8 Essential Resources Every Freelancer Should Use

What apps help you boost your creativity and inspiration to bring your client the expected result? If you are an experienced freelancer, you might know some of these tools. However, thousands of new resources appear each year and exceed the old versions with new advanced functions and features.

So, take a few minutes to monitor some of these 8 essential resources for a professional writer, designer or an independent business owner.

For those who are freelance writers

Freelance writer

ZenWriter

It took me 5 Skype messages, 1 coffee, 2 views of my Facebook and Twitter profiles before I got down to writing this article. And how much time does it take you to focus on any task? I consider concentration the hardest thing to handle, especially for creative people who are easily distracted. For this reason, I offer you to try ZenWriter that completely eliminates various distractions on your screen. It provides you with a clean sheet for your thoughts and ideas. The tool is also useful for research writers who have to divide their focus between the online resources and their article. A program hides but doesn’t block your access to a browser and other necessary programs.

StudentShare

How are the greatest ideas born in the heads of freelance writers? Looking back at my history of blogging, I can say it begins with a search button. But sometimes you need the most unique and rare pieces of information compared to the sources anyone can get through the Google search. That is why I recommend StudentShare service to find inspirational and original topics on the most requested issues.

Write or Die 2

This thing can make anyone lose own temper but it actually works better than encouraging phrase “You can do it!”. The source uses a method of active bullying which can make motivation return faster. However, I think coaxing is a good alternative to open your writing potential. This writing tool lets no self-indulgence or pauses for extra thinking on a phrase. Your writer’s must is 1500 words in 60 minutes and you have to type fast to bring the result. But if you doubt in what you’ve written for a second or two, the tool reacts instantly and turns the page into the rage colors changing from pink to crimson. Thus, if you want to develop your writing speed and confidence in the composed phrases, install the tool and soon you’ll get used to its nasty nature.

For those who are freelance designers

Freelance designer

Pixeden

You can use this app for free or pay $6 a month to get access to all web and graphic design templates, vectors, and icons. This is a huge database of various sources for designers. With such an assistant even less experienced freelancers can feel comfortable and confident in the quality and result. Another great feature the source offers is its clothing makeup with polo t-shirt templates and drag and drop function.

Creative Market

This resource differs from others with its variety of design assets and the fact that all published goods are uploaded by independent creators. Experienced freelance designers offer their templates for moderate prices and you can find anything you need in one place – from stickers to webpage sketches. There are also plenty of inspirational freebies such as photos, logos, textures, scripts, fonts, patterns etc.

Zety – Your Resume Builder

On occasion, you might need an updated resume that you can quickly send to a potential client. We all know that writing and formatting a resume is a pain! Zety is a user-friendly resume builder that offers a large selection of resume templates, tips from experts, and examples. Writing a resume from a scratch or updating  your resume will only take a few minutes. Plus, you will have constant access to your resume with the ability to update it if necessary and send it to a client either as a PDF or as a personalized link.

For those who are business owners

Independent business owner

Answer the public

When a small business owner faces the necessity to develop a content strategy, it can make him more than frustrated. You might get into a standstill not knowing for sure what content could hook and engage your target audience. Answer the Public tool uses special keyword questions to form a wheel of related topics. The visual form is built on special questions such as what, where, who, why, which, when, how, and are. You can also try keyword search based on prepositions for, with, without, versus, like, and to. Having a variety of questions in the formed keyword wheel helps to pick out the most appropriate issues for your content marketing strategy.

Wave Accounting

What app can you trust a bookkeeping headache? You will find dozens of small business accounting apps but you can’t risk so much. And you need one reliable to handle all your bookkeeping and invoicing operations. With its help, you can manage your expenses, taxes, and employees. Small business owners can use it to make and send their professional invoices, receipts, and estimates. This app has also direct account linking. Besides, it splits expenses into two categories – business and home. The Wave tool also offers income and expenses reports, receipt scanning and payroll running features.

Velocify

This tool is a worthwhile solution to quickly turn your leads into customers and achieve more closed deals. Velocify focuses on three essential factors of a successful purchase: communication, optimization, and analysis. Thus, it ensures the development of efficient communication between your company and a prospect. Moreover, the tool helps to eliminate such problems as slow responsiveness, neglected leads, and incomplete metrics.