When you set out as a designer/writer/ artist/programmer on the freelancing path, you probably envisioned yourself working merrily at your home office desk. The word freelancing itself invokes thoughts of freedom—freedom from a boss, from a set schedule, from traffic jams and cranky coworkers. But you probably didn’t foresee all the details you would have to keep track of, and any freedom you may have hoped for was quickly squashed by the little things. The more successful you are as a freelancer, the more organized you need to be. Here are some software solutions that will put you back in control.
Timekeeper Software: HourGuardTime is money, and your time is especially valuable. Not only will HourGuard track how much time you spend on work for each client, it’s easy to use, so your precious time won’t be spent trying to figure it all out. All you have to do is click the Start button when you begin a client’s work, and click Stop when the session is over. You can even set up a task schedule for large projects and track how much time you spend on each sub-task. When your billing period comes around, HourGuard will compile a time sheet, complete with what work you did, for how long, and when. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without this handy tool, especially after you download it for free.
Invoicing Software: Express InvoiceStop using that sloppy-looking thing you call an invoice, and get organized with your finances. Express Invoice will not only generate professional looking invoices for you to send to your clients, it will help you keep track of how much money clients owe, past due payments, and how much money you’ve collected.
Customer Relationship Management Software: ReflectIf you’ve ever misplaced notes from your last phone conference, had trouble finding your client’s contact information, or lost the lead on a new job, you NEED this software! Use Reflect to create a complete customer record, complete with contact details, notes, event scheduling, and to advance your business. Reflect is free, so your ROI will be outstanding.
Business Card Creation Software: CardWorksGetting new jobs is all about making great connections. Being caught without a business card is no excuse when creating your own business cards is this easy and free. CardWorks comes with a variety of pre-made templates for you to add your contact info to, then save to a pdf and take to the printer, or even print them out at home.
Depending on your line of work, you may find these other programs useful in your freelancing venture:
FTP File Transfer Software: Classic FTP For uploading your webpages, artwork, and code once your work is complete.
Disc Burning Software: Express Burn The easiest way to send your work, back up your work, or demo your work is still by creating a CD or DVD.
PDF Printer: Lightning PDF Sending professional PDFs of your resume, job bids, and other documents in PDF is the document sharing standard.
And be sure to check out our other
Business Software to see all the business solutions we offer. Many of our business programs are scalable, so as your business grows, our software will grow with you.
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NCH Software provides a wide range of multimedia software allowing you to record, edit, convert and combine digital photos, audio and video files. And what comes after your digital remastering? You can take advantage of the Upload to YouTube feature built into many of our software programs, but another great option is to burn your projects to CD or DVD. With Express Burn Disc Burning Software you can burn audio, video and data to CDs, DVDs and even Blue-Ray discs in a variety of file formats. Simply drag, drop and burn and in minutes you have a finished disc. You could stop there, or maybe scribble something on the disc with a sharpie, but if you want to really make your burned discs stand out you can create customized CD and DVD labels and cases with Disketch Disc Label Software for that finishing touch and to help keep your discs organized.
