Trello
Trello is a great, easy-to-use project management tool. The features in the free version are robust enough for a lot of entrepreneurs and businesses. If you need more options, upgrading won’t break the bank.
In Trello, you can have unlimited Boards (big picture), Lists (projects/tasks), and Cards (details). Add team members, checklists, due dates, attach files, add comments, and more. You also have power-ups, automations, and additional integrations to streamline your workflow.
You can use Trello boards to manage projects with clients, as a CRM, a content management system, and as a business binder to keep track of your documents, marketing, online courses, brand kit – basically anything you need to plan or keep track of.
ClickUp
ClickUp is another free project management tool with a lot of options. ClickUp’s hierarchy is Workspaces, Folders, Lists, Tasks, and Subtasks. The free plan includes five workspaces and five users. If you need more, pricing is based on per member/per month (at the time of this writing $5/annually or $9/monthly.)
ClickUp is a bit more complex to learn than Trello but also gives you more options when managing projects. You still have checklists, due dates, can attach files, and add comments, but you also have additional view options, goal setting, time tracking, and additional integrations.
Toggl Track
There are many reasons you may want to track your time, and Toggl Track is a super easy tool to use.
You may need to track your time for billing, to discover how much you should charge for goods and services, identify areas in your processes that need improvement, or determine what you can outsource.
In Toggl Track, you can organize your records by clients, projects, and specific details for each session.
If you need to share time tracking data with clients or others, it’s easy to do so by creating and downloading custom reports as CSV or PDF files. In addition to time tracking, Toggl includes an autotracker, idle detection, a Pomodoro timer, and 100+ Integrations.
Google Drive
Store your documents in Google Drive and access them from anywhere on any device. Fifteen gigs of storage are included in the free plan, and upgrading can cost just under $2 per month.
Folders and subfolders will help you organize your files, and Google Drive also gives you several options to share those folders and files with other users. Google Drive integrates seamlessly with other Google products, like Google Docs and Google Sheets, so that you can create and organize your documents at the same time.
Calendly
Scheduling is easy with Calendly. You can set up your available times in the app and connect your calendars to keep your schedule under control.
Create several different meeting types, for example, 15, 30, and 60 minutes, and give your prospects or clients the option to schedule a phone or video call. Choosing a meeting time takes just a few clicks, making it super simple for leads to schedule an appointment with you. Add your personalized Calendly link to your website and let the meetings begin.
Get Started
Starting or growing your freelance writing business doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Start off with the free tools you need, and upgrade as needed. What apps do you love that help keep you organized? Share in the comments.