Justin Roselt - Media & Design blog                                   

Tools of the trade

Published by JR on February 8th, 2008 | Tagged Design, Links, Resources

Here’s a summary of what I use to manage all aspects of my online day to day life, personally and professionally.

CRM & Invoicing

Freshbooks: Can’t go pass this for simplicity and overall usability. Freshbooks encompases everything the professional freelancer needs to manage customer information, invoicing, time tracking, estimates and even online payments. It comes with a free version but it did not take long for me to sign up for the minimum paid monthly access. In the past I had tried Blinksale but found it a bit rigid with its customisation and email formatting.
www.freshbooks.com

Blogging

Wordpress: Commonly used now for clients websites, it is the most popular Blogging and CMS app currently available for free. Movable Type comes a close second but it is Wordpress’ easy to use interface and customisation abilities that get this one over the line. A minute to install and setup and hundres of templates for inspiration. This Blog is powered by Wordpress.
www.wordpress.org

GTD

Remember The Milk: keeping the To Do list managable, this now easily integrates into Gmail with a Firefox extension. Work it!
www.rememberthemilk.com

Basecamp: A great online app for managing projects and team collaboration. Helps me stay on top of my work and tasks.
www.basecamphq.com

Google Calendar: I could not function without this! Goosync helps with those that don’t have a web compatible device and if you like you can publish your availablity via your Blog. I use it to assist with the To Do items and managing five calendars.
www.google.com/calendar

Email (and everything else)

Google Apps: Late last year I decided to move everything over to Google Apps. Mainly because I had a greater need for improved email management (including larger storage capacity) and a one stop location for all my online docs and calendar management. After trying Google Apps I don’t know how I got by before! Do yourself a favor, give it a go.
www.google.com/a/

Statistics

Google Analytics: I now use this for all my personal projects and find it incredibly powerful and dynamic. There really is not much more to say as it speaks for itself and if you need to know more than you probably not using it. I would have to as why not?
www.google.com/analytics/

StatCounter: For client statistics, emailed directly to them weekly or monthly. Data is exportable and access comes for free!
www.statcounter.com

Mint: Comes at a cost but is another highly rated stats and alalytical tool. I personally use this with Do Not Bend and was initially comparing it to Google Analytics. It’s functionality and widget for the Mac is what got it over the line.
www.haveamint.com

RSS

Google Reader (RSS): There are plenty of RSS Readers out there but personally, I cannot live without Google Reader. Mainly because I spend a lot of time on three laptops at different locations. You can now store offline as well!
www.google.com/reader/