Freelancers A to Z #028 Freelancing is Basically Working for Yourself
Freelancers A to Z is a series of roundup posts with captivating curated blog posts, podcasts and articles.
My purpose is to give you as a freelancer a place where you can find support and help with productivity, motivation and time management issues. Here you will find simple yet powerful hacks to improve your productivity and boost your freelance business instantly.
Are you ready?
Are you good at a particular creative skill but can't find an ideal place to display and earn from it? Well, you're in luck because freelancing offers exactly that!
Whether you're good at writing, IT, editing, or designing, you can unleash your creativity and get paid for it as much as you want.
Moreover, it is completely different from a regular job because you are your boss. You can gain freedom of your working hours, amount of work and best of all, your home becomes the workplace!
However, just like any other thing, freelancing requires practice and learning how it works.
It's crucial to understand how to deal with online clients and cope with the challenges which come along with freelancing.
But if you're determined to learn and excel in this field, the following tips and hacks will definitely assist you
1
Use These 5 Tools to Boost Your Productivity as a Freelancer
No work is possible without productivity and to achieve it, tools are an amazing choice.
Using freelance tools greatly improves work ethics. In this insightful blog, a total of 8 freelance tools have been discussed.
For instance, the app Trello is an easy-to-use task manager. It can be used on different devices and is extensively used by companies.
Another app recommended by the blog is Evernote which is helpful for writing down your project ideas in a clean and organized way.
Even if you have tons of ideas, all of them can be neatly arranged in folders along with the annotations.
Whatever you write in this app will be instantly saved in the cloud and it'll be connected to the online version which is accessible from the desktop.
This blog goes over more apps all of which focus on one specific need of freelancers.
So, if you're confused about how to end your procrastination, multitask better, plan projects, track deadlines, or even make diagrams and flowcharts efficiently, waste no time visiting this blog.
2
Top Podcasts for Freelancers
If you are a fan of podcasts, there is lots of stuff out there for you to listen to as a freelancer.
Many experts have made freelance podcasts that are packed with information, insight, and knowledge.
It doesn't matter if you are a beginner, intermediate, or an expert. All freelancers can learn a lot from these podcasts.
This blog talks about 8 informative podcasts, all brimming with knowledge. Listening to these will motivate and encourage you to grow.
Moreover, one can know about the latest trends, get inspired by the best in business, and extract new workflows.
The hosts of these podcasts share useful strategies and teach important skills. Each one of them is excellent for expanding your freelance career and becoming successful.
The listeners can know how to build a WordPress website and how to integrate persuasive tactics in their work-life.
Therefore, if there is something specific you want to learn or just want an extra boost of confidence, this blog is the perfect place for you.
3
How to Improve Your Workflow Using monday.com
More often than not, it gets difficult for a lot of people to manage freelance jobs.
If you want more clients, extra control, and wider scope, this article is for you. It highlights the Monday.com platform which is basically a visual collaboration tool.
It redefines teamwork by allowing users to meet deadlines, handle work and create a wall of transparency.
This platform is both intuitive and easy. It concentrates on processes just like operations and management.
Monday.com believes that if you steer direction to processes instead of tasks, it will greatly elevate productivity and freedom.
This trait is very attractive to clients and you will get more of them. The blog urges you to set this platform as your mission control for freelance projects to transform your career.
But how does this platform achieve to do so? First, it makes you prioritize the projects and categorize them on boards.
The three types of boards given are private, main, and shareable. These let you complete all your projects including monthly or daily ones.
Afterward, the platform lets you hit the project goals easily. When all milestones have been completed, the boards turn green.
Monday.com teaches you to form stable client relationships, remain focused, and save time as well.
All these objectives are crucial to be successful in the freelance world.
Share, like, follow
4
Take Your Freelance Business to The Next Level with Digital Tools
In an age where everything is digital, why not digitize your freelance career as well? Digitization is crucial if you want your career to be efficient and productive.
This blog is your go-to stop for having insight on this matter.
First, it emphasizes the importance of digitization and makes the reader understand how vital it is. It not only grows your business but allows the freelancer to sell their services.
There is a reason why so many freelancers choose to make their own blog or website. Having your name out there in this way allows customers or clients to get familiar with you and your services.
Afterward, the blog goes over 5 online marketing tools that are helpful for digitization. These tools are a website, blog, email marketing, business profile on social media, and search engine positioning.
The blog continues to explain why each one of these tools is essential and how you can work with them. Next, the blog moves on to discuss 4 digital contact tools.
These tools are a must-have for your customers to easily reach out to you. They are listed as click-to-call, contact form, virtual numbers, and live chat.
All of these have one goal: to simplify communication between your career and potential customers.
Lastly, the helpful blog ends in mentioning the advantages of digitization. Some of these are flexibility, data protection, user-friendly and consistent updates.
5
Top Gmail Extensions Every Freelancer Should Start Using Right Now
Every working person uses Gmail as their email service. So, it only makes sense that one should get to know various Gmail extensions.
This particular article makes the reader familiar with 4 Gmail extensions which have proven to be useful for a lot of freelancers. The basic objective of these extensions is to transform your email inbox from a liability to a business asset. If you want to power up your inbox and make it valuable for your business, then make sure to give this article a read. These extensions are listed as Boomerang, Streak, Todoist, and Rapportive.
This article explains how to utilize these 4 Gmail add-ons to improve your career.
First up, we have Streak which is basically a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. There are tons of features of Streak such as assigning tasks or reminders for each box, tracking the progress of a project, knowing the value of a project, addition of emails to boxes to view entire communication with a client, and setting emails to go back in inbox if there's no reply.
While you can get all this value and convenience for free, there is a choice to sign up for a paid account in order to improve your experience.
The article goes on to describe the features of other extensions. They allow you to control your inbox and configure the entire bulk of unread emails in order to have zero unopened mail.
Make your work-life intuitive and hassle-free!
6
All work and no play…
The last thing I would like to share with you is music. It has a special place in my life. For that reason I listen to music when I work. Hoverer, as some of you already know, it’s also because I want to cut off the noise caused by my neighbors.
This week some calm sounds to chill in these crazy times. Enjoy!
Last but not least: in the next issue your playlist can appear in this place. So leave in comments your favourite music that you love to listen when you work.
One last thing
In the comments below let me know what do you think about this issue of Freelancers A to Z. Tell me what do you like, what is not so good, what do you want more of. I need to know everything.
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The next issue will be available in two weeks.
Take care and have a nice time
Mariusz from the Time Continuum App