Adobe Photoshop CS4

This is #1 on my list because without it, I would be lost when designing websites and images for blog posts (like the one used in this post), advertisements, ect. I’ve been a user of photoshop since the original CS release in 2003. It’s been a program that I’ve familiarized myself with and can honestly say that without it, I wouldn’t know where to turn (GIMP and other open source alternatives are available, but after using a program for 6 years, you become accustomed to it’s interface and use).

Notepad++

In the past I have been very vocal about coding in the regular notpad program that comes with your computers. I believe that when you’re coding, you shouldn’t use any programs that pre-build codes for you or try to tell you what codes are needed next. With Notepad++ it gives me the ability to hand code all of my work but it also colors the coding so it’s easier to see what’s what and makes editing files much easier. There are other programs that could replace Notepad++ but again, I’ve been using it for so long now that it’s become an essential part of my day.

Gmail for Business

I have been a slave to email for a long time now and from all of the different options I’ve come across, Gmail seems to be the very best. With the task lists, labels and other various features it gives you, gmail is perfect for my productivity and keeping up with everything I have to do. The Gmail for Business was set up for businesses to utilize gmail with their business email addresses. So for instance, when someone emails me at my blog design company email address, I can check it with gmails interface. It’s a great item in my toolbox and one I LOVE!

Filezilla

I’ve used a lot of different FTP programs in the past few years but one that I feel really comfortable with is Filezilla. It’s got a great interface and is perfect for what I need. I’ve uploaded millions of files over the years and filezilla is the program that does the majority of that for me. It’s free and high quality – what more could you ask for?

Paypal

Payments are made to me through paypal on a daily basis. With everything from article writing for other blogs, to the blog designs I create for my freelance design business, paypal is the hub of all of those payments. I also use it to purchase items online and offline – online items such as domains from Namecheap and Hosting from Hostgator, and offline like clothes, food, ect (I have the papal debit card). There are a lot of people who don’t like paypal for payments, but I have yet to explore other options, so for now, it’s the only payment option I accept.

Invoice Machine

Not all of my clients require invoices from me but when they do, Invoice Machine is the program I use to send them their invoices. It’s got an awesome interface and gives you three free invoices per month – more than enough to make enough money to upgrade to the $12 per month plan which allows you to send 30 invoices. The invoices are clean and can feature your company logo as well as integrate with paypal and basecamp. It’s a must have for me.

Moleskine Notebook(s)

There are a lot of different apps online that allow you to track time, track to do items and mind map, but I found that there’s nothing better than a couple moleskine notebooks for those things. I’ve got a small moleskine notebook that I keep track of my start/stop time for every project and then a larger notebook that I keep for to do lists, drawings, article ideas and other various thoughts (even the occasional grocery list). They’re relatively low cost and can be looked back on forever. Plus, to me there is nothing like the feeling of paper and pencils/pens – it’s old school and it works.

Whats in your toolbox?

Now it’s time to turn the attention to all of you wonderful people – whats in your toolbox? Similar items to mine or do you handle things a bit differently? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.

7 essential items from my Freelance Toolbox is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Would you think it’s possible to start your freelance business for $25.00 only? What would the excuses be for not jumping into the freelance business if starting was no longer such a large hurdle? Would knowing how to get started for only $25.00 help you to feel more relaxed about getting your freelance business off the ground? When you’re guerrilla freelancing, it’s all about thinking outside the box and approaching things from a different angle, and that’s exactly what this article does; it approaches a seemingly big problem and turns it into one that costs the same as lunch and a coffee.

So how would you be able to start your freelance business for only $25.00? Lets break things down into the essentials and see how it all adds up.

Your web design domain name – $8.81

The most important (if you’re a web designer anyways – for artists and illustrators you could start without a website, though I highly recommend it) aspect of your web design business is your domain name. Head over to namecheap and you can register your domain name for a year with the coupon code “ILUVNC” and it will only cost $8.81 for the first year.

*note: You can keep up to date with namecheap.com codes over at RetailMeNot because they switch every month

Your web design hosting account – $0.01

You read it right – one penny for the first month! Over at hostgator you can use the coupon code “JURY” or “404page” and get your first month of hosting for only one penny. I chose the $9.95 per month package (the coupon is for $9.94 off, so if you choose a larger package, it will be more than a penny).In my experience, the $9.95 per month package will be more than enough for you to not only host your website, but also host your clients test sites (I have a sub folder for /clients/ and then each client gets their own folder so I can showcase their mock ups to them with that url).

Moleskine notebook – $15.90

I am assuming most freelancers or those on the verge of freelancing have heard of a Moleskine notebook, but for those who haven’t, it’s by far the best notebook to keep notes/articles/ect. Head over to the moleskine website and check out what they have to offer. So what can you use the moleskines for? Here’s just a few things I have in my moleskine notebook:

• Sketches of clients websites
• Notes and ideas for client websites and my own projects
• Marketing ideas
• Time logging for each individual project
• To-Do lists
• Money management (I keep track of who owes what, when it’s due, ect)

For only $10.95 + a few bucks s&h, this little notebook can help you with a ton of things for your business. I’d recommend over time getting a few of them for separate tasks, but for now the one notebook will do you just fine.

A few hours time submitting to CSS Galleries – FREE

The traffic and SEO benefits that submitting (and being approved) for CSS galleries can give your website are tremendous. Not only do you gain these benefits, but according to Leigh Taylor (who is an amazing designer by the way) you can gain a lot of leads and jump start your business with CSS gallery features as well.

Submitting to the full list of CSS galleries out there can be a bit overwhelming – if you don’t know where to look. However, websites like The CSS Gallery List brings them all together for you and also has the submit buttons right there next to each gallery name. Take a bit of time out of your day (1-2 hours) and submit to as many on the list as possible – from top to bottom. You’ll definitely be surprised with the results.

Total money spent – $24.72

Go ahead, add it up And when you’re done, save the last 28 cents and start a change collection – it’s a great way to start saving money without even thinking about it. So for $25.00 you can start your freelance web design business. Any other excuses now to not get started? I didn’t think so

Building your freelance design business with only $25.00 is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

1. Google Analytics - The holy grail of analytics tools, google does not disappoint. In order to get the most out of this tool it will take a bit of getting used to, but it really does give off great detailed information for your website visitors, how long they stay, what they do and when they leave.
2. Crazy Egg - In my opinion this is one of the best tools on this list. Finding out where your visitors are clicking and what areas of the website get the most attention is priceless for monetizing according to what area does the best with clicks.
3. Mint - I have not personally tried this out yet (in the process of getting it setup for this site now) but I have heard from many big time bloggers that Mint is the go-to analytics program so I’m going to take their word for it, and you should take mine 
4. Feedburner - Every blogger wants to get more subscribers right? I know I want you to subscribe to my blog as I am sure you’d like to contact me and tell me to subscribe to yours (yes, go ahead and contact me – I’ll subscribe). This is a must have analytics tool for any blogger as it gives detailed information on what posts your subscribers are viewing the most as well as a bunch of other awesome features.
5. WordPress Stats - I use this on bootstrapping blog and its awesome. Automattic created its own stats system, to focus on just the most popular metrics a blogger wants to track and provide them in a clear and concise interface. Definitely worth checking out for every wordpress blogger out there.
6. Robot Replay - Robot Replay lets you record and watch your visitors actions from every mouse click, key stroke and movement of the screen. Why wouldn’t you want to see this? Definitely one of the awesome tools in the analytics sector online.
7. Sitemeter - Real time stats for your website with everything from visitors country to what page they’re reading. The main downside to the free version requires that you place their button on your website and in my opinion, it doesn’t blend well with most blog themes.
8. Enquisite - WOW, the graphs and stats in this analytics program are simply amazing! Enquisite definitely gets the award (in my own opinion) for best visual analytics tool of the year. This analytics tool helps you get a grasp of what your website is ranking for in the search engines and make sure you’re able to target the right keywords.
9. Web Trends - A long time leader in the analytics market, there’s really not much else you can say about web trends other then ‘you need to go and check it out now’. The pricing may be a bit more steep for the average blogger, but lucky for us, we’re not average bloggers! My readers are extraordinary bloggers and we can do whatever we want! YAH!
10. Fireclick - Fireclick provides integration of Web analytics with paid search engines, e-mail providers, affiliate programs and more in order to provide a consolidated view of all site activity. Definitely a tool you need to check out here.
11. Pagealizer - Besides the fact that I love the website design and their interface for the analytics tool is amazing, this is another one of those must test tools for your arsenal. Lets forget for a second that they track where people click and they track how long the people are on your website and do all the other things the other analytics tools do on this page. They actually track how far down the page a person scrolls! Are you losing visitors half way through a boring article? See if you are with Pagealizer!
12. WordPress Search Stats - This is a great plug-in for wordpress that allows you to see what words are searched on your blog. It also lets you see the top searched terms today, this week, this month and all time. A great way to make sure you’re showcasing the proper topics on your blog that your readers are looking for.
13. Clicky - The interface is simple to use and this is one of the most comprehensive analytics tools on the list. If you’re the type of person who wants to be in control over every last small detail, this is the analytics tool for you.

Disclaimer: I know you don’t need all of these analytics tools. I know you’ll probably never even use all of these tools. Yes, I titled the post as MUST HAVE because I feel like if you’re looking for analytics tools, they don’t get any better then these here. Don’t shoot me for making it sound like you need all of them when you really don’t 

13 analytics tools you can’t live without is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Click the links below to view the project management website.

Basecamp

Most would consider this the holy grail of project management apps. 37signals ranks high on every list with their amazingly powerful, yet fast and ‘to-the-point’ applications, and for good reason. Basecamp is an amazing app that is used by over 1,000,000 people worldwide! With plans from $24-$149 per month, there is something for every sized business out there. Definitely worth taking a look.

Please Notify Me

One of the most bare-boned approaches to project management on the list, Please Notify Me is a project management app that lets you simply email the assignee with the description of the task and a due date. If the person doesn’t mark it as complete in time, you’re both notified until it is complete. Simple, to the point, and free :)

Wrike

Wrike has a lot of benefits. From integration with email to the built in time tracker, it’s worth its weight in gold. And for $3.99/month and up, what’s stopping you from checking it out. This was on my list as second most important and is definitely on this list for a good reason.

On Stage

One of the coolest things I’ve noticed about On Stage is that they’ve got support for over 10 languages so truly every user around the world can use their services without any problems. There is a free version that allows up to 10 projects at once, but is ad supported. If you don’t want the ads, the pricing starts at $10.00 per month which is still a great deal for this handy project management tool.

Active Collab

I’ve had mixed emotions about activeCollab. When it first started out, it was 100% open source and was built by a community of users working together. Now, the pricing is either $199 or $399 one time fees depending on what package you’d like. Regardless of my personal feelings about the switch from open source to paid, the service is still great and this is still an awesome project management app.

Project Pier

And now for something completely open source. From what I can remember, this is where the open source community who worked with activeCollab went when aC went over to the paid sector. Project Pier is great for many reasons, but my favorite is that you can upload it to your own website instead of having to link off-site and sending your clients somewhere else other then your own website.

Collabtive

Collabtive is open source and integrates with Basecamp and also has a time tracker built in and is multilingual. For those of you who are after a simple, easy to follow interface, Collabtive definitely has it. It’s hard to tell from the demo on their website how everything works in the backend due to it being in another language, but when you actually set it up and use it, it’s really a powerful project management app.

Task2Gether

This is a task management and project management service online. It’s a simple website and when you log in you can click to make a new project, then quickly add tasks and assign different people to each task. A nice project management tool for those looking for a no frills, free resource for your business partners.

Gather Space

Nominated for the AIPMM Product Excellence award, Gather Space is a premier project management app that is bursting with features. Although the gather space pricing is a bit big for those of us who freelance for a living, it is a great solution for the companies out there with a decent size staff (10+) and well worth the money.

Pro Workflow

I couldn’t tell when I would stop scrolling when I was viewing the plan comparison chart on Pro Workflow. Rich with features and a nice user interface, this is another project management app that is great for those of us who have a few people to manage and keep track of. As I start moving forward with hiring on more people for my Blog Design company, this is one of the project management apps I’m looking into.

Freelance Suite

I originally found out about Freelance Suite through Adelle from Fuel Your Creativity and I am glad I did. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the name. It’s built specifically for freelancers and makes it known from the get-go. The next thing that set this site apart from the rest (for me anyways) was the fact that the design was awesome and made you feel like it was worth every penny. With a per month plan or a one time owned license, Freelance Suite is definitely a must have for freelancers.

Copper

The thing I liked most about Copper was the clean and easy to follow interface. Not too many fancy tricks and buttons, just straight to the point information laid out in an easy to read format. With plans starting at $29.99 per month or $499 for an owned license, Copper is a project management app that is at least worth looking over to see if it fits your needs as a small business owner.

Pelotonics

My absolute favorite note taking app is Evernote. But why is this important when talking about Pelotonics? Simple; Pelotonics is able to integrate with Evernote (which is a free app)! This alone makes live so much easier for those of us who use note taking apps on a regular basis and with a free option on Pelotonics this is a must see for anyone who uses Evernote or anyone else for that matter!

Teamwork Project Manager

Simple user interface, fast loading and reliable. These are the three big qualities about the Teamwork Project Manager in my opinion. Besides the fact that this is another well design website, this project management app is definitely worth the money if you’re in the market for a project management app. With plans ranging from Free, up to $149 per month, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Go Plan

I believe this is the first project management app I’ve ever come across. It threw me off for a minute because it’s not a .com domain, but that quickly becomes a non-existent issue once you see the quality that Goplan provides you with. There is a free option, but in my personal opinion, the Personal plan is perfect for a lot of freelancers as it gives you the ability to archive projects, have up to 8 people per project and run up to 10 active projects at a time.

Project Management App Overview

So there we have it, 15 of the biggest “Can’t Miss” project management apps that are around right now. I’m sure I’ve missed a few gems out there, so if you run your own project management app, or you know of any other project management apps that I failed to put into the list, please feel free to comment on this post and let me know. I’m always open to hear about new and exciting things that will benefit myself as well as my other readers.

15 CANT MISS Project Management Apps is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)