Every freelancer has a set of tools that help them get through the day. No matter what your trade (web developer, photographer, copywriter, etc.) you have a few essentials that help you do your job more efficiently and more effectively. I am no different; I’ve got software and tools that help me manage my accounting, projects, and of-course, aide in developing websites. Below are the big five in my arsenal.

• Coda: Far and away the most important tool I use is Coda. This Mac only IDE has been instrumental in making me a better web developer. It has built-in FTP so I can edit right on the server, CVS support, auto-complete for HTML, CSS, and PHP, code highlighting, spell check, a visual CSS editor, built-in books and so much more. This little number is well worth the $100 I paid for it.
• Notepad++: My Windows editor. Tried and true, this is my weapon of choice when I am not on a Mac. It’s lightweight, and with code highlighting and recently discovered FTP-support, you cannot go wrong. Best of all, it’s free!
• Freshbooks: My favorite non-coding tool by far. I’ve written about how great Freshbooks is before, but my list wouldn’t be complete with out it. It’s made me much more productive and organized by automating a lot of my accounting, especially when it comes to generating and logging invoices. They have several different plans- I’m currently on the $14/month one.
• BackPack: Let me start off by saying I think 37Signals makes some of the greatest web based software ever. It’s clean, lightweight, and easy to use. Of all of their tools, for me BackPack takes the cake. I can manage my projects, upload files, set reminders, and there is a calendar to boot. Same deal as Freshbooks- there are several plans to choose from. I went with the $7/month for me personally and the $12/month one for Cognition Media.
• MailChimp: Finally, a few months ago I started an email newsletter and settled on MailChimp for the job. They offer a free solution and move up from there as your list grows. It’s very easy to use and customize and they make a nice set of reports for each email campaign. I’m not doing anything too crazy with the newsletter- I just want to keep people up-to-date on what I’m doing, and MailChimp is the perfect solution.

So there you have it. Some tools of  the trade I use to keep my freelance operation running smoothly. What do you use? Leave it in the comments, or if you want to have a post like this one, email me with your 3-5 favorites and a little blurb about each (joe @ freelancingthenet.com).

Tags: 37signals, accounting, freshbooks, invoicing, productivity, tools | Posted in Lists |