4 key tools for a digital marketing freelancer | by Mwansa Chola

In 2017, I was unemployed, uninspired and looking for any form of income. I was introduced to freelancing online which ultimately shaped my social media career. Over the years, I have come to learn about so many tools, and tricks to not only be productive but profitable.

In this post, I want to share 4 key tools that I believe all social media freelancers should be using. If not the exact application I am talking about you can feel free to use a similar option too.

CALENDLY

This is an appointment scheduling app that you can link to your Google Calendar. The key advantages are that you can block out certain hours and restrict your appointments to specific times.

Available on PC & Mobile app, it keeps your appointments organized. Sign up here: www.calendly.com.

<i>Image source: help.calendly.com</i> — *Image source: help.calendly.com*

GOOGLE CALENDAR

Sounds like I am repeating myself? Well, managing your time is the most important part of building your freelancing reputation.

You should use your calendar to schedule your tasks, meetings, deadlines, key dates and reminders for different things. The best part about this app is being able to have all your reminders in one place. Sign up here: accounts.google.com.

<i>Image source: www.dottotech.com</i> — *Image source: www.dottotech.com*

PLANABLE

Organization is the key attribute of a good social media freelancer and having a scheduler is what makes you an excellent social media freelancer so you can manage your content posting across different clients.

It is an affordable platform that is easy-to-use, provides a good cross-posting facility and most recently they added analytics. There is a free trial so you can check it out here: www.planable.io.

Source: https://planable.io/blog/blog-content-calendar/

CANVA

Many people complain about the cost of graphic design and the truth is as a start up, it might not even be sustainable to pay someone else. Canva has empowered non-graphic designers to be able to create what they need and with practice it would be just as good as pro.

Use Canva to create the content you need to post and sometimes help you working with graphic designers/creatives too. You can access it here: www.canva.com.

<i>Source: blog.gainapp.com</i> — *Source: blog.gainapp.com*

TRELLO

I know I said 4 in the title but let’s call this a “bonus one”.

A productivity app that uses a kaban-style board to display tasks and progress across the board. It is an easy -to-use application that is excellent for collaborating with clients or other projec members.

Monitor tasks, provide progress and share files seamlessly with Trello. Access it here: www.trello.com

<i>Source: https://blog.trello.com/trello-integrations-page</i> — *Source: https://blog.trello.com/trello-integrations-page*