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New Media Toolbox: Organize Your Freelance Life
Meet deadlines, manage your budget, and sync up with collaborators with these tools for streamlining your home office operations
March 22, 2010 |
Freelance writers wear many hats: accountant, office manager, agent, publicist, and IT troubleshooter, and in between, you have to find time for actual writing. Wouldn't it be great if you could streamline the whole administrative side of the business? To worry less about the drudgery of keeping track of invoices, story notes, to-do lists, contracts, and other assorted documents? Yep, just like those ubiquitous Apple commercials, there's an online tool for that. Heather Mueller of Mueller Writing says she's a fan of Toodledo.com, the online to-do list, which helps her manage and prioritize writing and operations tasks. "I use it for everything -- writing projects, billing, prospecting and networking -- and pay the extra $14.95 a year for the pro version, which lets me create subfolders and track progress. It's tremendously helpful in staying on task and has kept me from getting behind on invoicing," she says. Matthew Harrington, a freelance writer in Richmond, Virginia and owner of FlashBurst Media, has his eye on iWork.com, which functions similarly to Google Docs, but relies primarily on "good ol' fashioned email" and his smartphone. "I have to tell you that my iPhone is by far the most important tool in my pocket -- it has a notepad function and a voice memo recorder -- two things that are necessities for on-the-go writers," Harrington says. Chicago-based freelance writer Mary Fons-Misetic agrees. "I travel quite a bit, and having email and Web capabilities in the palm of my hand is crucial," she says. "I can tell clients that I got their document, that I'm sending my invoice, or -- best of all -- that I'll take the job! My smartphone, which is an iPhone, has really allowed me to stay connected in a good way for my work." There are even more time-saving, paperwork-easing online tools available to help you organize your freelance life -- both creatively and administratively. ...   The How to Pitch series is worth its weight in gold. In just the first month I'd already benefited enough to consider the cost of joining well worth it. -- Gaen MurphreeAvantGuild benefits give you access to:
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