Top 6 programs that every freelancer needs to use

Sep 1

When I started freelancing, I didn’t know anything about how the freelance world worked. But that didn’t stop me from building a successful freelance business and doubling my corporate salary within a year.

The thing is, there are several very important tools that I use that every freelancer should know about. They help me run my business daily and I find them invaluable.
You can certainly freelance without using these tools (but I don’t recommend it.)
Also, I should say, right here at the beginning that there are other options out there for programs to use. These are the ones that I see used the most, but my personal experience may not be yours. Additionally, there may be a program that suits your needs better than these.
I can only speak from my personal experience. So here goes!

So let’s get right into it, shall we?

Trello. Trello is my go-to organizational platform. I can create boards for each of my clients and share with them. We use this as a form of communication regarding ongoing tasks and projects. Other similar programs are Monday or Clickup. Trello is by far my favorite. The layout is pleasing to the eye, not overwhelming, and easy to customize.
Canva. I use Canva to create my own marketing, branding, and graphics but I also use it to create these same things for my client. I invest every year in Canva Pro because of the amazing database you get of fonts, templates, graphics, photos, and more! It’s graphic design made stupid simple (for those of us who have no formal training in Adobe.) And honestly, the final result is just as good. If you are going to be doing any graphic design of any kind for clients you absolutely need Canva Pro. It’s a business expense that is well worth it.
Acuity Scheduling. I use acuity to schedule calls with prospective clients and it syncs perfectly with my website. You can keep your entire calendar on there, or just use the basic function. Either way it’s perfect.
Zoom. I use zoom for all of my client meetings. I can schedule them and send out meeting links. It’s professional and easy. Everyone is using Zoom nowadays and most everyone is comfortable with it. The free version is perfect to get you started.
Voxer. I use Voxer when I need to send a quick voice or text message to a client. Sometimes I just need to send a quick message and an email won’t get the point across as quickly and easily as I want. Voxer is great for this.
LastPass. If you aren’t using LastPass already for your personal stuff, you should be. LastPass is a secure way to save all of your logins in one place. When you work with clients, you might need their logins for various programs. This is a great way for them to share logins with you so that you can get access without them having to give you the keys to the kingdom so to speak. It’s peace of mind for everyone and it’s super simple to use.

If you are planning a career transition to freelancing as a virtual assistant, marketing manager, graphic designer, web developer or anything else, these programs are a must use! Get started using them now so that you know what you are doing when you land your first client!

And another program (and honestly, the most important one IMHO) I used to help me get started was Overwhelmed to Overbooked. This program by Micala Quinn really gave me everything I needed to get my freelance business going. It’s really a business in a box course, that walks you through step-by-step everything you need to know to do it the right way. I cannot recommend it enough!

And if you want to get started as a freelancer but are clueless about how, be sure to read the following posts to learn more: