The MsBehaviour Files: The Freelancer's Toolkit

I remember the last recession well. IT and creative jobs disappeared overnight, but what emerged was Web 2.0 and a whole new way of working. Many talented people have become freelancers due to redundancy, or have been forced to move away from permanent to contract positions. Some of them have turned their windfall of time and money into a new career, and are now doing what they love with people they like, every day.It takes a huge leap of faith, drive and determination to set up on your own. It can be hard to manage your own time effectively and make the transition to working from home. If you are embracing this opportunity to take charge of your own destiny, then you'll need a few tools to help you manage your time, clients and projects.

Starting up in a recession might seem like a crazy idea, but there is never a good time to launch a great idea. Paul Graham is founder of the successful YCombinator seed fund and writes some inspiring essays. In Why to start up in a Bad Economy he points out that "Startups often make things cheaper, so in that respect they're better positioned to prosper in a recession than big companies." The best way to safely grow in an uncertain world is to build small, lean, flexible teams by collaborating with other freelancers and small companies. You can scale up and work together if a big client approaches you, without having to commit to employing staff or taking on larger premises. Spend in the right places, like office chairs not tables. Make coffee in the office and maybe even think about sharing extra space by co-working.

Time is money, especially when you are billing for your services by the hour, so managing a diary and tracking time is essential. Freelance Switch has a list of 8 Simple Online Time Management tools to cover all your basic needs of Calendar, To Do List, Project manager and Contact Management. Other useful time tools can be used to help arrange meetings, and some time tracking tools even work with invoicing software replacing the need for an accounts department.

Organising meetings with groups of freelancers working on multiple projects can be tricky. It's easy if everyone is using Google Calendar, but if not you can Tungle which will synchronise with GMail, Outlook and ICal/Entourage. Like all good web applications you can follow updates through an RSS feed. Meeting Wizard is even more sophisticated, and allows you to sends invitations to participants proposing alternate times for a meeting. In a similar way Doodle let's you poll a group for the best time for a meeting.

Toggl starts with a free plan and lets you track your time online or on your desktop. Rescue Time tracks the time you spent in online applications and helps you set goals to improve your productivity. They claim that users tend to see a 9% average increase in time spent on productive activities in the first 8 weeks, and you can try a personal account for free. T Sheets is designed for freelancers in mind, with accounts starting at $10 a month for a single freelancer. Tick Spot is another professional looking service with a free 'moonlighters' option, and the $9 a month Freelancers option gives you three projects and will also integrate with Basecamp for Project Management. Harvest is an online time tracking and invoicing service combined, which can still be used by individuals for free after an initial trial 30 days.

This final list of 100 tools for Freelancers should give you everything else you need in your toolkit to start a successful freelance career. So if you are facing some unexpected garden leave then make a plan and get your toolkit in place before you head for your hammock. Ponder on whether maybe You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss after all, and make sure you enjoy some time doing absolutely nothing.

Read more MsBehaviour Files

As well as being TBI's strategist & columnist, MsBehaviour is Producer & Presenter of the g33k show. She is also Managing Directrix of Mohawk Media, which produces internet TV, 3D Animation & Machinima.

27/11/08

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