Best of 2023: the top 8 business apps for solo entrepreneurs or freelancers
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I obviously can’t speak for you, but when I first got started I was utterly overwhelmed by all the options that existed back then for email management, email marketing, invoicing, web design, social media scheduling, –all of it!
It's all too easy to get shiny-object syndrome when you research things like this.
And (raising my own hand up) I've been there myself and still can get caught in that trap if I'm not careful!
I’m sure, since that (starting my own business) was several years ago now, that the list of choices for those things has only gotten more saturated.
Which begs the question: which tools will work best for me?
Hopefully, you can learn from me, skip hours of trial and error & just go with what I consider to be the best industry standards for entrepreneurs and freelancers.
There are a few admin tools I’ve used for a few years now, and quite literally couldn’t run my business without them, or without spending hours doing admin “paperwork” or unnecessary back-and-forth communication, instead of money-making tasks in my business.
Because that last bit is really important, I’m going to say it again:
Running a business by yourself will require a good set of tools. Some free, some paid. There’s only so much time in the day and you can NOT work 25/8 😂 even if you need or want to, so you must work efficiently and these tools will help you do that.
A quick note!
While this post does have some affiliate links, don’t fret – I actually use (or have used & enjoyed even though I switched) every single one of these myself & wouldn’t recommend them to you if I didn’t! if you use my code or click a link marked with an * I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you. My reading fund thanks you! 🤓
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8 apps to organize and run your freelance business
DUBSADO*
a Client Relationship Management tool
It’s genuinely hard to find a single tool that eliminates the need for using 15 apps to do 15 different things in my business, but Dubsado has the most & does the most, eliminating the need for many other apps and from-scratch creation.
Let’s face it, if you want to pay your bills, you can’t create “pretty” invoices from scratch in Adobe design programs, send it via email with a link to pay somewhere else, then move that money to your bank account manually, then keep track of that money easily when it’s popping up in several places and you can’t tell who’s paid what or when and you’re dividing up their payment plans manually leaving plenty of room for human error, and––
You get my point, right?
Dubsado rules the day in automations and generally managing admin work. I use it for a myriad of things in my business including e-sign contracts, proposals & estimates, custom questionnaires, lead inquiry forms with automated responses, email templates, payment schedules (plans), and automated payment reminders.
But that’s not all, as they say; it also handles lite accounting & reporting, invoicing, scheduling, time-tracking, address book, lead & job management, lite task management, emails, and more.
When you’re the only one running your business & you have no “team” to speak of, you need something like Dubsado that can answer inquiry emails for you, even if you’re not at your desk, or send a payment reminder while you’re working on another project. You need something to make sending & receiving signed contracts EASY because not everyone understands how to use Adobe Sign, and while HelloSign works great for e-signable contracts, it’s never ideal to have 1 app for each task in your business.
Dubsado helps me run my business like I have a Virtual Assistant before I actually have a Virtual Assistant. 🙌🏻
Want to learn more about Dubs? Check out these other blog posts below, or try it for yourself! They have a no-time-limit FREE trial with full-featured access up to 3 clients; after that you can use my code DAMN to get 20% OFF your first payment!*
CLICKUP* or NOTION*
a Project Management tool
I’ve tried a litany of project management tools and finally landed back on ClickUp. You can read about my experience using Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Notion, Zenkit, Airtable, Quire, and Milanote over here or learn the difference between Project and Client management apps over here.
ClickUp is truly a one-of-a-kind project management app. As I’ve just said, I’ve used or tried 8 or so PM tools total since 2015, including Dubsado’s lite task manager, and not including things I’ve also tried like Artful Agenda, Google Calendar, iCal, Notes, and Reminders on my Apple devices.
The fact is, you need a tool that will allow you to put as much as possible that you can in 1 place & frankly, not a ton of PM tools allow this.
ClickUp comes closest to that for me because I can track all kinds of data there, in a way that’s both super detailed, high-level, and customizable while still allowing me to see everything at a 30,000 ft sky-high view with reporting features & dashboards. ClickUp does have a steep learning curve because of its robust feature set so if you want something simpler, I’d suggest using something like Asana (still love it, just not a fit for what I needed). Though, stay tuned for v3.0 which should help a bit because they’re redoing the user interface & adding or cleaning up lots of features!
Notion is close but requires more manual work to get it up & running and their reporting & analytics is lacking. So it’s much harder, for example, to see how clients are progressing through their homework without diving into each portal to actually check how much has been completed –or using Zapier to connect databases to a centralized dashboard, but that can get messy). However, it’s a LOT of fun to use & the learning curve isn’t as steep as ClickUp’s so clients generally find it easier to use with us.
I primarily use ClickUp these days, but I still use Notion for note-taking on courses and I have a copy of my portal in there when I know ClickUp won’t be the right fit for a less tech-savvy client. So, I use them BOTH to track things like
my own business admin tasks,
Client Portals,
track expenses & which ones have affiliate offsets,
all my active affiliate links & their dashboard login URLs + discount codes, etc
my content calendar,
my student roster/directory,
support tickets for both clients & students,
and soooo much more!
I know you’re thinking, “but Dubsado is expensive, so how much is this one gonna set me back?”
Glad ya asked! They’re both 100% free to use until ya need more storage space or want access to some of the cooler paid features but payment plans for both are some of the most affordable in the industry, starting at around $100/yr for Notion or about $60/yr for ClickUp*. 🤯
So WTF are you waiting for? Go try it! –Yes, right now. 😁
And if you’re not sure what to try yet, here are some of my past posts about a few different project management tools:
PLANOLY* or PLANN
a social media post scheduler
I’ve also tried a few different social media schedulers because the truth is: you can’t be on all platforms all the time. Trust me, I know. I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.
What I decided to do after so much trial & error is to pick a platform that I enjoy the most & schedule posts to it so I can be “present” in my day-to-day life without having to think about it.
For me, Planoly is that thing. I enjoy using Instagram the most, so I use Planoly to schedule content to post on my IG feed (when I’m in an active season). You can also use it to post to Pinterest or cross-post to Facebook if you want, both of which I do as the mood strikes me. 😂 But Planoly is super easy to use, their app makes creating content super simple & I generally just enjoy using it!
Another option is Plann, which I found AFTER I decided to cool-it on my social media activity (see more in the note below!), but if I ever decide to become more active on social again, I’m genuinely not sure which one I’d start using: Plann or Planoly, because I really like both options!
Plann seems more focused on helping users post content related to their business using strategic “pillar” content, which gives you more of a business plan/strategy around post content though, which may be quite helpful!
For comparison, in the past, I’ve also tried Hootsuite (very briefly; their UI sucked at the time), Buffer (used steadily for months & then switched to), Later (but their app was annoying to use as it’s time-selector for scheduling content was displayed in military time), Tailwind (used for a few years, but finally canceled it when I stopped pinning as frequently), Canva’s social media scheduler, and also very briefly Meta’s Creator Studio for Instagram & Facebook (only).
There are a ton more options, but for me, Planoly was always a joy to use & it’s easy to access across my devices. Win-Win! Plann is likely to help you stay “on task” by planning better content which could actually help you get a better ROI on your efforts, and is also available across devices.
Full disclosure:
Since originally writing this post, I stopped caring about social media. *GASP* –I know. I’m “active” on Instagram ONLY when I feel like it, mostly just in Stories only and engaging with people I follow more closely.What do I do instead? I post regular content here on my blog, email my list weekly with new tips, tricks, & other valuable content, and post 1 video per week on YouTube. Why? Because blogging and YouTube videos BOTH show up in searches on Google and that’s where 85% or more of my traffic comes from, so that’s where the best ROI (return on investment) is for my marketing effort. Clients regularly find me on Google or YouTube.
So I’ve stopped worrying about social media & backed off ALL of my pages on LinkedIn, Twitter, Tik-Tok, Facebook, and Pinterest and I’ve stopped paying for any social media scheduler as long as I don’t really need/use it. 😜
SPARK
an email management app
A free (or affordably priced), robust email app never hurt anyone, right?! I’m a die-hard Apple user & have been since my Dad bought my first Macbook Pro for college back in 2005. 😬 (Whew, I’m dating myself there, a bit, aren’t I?)
But for business purposes, Apple Mail just doesn’t really cut it, does it?
That’s why I finally found & started using Spark instead. I’ve been using it since 2015. It has separate apps for all my devices to keep my different email accounts in sync everywhere and a ton of features that Apple just doesn’t offer yet, such as:
Email templates with variable fields (up to 5 on the free plan!)
Generative AI to help write/respond to/shorten or simplify/etc my email writing duties (on the paid plans)
Email delegation tag someone on an email & tell them to handle it –great for small teams!
private comments per email, with team members, discuss an email privately between team members in a chat-like environment on the email itself without switching apps to something like Slack or Messages
collaborative email drafts need some feedback from your team? You all can edit it together if you want, and you’ll know who made what changes
email scheduling for when you type up an email at 9:46 pm one day & don’t want your client to know you’re “working“ that late
custom snoozes for when you get those emails you just “know” you want to read but can’t read it right now; snooze it for next week, tomorrow morning or next year
segmented Smart Inbox divides up your incoming emails into Personal, Newsletter & Notifications, in addition to pinned (or flagged) emails
signature management easily add & set up multiple signatures, 1+ for each email account you manage, even if they contain images & links
send attachments inline or attached to the email –this is a big one for me, as not everyone knows how to get inline attachments out of the body of their email; Spark lets you choose which way to send them
email blocking is easy!
calendar integration syncs with your calendar & has easy access to it right from your inbox
app integrations for tools like Zoom and Asana
And a lot more! Read more about it in detail in “15 reasons I’m obsessed with this email app!” (link below) or check out their website & try it for yourself.
DROPBOX* or PLAYBOOK
an online storage & backup service
The biggest things I eventually learned are that A) I needed an easy way to back up my files and B) I needed to have them in 1 place that I could access no matter what device I was on or where I was. Dropbox solved both of those problems for me for less than $120/year.
Now that I work at home full-time, I like working from various places around the house just because I can! My sunroom has gorgeous views of the big rolling hills all around our house so sometimes I work from the dining table in there from my laptop. My office is comfy & warm with all my favorite things in view (& let’s be honest, it also has easy access to my little space heater when it’s cold!) and the option for an external monitor, so I keep my laptop on a stand on my desk in there. But sometimes I’m feeling lazy or want to be in the same room with my husband & our dog, so I’ll work from my iPad on the couch or on the patio outside in the backyard.
The problem with all of those things before would’ve been that all my files were on one computer connected to an external hard drive backup system & that computer would have to be awake for me to access them from my other devices. When I’d copy a file from it over to my other device, I’d make changes to it on that device, then usually forget to copy the updated version back over to my desktop.
That routine became a mess, frankly! Eventually, I was never sure where the most updated version was and that created a lot of duplicate keep-it-just-in-case type files, which ate up my storage space!
I did try iCloud first for document syncing since I have all Apple devices, but it just wasn’t up to snuff. I’d been using Dropbox’s free plan for years and quickly realized iCloud couldn’t beat it.
Now, everything lives everywhere! It’s both online and in the cloud, wherever I want them to be, per device. I can turn on smart sync which puts unused files online only until I need it again, saving storage space on my devices.
I can open & access anything, even if I’m not on my own devices, using their web app. And I know that if I had some freak accident like my house caught fire or my desktop died 🤢 –my data would be safe in the Dropbox universe online.
Another interesting option
Playbook* is a fascinating newcomer in this online storage industry. What makes it different? It allows us to sift through our files in a visual way, kinda like having a Pinterest board of files.
As of spring/mid-2023, they’re GIVING AWAY 4TB of storage space to artists & creators ––for FREE, no strings. 🤯 Create a free account first, then you can apply from within your account. I was approved for it within a couple of days, so give it a try while that promo is still going on!
While they don’t have an app yet (it’s currently a web-browser-only experience), they’re a really neat solution for …well, artists & creators!
A great place to…
upload client files so they can sort through their website graphics or branding files visually instead of in a traditional icon or list view.
upload your media kit files (ie: headshots, sharable graphics, logos, one-sheet with business stats, bios & social links, etc
create basic showcases of designs or graphics that you DON’T want people to be able to download from, but view-only (yes, you can do that too! and even add your logo to it!)
share file folders of visual content & allow comments on the files
organize files visually so you can SEE what you have without opening the files themselves
FLODESK* or CONVERTKIT*
an email marketing app/service
Full disclosure: I’ve since switched to ConvertKit! Read all about why I switched.
screenshot of a slide from Jenna Kutcher’s webinar, 2023.
A few fast facts & quotes I picked up from Jenna Kutcher’s webinar, From Zero Subscribers (or Zero Strategy) to an Engaged Email List that Lasts,
Jenna said her mastermind ladies say (often), “if I want to double my income, I need to double my list.”
the cost of acquiring a new customer is estimated to be 5-25x higher than the cost of retaining an existing customer
You’re already in the inbox! Studies show that the average person in business sends at least 40 emails per day.
Studies show that someone is 6x more likely to click through a link sent via email than a link shared on social media
An email list is an asset. If you want a business in the future from now, then this strategy is about creating that reliable direct line that continues to drive results for you.
You can’t control the experience on social media. If social media disappeared tomorrow or your account was hacked, would you be able to contact those followers or the public in general?
When you’re only focused on social media, you’re essentially building your business in rented space.
The Direct Marketing Association found that email marketing has a return on investment of 4,300% = that’s $43 per email, on average.
FloDesk
Beautiful email marketing that’s affordable. Every other option in the industry (that I’ve ever seen) offers service for a price that grows with your list size, –except for FloDesk! It’s clean, simple, easy to use/learn, has tons of beautiful design options, and remains affordable whether you have a list of 100 or 100,000 subscribers.
At $38/month, it feels pretty pricey, –but you can try it fully-featured & totally FREE for 30 days. Why do I love FloDesk? Let me count the ways… Well, no. Not right here––over in these other posts below. 😉
Use my FloDesk affiliate code DAMN50* to get 50% OFF your first year.
ConvertKit
I used FloDesk for more than 2 years, and I still love how easy it is to use when you’re ready to start your email list. That said, when I began to take affiliate marketing more seriously ––because I use so many tools I genuinely love, have taken so many courses I would talk about whether I became an affiliate or not–– I kept hitting walls with FloDesk and eventually decided to switch platforms.
You can try it totally free for up to 1,000 subscribers on their feature-limited free plan. When it’s time to upgrade for those coveted paid-only features, like automations, remember that ConvertKit isn’t as expensive as you think, but it does increase in price with the size of your list, in increments.
The advertised price is $29/mo for up to 1,000 subscribers on the Creator plan, BUT if you have less than 300 subscribers, it’s closer to $10/mo! So use the slider on their pricing page to get an idea of what you’d pay based on your list size, and concentrate on growing that list so that you can justify the cost of the software you’re using to manage it. 😜
MARKUP
client feedback software/service
Working remotely can definitely have its fair share of problems if you don’t have the right tools in front of you. Thankfully, you have this list now, so your list of problems should be shorter after you implement some of these tools in your own business.
Markup is one of them. Are you frustrated by getting design feedback from your clients, remotely? It can be hard when they can’t point & say, “can you change the size here and the price on page 2 needs to be the same as the price on page 5, section 3–” –see what I’m getting at here?
This wonderful, easy-to-use tool lets you get annotated feedback directly at the spot on the screen where the client wants a change made. 🤯 You heard me! It works for websites and images now, but support for more file types is coming, including PDFs.
They have a great free plan, which I’m still on after using it for YEARS, –or paid plans if you want those features.
They even have an integration with Loom where the client can record videos, related to specific feedback on any asset in your Markup project. how cool is that?!
Learn more about how I use Markup in my own business. 👇🏻
ZOOM or WHEREBY
a video calling software/service
Full disclosure: I’ve also started using Whereby! It’s just easier all-around for some things, and cheaper too. No special one-use links or passcodes, no app for the client to download or keep updated!
Zoom
Being a freelancer means you can work with anyone, anywhere, at any time. Video calls make “in-person” meetings possible where your client, team member, or supervisor may live across the world from you, or just next door but during a pandemic, they can’t meet with ya face-to-face.
Of course, Zoom offers free plans with limited feature access, but if ya upgrade you have no meeting time limitations & you can record calls which is super helpful for training sessions!
I’ve tried Whereby, which is a great option, but I found that most of my clients are most familiar with Zoom for 1:1 calls and so a couple of them asked (on a call using Whereby) if I’m familiar with it too, which –to me– meant that they preferred being in a familiar environment. So I listened to my client’s needs there.
While fairly simple to learn, Zoom has a slightly higher learning curve, requires an app download for both parties & regular updates, as well as long Meeting info to send the person attending the meeting, which can be a little confusing to people not used to using the app. But it offers more features than Whereby, and in a post-pandemic world where video calls are a widespread thing, most people are already familiar with it.
Whereby
That said, Whereby is truly a fantastic option with simpler use than Zoom, so the learning curve isn’t quite as steep: 1 link that never changes, no meeting IDs to send & still has locked rooms; clients can “call” from any device as long as they have that link & a web browser–no app necessary!
Whereby is a Chrome extension, NOT an app, and it works based on the fact that YOU have it installed. Your clients or students won’t need anything but a device with a mic connected to the internet & some sort of web browser. That’s it!
If I can get my baby-boomer mother-in-law to use it with us on her phone, when she just learned how to use emojis in text messages a couple years ago (not tech-savvy in the least & extremely computer averse), then you can use it with your less-than-tech-savvy clients/customers with ease!
Their plans are cheaper than Zoom’s and their group room options are way easier & cheaper too. They also have a totally free plan with 1 room link & unlimited 1:1 meeting time, group meetings with up to 100 people for up to 45 minutes.
On the Pro plan, I get:
group rooms for up to 100 people with unlimited time per meeting, custom branded, and unlimited recording for about $7/mo (as of 2023).
create, use, and customize up to 3 room links which are simple and never need to change. They still have features like
locked rooms where you can choose who/when to let attendees in,
breakout groups,
hybrid meetings of co-located remote meetings without echoes,
raised hands & other reactions,
access to collaborative apps for whiteboards etc.,
background effects,
noise reduction, and
even room embedding so you can put the room on your website!
And that is why I use BOTH Whereby and Zoom, for different circumstances. Zoom plans are confusing with all kinds of add-ons and I have trouble remembering which plan allows group calls, webinars, etc. For a fraction of the cost, I can use Zoom for 1:1 calls (recording is easier on Zoom because it converts the video file to a useable format for you; Whereby doesn’t) and use Whereby for group calls that are easy & fun!
