rank it on the higher search results.
If you use WordPress, you will no longer need to pay a professional developer to build a site for you. Know that you don’t need much experience to use this resource.
Key Features
- Free Website Themes
- Custom Domains Available
- Auto Backups
- Payment Collection
- Advanced SEO Tools
Create your free website with WP and boost your online presence as a freelance service provider.
Rephraser.co | Best Sentence Rephraser
While we are on the subject of website building. Know that rephraser.co is a helpful resource that can help you rephrase old content uniquely for your site.
You can also use it to remove duplicate sentences from your draft.
This online paraphrasing tool is very easy to use and is best for freelancers who don’t have much experience and skills in content writing.
This paraphraser is different from the conventional tools in this league as it doesn’t only spin words with synonyms; rather, it rewrites complete text after understanding its context.
All you have to do is provide input text to the tool and click on the ‘Rephrase’ button. The input content can be your own text, or you can also borrow content from already published sources.
The rephraser would use AI-powered bots and other advanced algorithms to rewrite content in a unique style, tone, and a very human-like way without compromising its original idea.
Key Features
- Free Version Available
- SEO & Reader Friendly outputs
- Free Grammar Checker for proofreading
- Clear and Concisely rephrased content
- 100% plagiarism-free content creation
- Quick, efficient, and easy to use
If you want to create unique, good quality, SEO-optimized content for your own site or for your client’s projects, then this rephraser is one of the most reliable choices you have.
Canva | Designing Suite
Canva is the best resource for freelancers who want to create unique graphics on their own. As we have told you before, being a freelancer means that you have to manage everything on your own.
This includes creating visuals. Now not every freelancer has the time and eagerness to learn how to use professional design tools like Adobe PS, Illustrator, or CorelDraw. This is where Canva comes to the rescue.
Canva is very easy to use, and even a freelancer with zero knowledge of designing can create quality graphics, logos, icons, stickers, backgrounds, memes, cards, resumes, and much more with this suite. According to Social Sheperd, a majority of Canva’s users are between 25-34 years old. This age group makes up around 34% of the platform’s user base. The second largest age group is 18-24, making up 30% of Canva’s users.
All you have to do is open the category and select the template which intrigues you the most. You can edit and customize the template design as per your own preferences. Here you must know that Canva also allows you to create graphic content from scratch by providing design tools.
Key Features
- Hundreds of free templates
- Available on the web and mobile app
- Video guides for new designers
- User-Friendly interface
- Third-party integrations
With Canva, you can create visual content for your clients for free and charge them according to the market price. You can learn how to design banners, brochures, cards, posters, flyers, and other graphic content once you get the hang of it!
Word-Counter | Track Words
Online Word Counter is an essential resource for freelance writers. This word counter tool helps you track how many words you have written, you can count characters with and without spaces, and you can also track the number of sentences in a passage.
As a freelance writer, you have to keep track of the words/characters that you write in a post. Writing less is going to piss off the client, and writing more is going to be useless as you would not be getting paid for it.
So you must use a word counter to keep track of your content length. You must plan your articles/posts before starting the draft. This way, you would know how many words/characters you can write in each heading.
Tracking your words is very important as it also helps you save a lot of your time which is wasted in mismanagement during writing.
Key Features
- Free to Use
- Highlights Keyword density
- Counts characters, sentences, pages
- Checks grammar errors in content
- Autosave option available
Freelance writers can easily write content on this online word counter. It is one of the great tools and resources for freelancers for creating well-formatted and precise content.
Become a better freelancer!
If you want to be a good freelancer, then you have to make sure that you use online tools and resources for freelancers. The tools listed in this post would get you going and would help you a lot in easier project handling.
The resources we have discussed in this post are quite useful in your journey as a freelancer.
Other than these tools, there are many more tools and resources for freelancers that you can utilize and grow your presence and business as a freelancer. But for now, we would suggest you try these & handle petty issues like a pro!
Let’s visit RRSlide to download free PowerPoint templates. But wait, don’t go anywhere and stay here with our RRGraph Design Blog to keep up-to-date on the best pitch deck template collections and design advice from our PowerPoint experts.
