Essential tools for a successful freelance business| iStore Online
Working for yourself or being a freelancer immediately conjures up scenes of entire days spent in your PJs and slippers in front of your computer, frequent visits to your favourite coffee shop (also known as your office ‘home’ and source of free Wi-Fi) and the perks of being the boss of your own time. It all sounds pretty idyllic, doesn’t it? Along with the positive benefits of working for yourself, and there are many, it also means that instead of fulfilling one defined role, you now have to face the challenge of wearing multiple, in fact, ALL of the business hats. From Marketing Manager to Head of Finance to Chief Administrator, it’s all on you and it isn’t easy. Luckily, there are a ton of helpful apps for your iPad, iPhone or Mac that are there to hold your hand through the bumpy but incredible journey of owning a business. Here are some that will help you to become more efficient, organised and multi-talented!
Manage your tasks like a boss
With no team leader or manager checking up on the status of the various projects you’re working on, finding efficient ways of tracking your tasks and to-do lists and meeting your deadlines on time becomes essential. The Trello app, designed for iPad and iPhone (also a web based app), allows you to create boards and workflows for any projects you may be working on. It also makes collaborating with other individuals really easy, especially when you’re not working in the same office. You can assign tasks, categorise projects and set deadlines with all the important corresponding information. Trello also supports Apple Watch which helps you to stay super organised and on top of everything that you need to do no matter where you are!
Trello
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Become head of sales and marketing
With the many hats that you’ll have to wear, the marketer is definitely one of them. Whether you’re selling your time, a product or a service, you will need the right tools to really bring the wow factor to your client meetings. Keynote has everything you need to create world-class presentations on your Mac, iPad and even your iPhone in just a few taps. It has iCloud built into it so you can access your presentations no matter where you are, from any device. So you don’t need to stress if your battery dies on the way to your meeting! You can choose from one of Apple’s beautiful designed templates or build from the ground up. With presenter notes and a timer that appears on your screen only, you can rehearse your presentation till it’s perfect! You can even use your Apple Watch and the Keynote Remote app to control your prevention right from your wrist! Very professional don’t you think?
Keynote
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Apart from selling your product or service with your expert presentations, you may also find yourself needing to create all kinds of creative marketing material. Canva is a simple to use app that allows you to create beautiful designs, either from scratch or from one of the hundreds of professionally designed templates. You can edit photos, add text or create your own unique design elements.
Canva
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Stay on top of your finances and accounts
Keeping track of everything you bill out and sending your clients professional looking documentation is an important part of a smooth running operation. FreshBooks makes it really easy to create, edit and send professionally designed invoices, capture your expenses, track your hours spent working on certain projects and receive online payments. You can access it from your iPad, iPhone or via the web based app on your Mac.
FreshBooks
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Stay healthy and fit
Managing your time, determining your own workload and feeling the natural pressure of ensuring a healthy paycheck at the end of the month can often lead to a compromise when it comes to your health and fitness. Running a successful business also means continuously taking care of your physical and mental well-being. Fitness Buddy + turns your living room into a gym by giving you exercises with video tutorials and training plans so you can work out any time of the day to reach your fitness goals. It also includes meal plans to suit you for an all-round healthy lifestyle.
Fitness Buddy +
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Along with all of these useful apps you might still find yourself missing the ease of being able to pick up your office phone, call IT and say in your most desperate voice, “I’m stuck, please help me?”. Did you know that if you purchase your iPhone, iPad or Mac from iStore you still get to go to your the IT guy at your nearest iStore for free tech support, book free training with one of our expert trainers and take out extended warranty for any technical issue you need assistance with. Going solo is not as scary as it sounds now is it?