I thought it would be helpful to outline the tools I use on a daily basis to work on projects for my clients and keep my business running smoothly. I use a whole lot of other programs and services occasionally, but these are the things I’m using constantly.
Email Marketing Services
I use both AWeber and 1ShoppingCart on a daily basis to manage my own newsletters, as well as those of my clients. I can say without hesitation that AWeber is far superior in terms of ease of use and functionality.
Blog Publishing
I use WordPress, and nothing else, because there’s really no need to use anything else.
Screen Capturing Software
I use Jing. It’s ridiculously easy to use, and even though I have the premium version, they have a pretty good free version with just a few limitations.
Graphic Design
I use Paint.NET. I don’t really do enough heavy-duty graphic design to warrant buying something like Photoshop, so this free program works fine for me.
Social Media
I’m active on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn daily, for both myself and on behalf of my clients. I’m also quite active on YouTube, FriendFeed, Flickr, and social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Delicious, and Digg.
Microsoft Programs
I use the Microsoft suite of programs – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
FTP Client
FileZilla is my FTP client of choice.
Twitter Management
I mainly use TweetDeck and TweetLater to manage all of my Twitter accounts and the accounts of my clients. Although, I’ve been looking more and more at HootSuite lately.
Google Programs
I’m a massive user of Google programs to organize my life. I use Gmail, Google Calendars, Google Documents, AdSense, Analytics – you name it. I love Google.
Internet Browsers
I only use FireFox and Google Chrome. I hate Internet Explorer with a passion and only use it to check the cross-browser functionality of sites I’ve created.
Web Design
If I’m creating newsletter templates or static webpages or something like that, I use Dreamweaver and Nvu. Otherwise, I usually code freehand in Notepad (I know, that’s crazy, but it works for me sometimes).
Freelance Job Management
I don’t usually cruise freelance websites for clients, but some of my clients prefer to use oDesk to manage projects and payment.
VoIP/IM
I only use Skype for phone calls, and I only use Skype and Gmail Chat for online chat.
PDF Creation
I haven’t found anything that works as well as CutePDF does. But if you need to create a PDF that preserves links and everything, Google Docs and OpenOffice.org are good options.
Invoicing, Time-Tracking, and Accounting
I only use FreshBooks. I love FreshBooks. It’s so incredibly easy to use and it’s helped me stay so organized.
