💥 Resources 💥
My go-to tools for success.
(Note: I’m not affiliated with any of these links)
Knowledge is power 🔥 This crowdsourced anonymous spreadsheet will get you thinking about pay equity and give you a better idea of market rate, pay for similar roles, and (hopefully) give you leverage for the next time you ask for a raise.
I’ve tried my fair share of social media scheduling platforms and Later is by far the best for Instagram, especially if your content relies heavily on feed aesthetic. Drag and drop photos in preview mode to perfect your feed, and schedule posts that’ll go up automatically. Stories won’t auto post, but the app will send premade Stories directly into Instagram for you at its designated time.
Canva’s interface is extremely easy to use, and it makes batch content creation 1000% easier; especially with its social media publishing capabilities. I highly recommend it for quick mockups, social media graphics, etc. It does have weird quirks that have me reaching for Illustrator at times (for example, there’s no pen tool, and the text curve tool can be janky) but it’s unmatched in speed and ease of use. The only downside: avoid using pre-made templates and create your own if you’re creating for a client. Templates are easy to spot in the wild and are a dead giveaway for unoriginal content.
So many free tools for creatives, including accounting/bookkeeping/taxes recommendations, a spreadsheet for freelancers to figure out their hourly rate, and creative job postings. I took their Squarespace design course which gave me a great starting point for taking on client projects.
Literally find any type of icon here, and either download for free with a watermark ,or pay $2.99 to be able to use it forever (just pay the $3 and write it off as a business expense!)
My favorite Chrome extension of all time! Find the HEX code for any color on your screen, simply by clicking on the color you want. It’s an absolute must-have in my graphic design workflow.
My second favorite Chrome extension of all time. Incredibly useful for acquiring assets for moodboarding, making mockups, etc. Simply activate the extension, and click to download whatever photos/logos you need for your project. So easy!
Tracking time is super important to get in the habit of doing, especially as a freelancer. This one’s free! They do have a robust web app, but I like the desktop app better for its simplicity. It’ll even send you a little weekly summary of your time tracked on Sundays!
As a former password repeater, I highly suggest looking into a password service. You only need to remember one super strong password and it’ll do the rest with autofill. Dashlane also creates strong passwords for you with one click, plus you can access all your PWs in one place. It’s a huge time saver (and life saver) in my day-to-day.