Operating any kind of business is not easy. That’s true even for one-man-show-styled businesses, including my own.
I’m a freelance content marketer that’s often booked a few months in advance. Time literally is money, and the faster I work (while still producing high-quality results), the more I make.
As a result, I’ve found a variety of different SaaS tools that help me to manage and streamline different parts of my business. Some have become absolutely crucial to my day-to-day work, whether that’s to improve the quality of my work, reduce the burden of administrative tasks, or make it easier to collaborate with other clients.
In this post, I’m going to share the 9 tools I need for my freelance writing business and how I use them.
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Google has an exceptional suite of tools that I use every single day for so many different purposes. The tools include:
Google’s tools are free to use, they’re about as reliable as they get, and they’re easy to use. Both Google Docs and Google Sheets have excellent collaboration features that make cross-team collaboration fairly effortless.
Bonus: I use Wordable (which is on this list!) to quickly upload content to my client’s sites, and the tool can accept content from Google Docs.
There are so many outstanding SEO and keyword research tools available, but Semrush is my go-to tool of choice here.
I started using the tool largely because I felt like the keyword density and competition level data were laid out in a clear and easy-to-understand way. (This isn’t the case with all tools). I also liked that they had data about keyword trends.
Eventually, I started using other tools, too. I kept an eye on the positions of the blog posts I wrote. If something high-ranking drops, I know it’s time to tell the client that we should update that post to keep a secure position.
I’m also a big fan of their SEO Writing Assistant, which is an easy SEO optimization tool. Copy and paste your content into the tool, set your primary keyword, and get suggestions about secondary keywords, tone of voice, readability, and more.
There are plenty of other great tools that you can use for everything from competitor research to assessing the technical aspects of your site.
If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time on calls with clients. To do it right, you need a great business phone system, and Nextiva delivers.
It’s a cloud-based VoIP platform, which is the best choice available to small businesses and freelancers. This means it works over the Internet, making Nextiva more flexible, affordable, and with a lot better call quality than other phone systems.
Nextiva is also great because it makes it easy to be professional with your clients with busines phone solution. You can set up a free toll-free number or port over your old number. And you can set up a custom welcome message and call routing, so anyone who calls will be treated like they’ve reached a business with a larger budget.
Answering calls is easy on a hardware phone, computer, or even using the Nextiva app on my smartphone. When I’m on the go, the app is so much better than having one number for work and another for personal calls, and a lot easier than carrying around two phones.
And for those who get new clients with cold-calling, it’s ideal. There are built-in features that make it easy to call prospects, like being able to correct caller ID or easily review call history. If you want better client phone calls and relationships, you need Nextiva.
Nobody is perfect. Typos happen, especially at the volume of work I’m hammering out. And while I do go through and proofread all of my content, it’s so easy for your eyes to miss mistakes even when you’re being careful.
Grammarly has entered the chat.
No grammar tool is perfect— in plenty of cases, Grammarly may suggest an awkward sentence structure or tell me the name of a brand isn’t spelled correctly because they just don’t know the word. But a large number of their suggestions are good, and it can help me catch small errors that are otherwise so easy to miss.
I use the Grammarly extension, which scans my content in most windows online, including when I’m entering content into WordPress and when I’m typing in a Google Doc. You can either accept or reject suggestions, and even if you don’t make a suggestion outright, sometimes it can flag an awkward sentence that you’ll want to fix manually.
My best use for Grammarly above all else: It allows me to set different dialects to check for spelling according to where my client is publishing the content. My clients in Australia, for example, use “UK English” while my American clients use “American English.” It goes a long way in delivering higher quality results that make my clients happy.
I pay for a Grammarly subscription instead of just using the free plan, and it’s worth every penny.
I don’t have fancy scheduling software, because it’s too much hassle for me. Instead, I prefer to use the basic (and free) Apple Calendar to keep up with my schedule.
My schedule is color-coded. Blue is for work, purple is for plans, and orange is for appointments. I can make sure that I’m not double booking a doctor’s appointment at the same time as a client call by having everything in one place.
As soon as I get an assignment, I do two things: I plug it into my invoicing software (which we’re going to look at next) and drop it onto my Apple calendar. I set alerts for 30 minutes before meetings, but disable alerts for everything else.
There’s a great visual layout here that makes it easy for me to see what I have on my schedule and to avoid becoming overbooked. This makes my life easier and it ensures I’m not over-promising what I can actually deliver. And even if I’m on the go, it syncs up with my Apple Watch so I can always check what’s happening when if I need to make plans.
I’ve written fairly often about how much I love Freshbooks, which is my invoicing software of choice, so it was definitely going to make this list of my must-have tools.
Here are the basics of why I love it:
And on a quick note: For anyone who is paying themselves a salary (which I do as someone who elects to be taxed as an S-corp), Gusto is an outstanding tool to help with payroll and employee taxes. Check that one out, too.
I’ve been using Wordable since February of 2021, and I’m a devoted customer at this point.
I send the majority of my clients a link to a Google Doc with the content I’ve created, which they’ll then upload themselves. In some cases, however, clients want me to upload the content.
I used to dread this. It takes a significant period of time to get content exactly written in Google Docs and then upload it to a CMS system, but I’d had WordPress devour posts whole enough times to know that you should never write directly into a CMS.
Wordable allows you to upload content from word documents or Google Docs to certain CMS platforms, including WordPress, HubSpot, Shopify, Medium, and more. The content stays formatted correctly, images included, and it can even register SEO information like meta descriptions or alt text.
One of my favorite features is the “transformation” options when you’re uploading content. You can choose to automatically have all links open in a new tab, for example, instead of needing to manually adjust each one; you can insert alt text, meta descriptions, and more. You can also get a basic cleanup or image compression.
This significantly streamlines an otherwise time-consuming and tedious part of my work, which is always good news.
HelloSign is virtual document-signing software. These signatures are legally binding.
The tool allows you to upload documents, create templates, and either sign them or send them to someone else to sign (or do both!).
While there are plenty of alternatives to HelloSign, I chose HelloSign because of its versatility, its affordable cost, and its exceptionally easy-to-use interface. These are qualities that not all competing tools have.
My go-to move with HelloSign is to have a standard contract template ready to go. I’ve already signed it on my end, and I’ve got text fields where clients can drop in their own information like company name, representative name, and their e-signatures. As long as no changes are needed, I can close a contract within minutes after an agreement between myself and a new client.
ContactOut is the ideal tool for anyone looking to build their professional network and grow their business through email marketing. Its powerful search feature allows you to quickly find relevant email contacts on LinkedIn, while its email platform makes it easy to start email campaigns and manage your contact lists. Whether you’re just starting out in your career or are an experienced marketer.
With your email list all set, go to the Email section and create a template to start your outreach or email campaign. The great thing about this straightforward email feature is that you can track whether an email has been opened or not, as well as automatically send follow-ups if no reply is received.
If you are looking for an all-inclusive email solution that features both an email finder and a marketing platform, this is a good choice for you.
Renderforest is an all-in-one online design tool that can be used by both professionals and amateurs to create high-quality videos, animations, logos, slideshows, mockups, professional websites, SMM graphics, and printables.
It is the best solution if you’re looking for an easy-to-use tool to help you create outstanding visuals and gather all your designs in one place in the most orderly manner!
Recently, Renderforest launched an advanced free business name generator. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, the tool analyzes your information and suggests creative, meaningful company names and branding.
Whether it’s customers or vendors, I’m constantly helping others navigate different tools or processes. Scribe is an absolute godsend. It’s an AI-powered document generator that creates step-by-step guides for any process.
This tool has saved me hours by capturing my workflow and building how-to guides. Each document (called a Scribe) includes AI-generated text, links to any website you visited, and annotated screenshots.
Scribe’s free plan includes a Chrome extension, but Pro and Teams Pro users can download the desktop app to switch between tools and even screens. I prefer Pro because it also includes extra customization features, like:
Productive.io is an all-in-one project management tool designed to help freelancers and small businesses stay organized and efficient. From tracking project timelines to managing invoices, it streamlines the entire workflow. Its intuitive interface allows you to track time, set budgets, and generate client-facing reports all in one place.
With real-time task management and seamless client collaboration features, It ensures you stay on top of deadlines and maintain professional relationships. The integrated invoicing system makes billing easy, automatically pulling time logs to generate detailed invoices.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive tool that combines project management with financial tracking and client collaboration, Productive.io is an excellent choice for freelancers aiming to streamline their operations.
If you’d told me that being a freelance writer would mean that I’d need dozens of different tools to help me with essential tasks, to work with clients with the tools they chose, and to even knock out basic business functions like getting paid, I’d have probably run the other way.
Having a freelance writing business means that you need to take it seriously and find tools that will help you keep it running smoothly. You should also concentrate on your menta health and try to keep a work life balance while freelancing. Most of the time, you will also need to register as a business to run your freelance business effectively. I can’t recommend these 9 tools for freelancers enough, but remember that there are plenty of options out there and most offer free trials— find what works best for you and your specific needs. Read more: self-employed jobs.
Looking for new tools to help streamline different core tasks for your business? Start with Wordable! Get your first five exports free here.