Working as a Freelance Designer for a couple of months now, managing a lot of task at hand and a little time I had to do other things, I had to seek help from tools and scripts. And as the saying goes, every designer has the right set of tools.
Today I will share with you 12 Top Cheap Tools that I use to manage my business and keep track of all the task that I needed to do. From creating a quote, setting the task, storing client emails, billing and invoicing, these tools will certainly keep your hands busy with what you do best.
Newsletter Mailer v1.3
I Personally use this one. This is pretty cheap if you’re just starting out building your email list.
Newsletter Mailer WordPress Widget
From the developer of Newsletter Mailer, you can use it on your WP sidebar and use the widget.
Newsletter System
Easy to use newsletter system written in PHP . Heaps of features which allow you to quickly send professional newsletters to your member database.
Design a template, send emails, people can subscribe through your website, double opt in option, track who opens the emails, setup automatic email campaigns, import members via csv, users can unsubscribe themselves.
Freelance Manager
Freelance Manager is powerful, yet simple, project and client management software application. It’s a perfect solution for freelance designers and developers. It also works great for consultants, project managers, and service professionals.
I would love to buy this one!
Droptail Backstage
Backstage is a simple & powerful business management tool. I personally use this one for invoice tracking.
Project Management Application PHP & AJAX
The project management application has a friendly user interface and great looking features, starting with a simple member login page.
Pro Invoice Maker
The aim of the script is for the administrator to insert as few information as possible, that’s why it comes with Autocomplete plugin to ease the creation process, and you’ll make an Invoice in no time!. Also after creating an invoice you can edit it to fit the customer’s requirements.
Lead Tracker
Lead Tracker is a simple system to keep track of any potential work you may have. Its simple and easy interface means managing your important leads becomes a hassle free process.
SPM – Simple Project Manager
The idea behind Simple-PM is an easy to use Projectmanagement tool. I was searching a while for something like that and unfortunately nothing was the right one for me. So I began to program my own project manager and here it is.
Powerful PHP Helpdesk/ Support Ticket System
This PHP application is a powerful Helpdesk/ Support ticket system. It allows you to add a form on your website where customers can create support tickets. You can then respond to these in the admin panel.
Snippet Bin
How it works:
if you are running Snippet Bin and type "//for ", it can turn this into:
[php] for ( $i = 1 ; $i <= 10 ; $i++ )
{
//stuff
}[/php]
Blueprinter
Blueprinter makes creating file system structures simple less time consuming.
Conclusion
Using this 12 Top Cheap Tools will certainly help you have more time on projects while waiting for the next invoice to be sent. I personally saw the advantage of these and really helped me alot on billing and sending / storing my invoices.
Feel free to check them out to see what programs fits your needs, don’t forget to check the demo and ask the author for clarifications about the programs. All of the links above are affiliate links, thanks!
