It’s your client calling and you know it’ll take ages to get off the phone.

We’ve all been there. Those of us who get nervous (read terrified) talking to clients break out in a sweat at the thought. To us, 15 minutes seem like 50.

If only there was some way to cut those calls short and hold future correspondence through email!

The good news is that with a little ingenuity, it is possible. Be prepared to take drastic measures though.

Call back when the client is busy

Every now and then, let your voice mail pick up your client’s call. Then call back at a time when your client is most likely to be busy. Either the client won’t pick up and you can shoot him an email immediately or he’ll tell you that he’ll call back.

Don’t say “All right” if the client says he’ll call back. Jump in and say “No problem. I’ll email you instead”. If the client is due to give feedback, simply saying “Email would be better.” will work too.

Since the client is busy, he won’t have the time to come up with an alternative. Hang up with a cheerful good bye and do a little jig. Go on, just a little one.

Get an ‘assistant’

Can’t keep those client calls on track at all? Have an ‘assistant’ start picking up your calls. You don’t have to have a real assistant of course – your spouse or child can act the part. Get them to screen your calls and email the clients instead.

If you’re alone and really want to avoid a client call, then be your own assistant. Come on, you can do it!

Pretend that you don’t know

So you can’t avoid this call and it’s dragging on. The client wants to know something. You have the answer but if you give it to him, he’ll only just want to discuss it more. Grab the chance and tell him you’re not sure about it but you’ll find out and get back to him ASAP – via email!

Hey! I was just writing you an email!

As soon as you pick up the client’s call, immediately give them a big greeting and let them know you were just writing an email to them with update/details/whatever.

“I’m almost done. Why don’t I finish writing it and send it to you? You can get back to me through it.”

Hang up and get typing that email – fast!

Got any more ideas?

Do you have trouble talking to clients on the phone? How do you deal with your chatty clients? Make sure you leave a comment and let us know. We can never have enough of these types of tips in reserve

May the freelancing gods save us all from clients who love to talk and call back frequently for updates. Amen.

Editors Note: If you’re looking for more phone tips like this to boost your productivity and cut down on distractions, you can check out Samar’s previous article on how to cut calls short with family and friends – it’s a good one too, full of great tips.

4 Sneaky ways to cut calls short with clients 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 :)

This came with the luxury where I take a few hours off in the afternoon every now and then to get some grocery shopping done and make it up by working later in the evening. In the beginning, this was fantastic. However, I quickly discovered that this proved to be too much freedom. I needed structure.

1. Keep your home life and your work life separated

You need an office. If you are going to work in the same place where to eat, sleep and have family it is important that you dedicate one room in your house or apartment to your work area. This is essential. Ideally it’s even better if your home office is located in a room furthest away from your bedroom, if possible isolated from most of the other rooms where your family spends their time.

Everything that you need to work with should be in this room and should remain in this room. The rest of your house is where you go to get away from the office. Having parts of your office sneak into the rest of your house or apartment does not allow you the opportunity to have that personal or family living space away from work. Trade magazines, journals, books, files, computer equipment and anything else related to your to your day job need to stay in their rightful place; the home office.

The last thing I want to see while relaxing is my “Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide by O’Reilly” staring up at me from the coffee table. Also having a home office will help you avoid distractions located in other parts of your home, like the tv and xbox in the living room.

2. Be (more) Social

Working from home can be very isolating at times and it’s easy to find yourself not leaving the comfort of your home for days, especially during the snowy cold winter months we have in Canada. It’s important to be social on a regular basis, whether it’s going to the gym, having dinner with friends, or going out to the dog park. Anything that gets your mind off work and out of the house a few times a week is key. Also remember not to make the mistakes we’ve outlined in the previous twitter, stumbleupon and facebook articles.

3. Take time to take care of yourself

When you work from home it’s very easy to start your day off in a pair of comfy pajamas with bed hair.. Everyone at the beginning boasts to their buddies about this “luxury” of freelancing. However after a while it can bring you down and slowly you’ll start to put less and less effort into taking care of yourself and that can affect your work life. Make sure you have a morning routine.

It’s important to start each day early, getting showered and dressed, ready to tackle a new day feeling refreshed and energized. It’s also important to include some exercise in your morning routine. Even if it’s only for 20 mins, exercise is not only good for you physically but mentally too. Editors Note: Some of us do tend to work better late at night, but that’s a topic for a future article

4. Be Organized

When you decide to venture into the world of freelancing you’ll soon realize that you’ll be wearing a few more hats. Not only are you a designer or a developer, but you’re the boss, account manager, marketing guru, finance person, and office administrator to name just a few. It’s important that you have a clean and clutter free work environment. A messy office can leave you feeling disorganized, discouraged and overwhelmed. Invest in a good size filing cabinet.

More than often as time goes by you will soon find yourself drowning in paper whether it’s bills, invoices, tax receipts or business papers. Before you know it you’ll need to quickly locate that important letter from the tax man from 4 months back and you’ll spend a good hour searching through every paper pile in your office when you could of been doing something productive and creative instead.

5. Don’t forget to reward/recognize your hard work.

When I worked for an agency our team would provide recognition for all the late nights and effort we put in for a challenging and long project. However when you are your own boss you’ll soon notice that those fun team outings are a thing of the past now that you’re on your own. Its important to reward and recognize your hard work to keep yourself motivated and feeling good about being on your own.

Plan a weekend away with friends or a loved one to reward yourself after a challenging and large project. It gives you something to look forward to when working on a difficult project and helps reset your mind before you start your next major project.

What tips do you have?

We want to learn more, and by listening to the awesome readers here, I know we can find out some more awesome tips for being productive while working from home. Drop us a comment and let everyone know what tips you use.

Working from home: 5 tips for being super productive 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 :)

People take it for granted that we’ll be available to talk because we’re at home.

What I’d really like to do is throw shoes at that mentality and cut the call short because I work by the hour and I’m not getting paid to talk to you.

Saying it is easy. But how are you going to cut that call short without offending anyone? Not so easy when it’s your mother on the phone is it?

However, it can be done successfully. All that’s required is a little ingenuity and bucket loads of sneakiness.

I’ll have to call you back; I have another call coming in

It works! It totally does. Thanks to the advent of caller id for call waiting, you can invent any number of important people who can be calling you.

If it’s your mother, tell her it’s your spouse. If it’s a friend, tell them it’s your mother. And if it’s your spouse – I’ll leave you to decide what to say.

Of course, another call doesn’t necessarily have to be coming in – if you know what I mean.

Oh no! Lunch/Dinner’s burning!

Make sure you don’t give the person on the other end any chance to ask more questions. That just prolongs the call. Hang up and go check. Just in case.

Hello? I think I’m losing reception. Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?

Ah, my favorite technique. It doesn’t need any explanation.

As deceptive and sneaky as it is, pretending that I’ve suddenly lost reception never fails to work – or amuse.

Cell phones are ideal for this. Keep a toffee wrapper at hand to create “disturbance” in the connection.

Hi, you’ve reached my voice mail…

So what if you’re home. Your voice mail can turn into your best friend. Screen calls or record a separate message to discourage people from calling back. Use your imagination. The possibilities are limitless.

Or you could simply let it ring if you don’t have voice mail. Just make sure you do have caller id! You wouldn’t want to miss out on a client’s call.

Call Yourself

This is an extreme measure. If you’re stuck on the phone with someone you feel you absolutely cannot get away with fooling then call yourself.

Play the ringtone on your cell phone countless time, till the person on the other end asks you to pick up. If they say they’ll hold, pretend you didn’t hear. Simply say “Thanks! I’ll call you back.”

It would be better if you downloaded a ringtone on your computer to play in case you’re not in the vicinity of another phone.

Let’s hear it

How do you get off the phone when you need to work? Ever had to apply sneaky tactics to do so?

5 Sneaky ways to cut calls short with family and friends 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 :)

One of the best places for motivation that I have found recently is in these five videos of Will Smith. He’s truly inspired me to keep pushing forward and to think outside of the box and I hope by watching these videos, you can as well.

1. We are who we choose to be

2. You want something. Go Get It. Period.

3. Two Keys to Life: Running & Reading

4. The belief in a possibility is our power

5. Your talent will fail you if you are not skilled

What do you think?

Inspired at all from these above videos? I know I was – and I hope they’re helping you out as well as we turn the page from 2009 to 2010. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. And thank you for reading – I appreciate it.

5 things Freelancers can learn from Will Smith 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 :)

Tracking my time – with a moleskine notebook

There are a vast amount of online time tracking tools out there and they all serve a great purpose, but for my own personal productivity I have found that using my moleskine notebook is the best possible solution for time tracking and kicking ass during my work hours. I don’t need to track hours and bill clients for them (I charge on a per project basis – I’ll write more on this in another post), but I do need to ensure that I’m focused on the work at hand and don’t get side tracked.

By writing the beginning time in my moleskine (every quarter hour – if I am ready at 8:06, I wait until 8:15) and then work as quickly as possible on the tasks I have in front of me. If I need to stop for some reason, I do it on the quarter hour. If I get done with the project beforehand, I round up just to ensure that next time I try to go faster and get the job done quicker.

Why a moleskine and not an online time tracker?

I am not sure actually. I tried them all and just felt comfortable with the moleskine notebook. The feeling of writing something down just makes me remember back in school when I had to jot down a note for homework or something to do the following day – it just feels normal to me.

The goal of it all is to get the work done in the quickest amount of time and once I write that starting time down, nothing gets in my way. It’s almost like a game I play with myself every day to see if I can beat yesterdays score. It may sound a bit weird, but it works.

What productivity tip(s) are you thankful for?

The one productivity tip I am thankful for 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 :)

Jott

If you’re on the go and/or have large fingers and cannot seem to type fast enough without hitting 2-3 keys at a time, Jott is the answer for you. Reply to emails with your voice and let the app put it into type for you. I thoroughly enjoy this app and would recommend it to anyone who would rather speak their responses than type them out. Jott is a pay program and you do need have at least the $3.95 per month plan.

From The Site: Jott for BlackBerry is a powerful addition to your BlackBerry that lets you reply to emails with your voice, eliminating the need for time-consuming and thumb-tiring typing. It is seamlessly integrated into the email application you already use, and is a huge leap forward for BlackBerry lovers who are frequently mobile, in the car, or in situations where a hands-free method of replying to emails is appropriate.

Evernote

I have to admit that I never got into Evernote on my computer – but when I seen that they put out a blackberry app, I checked it out. I have to say, I am really surprised at how cool of an idea Evernote is – and their blackberry app is awesome as well. It makes me saving things SO much easier.

From The Site: Evernote for BlackBerry® lets you capture any experience, idea, or inspiration as it happens, wherever you find yourself. Evernote for BlackBerry also lets you search and find all the notes that you made using Evernote on your desktop, so that all of your memories are always at your fingertips.

Google Mobile

Every web worker has a gmail address right? If you’re like me, you also use gmail for business to set up your company email addresses. So, in my opinion – this is one of the GREATEST apps for blackerry and it’s one that I would never get rid of, even if I had to get rid of every other app I have. This is the lifeblood of my company and this app helps me keep connected, even when I’m on the go.

From The Site: Stay connect with free google apps for your phone. Search, Reader, Email, Youtube and more.

iSkoot for Skype

I am not a heavy skype user, but I know a lot of web workers are so I knew that this had to be on the list. iSkoot utilizes the features of skype so you can skype straight from your phone. How cool is that?

From The Site: iSkoot’s technical architecture takes advantage of the best features of your mobile operator’s existing voice and data networks. Routing your Skype calls over the voice channel ensures that your Skype calls sound as good and connect as well as any other calls you make from your mobile.

Twitterberry

Everyone is one twitter – right? Well, if you are, and you own a blackberry – you HAVE to have this app. Twitterberry is the go-to app on my phone that helps me connect to my friends and contacts across the world. Update your twitter profile, respond to @ messages & DM anyone you need – all from your phone.

From The Site: TwitterBerry is mobile client for posting updates to Twitter. It works over the data network, so you don’t need to use SMS.

Facebook

Everyone is (also) on Facebook – right? Yeah, I figured So, this app is the one you need – it helps you stay connected to your facebook friends and keeps you in the loop, even when you’re away from your computer.

From The Site: The new Facebook® for BlackBerry® smartphones makes it even easier to share life’s special moments while you’re on-the-go.

Opera Mini

The one thing I notice with my blackberry curve is that the default web browser is horrible – no styling and it loads extremely low (for my liking anyways). So, enter Opera Mini. This app allows you to view the web just like its supposed to be viewed – full styling, images, ect. A must have and that is why it made this list.

From The Site: Full Web: Opera Mini enables you to take your full Web experience to your phone. Fast:Faster mobile internet as data is compressed before being sent to your phone. Free: Opera Mini is free to download. It is the definitive mobile web browser.

Flickr

Heres another cool app. Flickr is a great site, and one that I am getting into more lately with my business (see my flickr stream here). This app allows you to post photos straight from your blackberry to Flickr. Definitely cool if you’re out taking pictures of textures or something that might be inspiration for a design. The possibilities are endless and I’ll be trying to find them all

From The Site: Post your photos directly to Flickr® photosets while you’re on the go.

Pandora

This is an interesting app – not really web work related, but it definitely can be used to get you “in the zone” while you’re out and about – and it allows you to use your phone as a music player, making that mp3 player you’ve got useless – so you carry less stuff around and can be more productive.  Win/Win right?

From The Site: Pandora Radio is your own FREE personalized radio now available to stream music on your BlackBerry. Just start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or classical composers and Pandora will create a “station” that plays their music and more music like it.

Viigo

Yes, google reader is a part of the app above but viigo is an awesome app that not only has rss reader capabilities, but it also shows you the weather, stocks and so much more. It was one of the first apps I installed (after Twitterberry and Opera Mini).

From The Site: The one app you’ll never want to be without.

Got an app you don’t see here?

Let us know. I’m always looking for more great apps to add to my blackberry, so feel free to leave a comment and let me know about an app you’ve got that you think is a must have for any blackberry user

10 Must have blackberry apps for web workers 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 :)

What I got out of that time was nothing. I learned a lot – yes – but I never moved forward with anything. So that’s where todays topic comes from – when is it time to start DOING something and stop THINKING about it?Back to the initial sentence of this article – I learned that I needed to be unplugged from the world. I needed to focus solely on my business and cut out all of the other white noise that would suck my time dry. I realized that reading and thinking about productivity for hours a day wasn’t that productive. Doing this allowed me so much more time – time to work, time with friends and family, time to relax and do nothing. Regardless of what I was doing, it wasn’t planning – it was doing – and I liked it.

Is there a cut off point for when it’s time to read/study/plan and when it’s time to do/act/work? I believe that there is. I found that cut off point in recent months and I thoroughly enjoyed the outcome of cutting off for a while. But the one thing I realized was that I lacked balance. By studying/reading/thinking all day and doing nothing else, there was no ‘down time’ balance or any ‘work time’ balance. I realized that I am the type of person that dives into something full force until I get bored with it (ie: my weight lifting battle – but thats another story). By realizing these things I was able to start working on finding a balance.

So how do I now balanace everything?

It’s pretty simple actually – I open up my google calendar, fill out the work I need to do for the week and then fill in the off days or days I do not have a LOT to do with reading/studying. At the time of writing this article I just finished updating two separate clients website designs and I now have 7 open tabs in google chrome – all productivity/business/design related. It’s pretty simple actually – a lot more simple than reading and trying to find out a perfect method for “getting things done” that so many people spend precious hours on daily.

So how do YOU balance everything?

Is there a set time/place that you read and study or do you just jumble it all together? Let me know in the comments as I am sure there are other people reading this article who would like to know as well. And when you’re done doing that – get back to work!

edited: I thought it would be nice to show what I’m actually reading – giving my readers here a nice look into what gets my mind running so much. Below is a list of all of the current tabs I have open.

• All the advice on happiness you’ll ever need in one post
• 20 classic Zen Habits posts you might not have seen yet
• Expression not Impression
• Motivate Thyself
• Branded Tweetdeck – great idea or waste of time
• 19 Presence Management chores you COULD do every day

* image credit: akaalias

Information Overload: When is it time to start DOING and stop THINKING? 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 :)

Day 1

We are limited but we can push back the borders of our limitations - Stephen Covey

Day 2

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. - Helen Keller

Day 3

If you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life, all it takes is one easy step…the extra one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just ask one question: “What ELSE could we do? - Dale Dauten

Day 4

When you arrive at your future, will you blame your past? - Robert Half

Day 5

It is the very essence of good leadership to give away all credit for positive achievement, to identify only team goals and always to refer to them as such. - Joe Klock

Day 6

The unfortunate need people who will be kind to them; the prosperous need people to be kind to. Aristotle

Day 7

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 8

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. – Socrates

Day 9

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high. - Henry David Thoreau

Day 10

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. - Lou Holtz

Day 11

It takes as much stress to be a success as it does to be a failure. - Emilio James Trujillo

Day 12

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 13

Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will. - Nelson Mandela

Day 14

If a man would move the world, he must first move himself. - Socrates

Day 15

Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite. - Robert Half

Day 16

He who begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin - Horace

Day 17

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. - Helen Keller

Day 18

It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Day 19

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are. - Marcus Aurelius

Day 20

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. - Winston Churchill

Day 21

There is nothing of which we are apt to be so lavish as of time, and about which we ought to be more solicitous; since without it we can do nothing in this world. - William Penn

Day 22

even without success, creative persons find joy in a job well done. Learning for its own sake is rewarding - Mihlay Csikszentmihalyi

Day 23

The yes-but person always manages to find a negative that outweighs any positives. Or dreams out improbable rationalizations to excuse an obvious negative. Yes-but people get in their own–and others’–way. - Dr. Arthur Freeman

Day 24

When inspiration does not come to me, I go halfway to meet it. - Sigmund Freud

Day 25

Success is an act of exploration. That means the first thing you have to find is the unknown. Learning is searching; anything else is just waiting. - Dale Dauten

Day 26

Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? - M. Scott Peck

Day 27

The nearer the dawn the darker the night. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Day 28

No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown. - William Penn

Day 29

Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. -Marcus Aurelius

Day 30

A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future. - Albert Einstein

Day 31

I am not sure I should have dared to start; but I am sure that I should not have dared to stop. -Winston Churchill

Day 32

Better to do a little well, then a great deal badly. - Socrates

Day 33

When you merely assume, you take the chance your assumptions are wrong. - Dr. Arthur Freeman

Day 34

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind. - Leonardo da Vinci

Day 35

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. - Albert Einstein

Day 36

Our lives improve only when we take chances – and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves. - Walter Anderson

Day 37

Many of us grow up thinking of mistakes as bad, viewing errors as evidence of fundamental incapacity. This negative thinking pattern can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, which undermines the learning process. To maximize our learning it is essential to ask: “How can we get the most from every mistake we make?” - Tony Buzan

Day 38

Research shows that you begin learning in the womb and go right on learning until the moment you pass on. Your brain has a capacity for learning that is virtually limitless, which makes every human a potential genius. - Michael Gelb

Day 39

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit. - Aristotle

Day 40

I am complete but not finished. - Greg Anderson

Day 41

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 42

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. - Albert Einstein

Day 43

Believe in something big. Your life is worth a noble motive - Walter Anderson

Day 44

…focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. - Greg Anderson

Day 45

All animals except man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it. - Samuel Butler

Day 46

It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot

Day 47

…by stretching yourself beyond your perceived level of confidence you accelerate your development of competence. - Tony Buzan

Day 48

The Law of Win/Win says, “Let’s not do it your way or my way; let’s do it the best way.” - Greg Anderson

Day 49

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. - Albert Einstein

What happened to number 50?

That’s where you come in – I want you to leave a comment with your favorite motivational quote as your own personal number 50. This way, the more comments we have, the more motivational quotes we have. Lets help each other make 2009 great – leave your comments below.

49 motivational quotes to kick yourself in the ass 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 :)

Why are we not trying to create the next big thing? The next big exciting trend that thousands of others will follow, mimic and recreate.  If you’re in the lead and you’re the innovative one that everyone else is following, the benefits are endless. From the influence on the industry you’re in to the endless exposure you’ll get for being the first – why wouldn’t you want this?

Do you really like chasing the coat tails of the ones in your industry that are the “experts” right now? Do you think you couldn’t be that expert if you’d push yourself a bit harder? At one time, those “experts” were also new to the industry and probably had a group of people ahead of them that seemed to be the “kings/queens of the industry”. So what is stopping you from being innovative and being the industry leader?

Again, if what you thought your life was going to be like ten years ago is NOTHING like it is today, why wouldn’t you believe that your life ten years from now will be completely different as well?

If tomorrow isn’t promised, what are you doing today to make sure you’re leaving your mark? Or are you just skating by?

Past, Present and Future 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 :)