There’s that age old saying in the world of freelance that we work for 5 days and get paid for 2. That’s because of all the layers of workload that come with the world of freelacning; accounts, invoicing, selling, personal branding, marketing etc etc There will ALWAYS be something else that needs doing as a digital marketing freelancer or self-employed person so keeping on top of productivity with the help of handy tools is essential.
In this article, we’re sharing our top 5 productivity tools that have revolutionised the way we work, helping us streamline tasks and boost efficiency.
1. Trello: Visual Project Management
Trello is our go-to for project management as it’s super easy to use and the visual element of each board makes it straight forward to keep projects on track. The drag-and-drop functionality makes it a game-changer for organising tasks, campaigns, and deadlines. We also find that a lot of our clients use Trello making client collabs nice and simple. In terms of how we practically use it, we create boards for each project, use lists for stages, and cards for individual tasks. The ability to add deadlines, checklists, and team collaboration features keeps us on track.
2. Buffer: Social Media Management Made Simple
For streamlining social media tasks, Buffer is our knight in shining armour. Scheduling posts across various platforms, analysing performance, and engaging with the audience—all in one place. It saves us time and ensures our online presence remains consistent and one of the most critical tools it comes with is the ability to schedule LinkedIn posts with media included. Quite often social scheduling tools don’t allow you to tag other LinkedIn members or pages, schedule with images or videos however, Buffer does come with this functionality which is great for both personal branding and managing clients business pages.
3. Grammarly: Elevating Content Quality
Grammarly is to our content writing as Buffer is to our Social Media management. An essential tool that helps us maintain top-notch content quality by correcting grammar, punctuation, and suggesting enhancements to our writing. It doesn’t matter how much of an esteemed content writer you are, everyone needs an extra pair of critical eyes from time to time and Grammarly is just that but in virtual format! From social media posts to website copy, Grammarly’s got our backs.
4. Canva: Design Wizardry for Non-Designers
Unless you’ve been living under a virtual rock then you’re bound to have hear of Canva. This design tool simplifies graphic design, offering templates and an easy-to-use interface for creating social media visuals, blog headers, social media posts and more. It’s a creative lifesaver for freelance digital marketers and most recently, with the added feature of the Canva Magic Tool, an AI powered image creator it really is that graphic design team member you never knew you needed! You can elevate content from videos to social posts with a click of a button – in 3 simple words, WE.LOVE.IT.
5. RescueTime: Time Tracking and Productivity Analysis
A quick check of Facebook, a scroll through Intsta, a catch up of world news on the BBC and before you know it that’s 30mins of precious productivity down the virtual drain. Distraction is everywhere in the day-to-day of a digital marketing freelancer so with the help of tools like RescueTime running in the background, tracking the time spent on different apps and websites we give ourselves the best opportunity at becoming “indistractable”. It offers insights on productivity patterns, helping us identify where we’re most productive and where we might need to make adjustments as well having the functionality to block certain websites during work time – a winner all round.
Conclusion
There you have it—our top 5 productivity tools for digital marketing freelancers. These tools have become our trusty companions, enabling us to manage our work effectively as opposed to efficiently. They’ve simplified our tasks and allowed us to focus on what we do best—building an awesome community and servicing world class clients.
Remember, the right tools can turn procrastination into productivity which is one of the hardest tricks to master in a world of digital distraction. Here’s to a more effective and successful freelance digital marketing career!
If you’re new to freelancing or know someone who is you can find a whole host of tips and tricks like this in our Freelancer Survival Guide that can be downloaded for free!