Ask a dozen freelancers what business tools they use, and odds are you'll get a dozen different answers. Personally, I've used everything from just a text file, to spreadsheets, to just a paper notebook. Depending on the kind of work you do, any one of these may be sufficient. However, this method doesn't scale when your business grows past a certain point--meaning that one day, if things are going well, you're going to look at your system and and realize that you actually have no idea of if you sent invoices to certain people, or when you sent them, and whether they've paid, and whether you got in touch with Shirley last week. -- Read more