Tools to Help You Improve Your Freelance Business
The coronavirus pandemic came and changed our working environments for good. People now engage more in the freelance occupation more than ever before. The increase in demand for remote work has caused a significant rise in freelancers in Africa.
While being in the freelance business is great because of the independent schedule, there are a few challenges, especially with time management. As a freelance business owner, you have the freedom to choose from a plethora of job opportunities. After getting contracts, you can decide on which one to work on and what time best suits you. Where the challenge lies is that you may not deliver to your fullest potential if you don’t manage your work properly.
Several tools are available to African freelancers to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. We will discuss some of these tools that will help you improve your freelance business in this post.
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Must-have Tools for African Freelancers
We have split the tools into different groups based on their functions.
Tools to market your freelance business
Mailchimp
One way to reach existing clients and attract prospects is through an email list. Emails have a generally high open rate so using emails is always a great idea for people in the freelance business. Mailchimp allows you to send newsletters without the need for HTML. While there is a free option, there are different subscription rates depending on your number of subscribers.
Sumo
You can use Sumo in conjunction with your website to increase traffic and attract old visitors. It also helps to build email lists among other interesting functions. Just like Mailchimp, Sumo doesn’t require the knowledge of HTML. It is user-friendly and comes with four pricing options.
Drip
Drip is great for a freelance business owner as well as an e-commerce website. It helps to collect and analyze customer data, increase sales, and personalize to target audiences. One of the main benefits of using Drip is that it allows you to engage with your audience across several platforms. The cost of the service depends on the number of subscribers you have on your list.
Tools to track time
Harvest
Harvest allows you to use a timer to track time. You can also add different time schedules to the timesheet. If you work with a team, then this tool helps to track each person’s time by providing a visual summary. You can use the data to create invoices and improve your billing processes. Harvest has several annual and monthly pricing plans
OfficeTime
OfficeTime works as an expense-keeper and a time tracker. You pay for this easy-to-use software just once. It allows you to import the data collected to an invoice or report. This app is quite versatile as it works on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and PC.
Toggl
Toggl tracks time in the background with the click of one button. This app also allows you to sync time tracking across several devices. It comes with extensions that function with Gmail, Asana, and others.
Tools for task management
Asana
Asana is one of the most popular tools among African freelancers for tracking productivity. It allows you to track work progress and also communicate with other team members about a project. The app comes with boards that make it easier to visualize work. It also comes with a timeline feature to show members of your team different aspects of a project and how the puzzle fits.
Pocket helps you to save videos, articles, and TED Talks to your account so that you can revisit them later. With this, you don’t have to spend your work time trying to watch videos or read articles. You can always visit these resources when you are free. The good news is that it works across devices.
Tools for accounting
FreshBooks
FreshBooks makes invoicing a lot easier for a freelance business owner. It provides billing statements as well as an array of payment options. You can also use this app to facilitate automated payments, recurring invoices, and reminders. Freelancers can use FreshBooks to provide project proposals or estimates the spreadsheet feature makes it easy to calculate taxes.
PayPal
Almost every freelancer in Africa has heard of PayPal. This platform helps to receive payments from clients all over the world. One of the major selling points of PayPal is the diversity of payment options. While there is no fixed service charge, you should check the consumer and merchant fees menu for clarity.
Conclusion
That’s it for our list of tools to improve your freelance business. Do you have any questions? Drop them in the comments section below. Don’t forget to visit African Freelancers for other articles to help you build your freelance business.
