8 Must-Have Tools That Successful Freelance Writers Use
Some of the links within this article may be affiliate links. Meaning, I may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on said link at no extra cost to you.
I’d like to begin this post by saying welcome to the world of freelance writing! I’m so glad that you took the plunge and decided to follow your passion for writing. Now you need some tools to get you going.
As a new freelance writer, I’m sure you’re wondering how the pros got to their level of success, and what tools they utilized to get there.
In this post, I wanted to share some of the more popular and valuable tools that successful freelance writers utilize daily. Most of these tools are free and have paid versions that you can upgrade to. I’ll point out which ones I have found to be useful and worth upgrading to the paid version for.
I have a business mindset when it comes to my writing tools. You will only get back from your business what you are willing to invest into it. And yes, I do consider coffee to be a tool of my trade. Never cheat yourself of a good cup of coffee! 😉
Don’t let the idea of spending money on something that doesn’t make you money yet scare you!Have faith in yourself and your ability to scale your business and become a successful freelance writer. I know I have faith in you!
Yea sure, you can say “Kate, how the heck can you have faith in someone you don’t even know??”Because you’re here now aren’t you?? Looking for ways to become successful as a freelance writer. You’re doing the research and putting in the effort. We all have to start somewhere!
There are two categories of tools that freelance writers utilize to keep their businesses running smoothly and efficiently. Tools that support their writing and tools that support their business.
Tools to Support Your Writing
There are dozens of tools out there that support both beginner and professional writers. I’ve found that there’s a lot of trial and error involved in finding the tools that work best for you.
The tools that I’ve listed below are all ones that I’ve used or currently still use for my writing, and am recommending from my own personal experience.
I’ve been using Grammarly for over 5 years now. From my school work to my freelance writing business, this app has really come in handy.
It has a free version as well as an upgraded paid version of the product. I’ve personally stuck with the free version over the years, but can certainly see how the paid one would come in handy. With the free version of Grammarly, you get basic writing corrections with your grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
They’ve also recently added tone detection to the
With Grammarly” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Grammarly Premium has a lot of tone/clarity-focused features as well. I say try the free version for some time and see if you want some additional support from the program for your writing after some time.
The Hemingway Editor
One thing that a lot of newer writers do is try and fluff up their writing with big, fancy words. These words are great, but have a time and place. Unless you’re writing for some medical journal or a doctoral thesis, you might want to keep your writing short and simple.
One rule of thumb you should keep in mind is that your writing should be on a fifth grade level or so. This doesn’t mean your writing is going to sound like a child wrote it, just that you are writing for a broader audience with varying reading comprehension levels. Not to mention, you don’t want anyone from your audience to loose interest because your writing is just too fluffed up with fancy verbiage.
The great thing about the Hemingway Editor is that it will tell you what reading level your writing is ranking at. Among tons of other great features that this program brings to the table. The Hemingway Editor will give you positive and negative feed back. Such as your use of a passive voice (positive) or how difficult a particular sentice is to read (negative).
Tools to Support Your Business
Once you dive into the world of freelance writing, you’ve crossed the line where your hobby now becomes a business. Which means you need to treat it as such.
I’ve come across dozens of amazing tools and resources here on the internet that work well in supporting a business at any stage. The few that I am going to talk about here are some of my favorites that I have tried or currently use.
I will only recommend tools or products that I have personally used and can speak from experience about.
WordPress
Creating your own website is seriously one of the most powerful business tools you will have on your side. WordPress, in my opinion, is the best platform to create a self-hosted website.
The term self-host basically means that instead of “mywebsite.wordpress.com” you will have “mywebsite.com”.
The later makes your business website look tons more professional in the eye of potential clients. I started my WordPress adventure, goodness, about 6 years ago now. I’ve always been creative minded person, but never really techy.
But once I found out the fun I could have creating a WordPress website as a creative outlet I was hooked. Yes, this started out as just a hobby for me, but once I realize the power that I had in my hands using WordPress, there’s no stopping me now.
WordPress supports virtually any sort of online business venture that you might have your eyes set on. Providing an online service (writing, digital design, etc.), product sales, music or other media, and the list goes on.
Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the internet’s largest and most reliable website hosting platforms out there. Not to mention incredibly affordable. Especially for new freelance writers.
Your business website is, in itself, an invaluable tool for your freelance writing business. This is why investing in a platform that allows self-hosting and supports your business the way that Bluehost does is never a wrong move.
Yea, you can build a website for free through different online platforms, but those websites will never truly be “yours”. They will always have .blogger.com or .wordpress.com at the end, until you self host with a platform like Bluehost.
There are plenty of other hosting platforms out there, like Host Gator for example. I’ve never used any other platform, so I don’t have an opinion on a platform like Host Gator. I just think Bluehost has worked great for me since I began working with them. And I must say, their customer service reps are amazing.
I haven’t had to call too many times (that should be a good indication of the quality of their service), but when I have they’ve been so polite and incredibly helpful.
Not to mention, they know how to dumb things down and explain things in a way I was able to completely understand. Which I’ve found to be incredibly helpful when I’ve had different technical problems with my website that were over my head.
Quickbooks Self Employed
As I started to make a decent income from my freelance writing business, I began to feel overwhelmed trying to keep track of my income, business expenses, and taxes.
That’s when I discovered Quickbooks Self Employed. The platform is super easy to navigate and work with. It is a paid service but is really worth investing in. It’s like having your own virtual book keeper for your business.
Without Quickbooks, I probably would have been in over my head when my first tax season as a freelancer rolled around. Quickbooks will tell you how much you should be prepared to pay in taxes, quarterly and even allow you to pay them through their service.
Google Drive
If you have a Gmail account, you’re probably already familiar with a few of the business-oriented utilities that Google has come out with over the years. Google Drive and Google Docs are two of my favorite, and more frequently used tools that Googles has come out with.
I love how simple and virtually seamless Google made their utilities. Google suite does integrate beautifully with WordPress, making managing your website through Google’s business-oriented applications, such as Google Analytics, a breeze.
My recommendation is for a new freelance writer to start by becoming familiar with Google Workspace (This is where Google Drive and Google Docs live). Then moving to more business website-specific Google utilities like Analytics and Adsense.
Canva
I don’t think there’s a single blogger out there who hasn’t at least heard of Canva. Or has already been using it for years now.Canva is an amazing graphic design platform that can be used to create anything from social media or blog graphics to infographics and templates.
The free version of Canva gives users TONS of tools to use to create awesome graphics for blogs, social media, Pinterest, you name it. I’ve personally invested in Canva Pro but didn’t do so until more recently. Before now, I had been using the free version of Canva and I was always pleased with what it allowed me to do.
Final Thoughts
This is certainly an article that you will see me updating from time to time. Being a freelance writer is a career field that I know I will always continue to learn and grow in. And I want to continue to share all of these thing that I learn along the way that have made me more successful, sot hat you too can be even more successful!!
Do you use an awesome writing or business tool that you don’t see listed here and want to share it with me! Leave me a comment about your awesome tool. I’m always open to checking out new things that could help my business grow and thrive. 🙂
Join the List
Stay up to date & receive the latest posts in your inbox.
2 Comments