Hi everyone,

 

I've been brainstorming a bit lately about how I can go about automating a lot of the tasks I do as a freelance web designer, and thought it might make a good topic for discussion here.

 

Here's a few of my ideas...

 

- I've created a private form on my website (using Gravity Forms) that allows me to generate contracts quickly and easily. The majority of the text is already included in the email that will be generated once the form has been submitted, and I simply fill in the appropriate fields - client name, price, job details, etc.

 

- I use TweetBot for everyday tweeting, but have started scheduling tweets for send out using HootSuite. If I've written a blog post or something else that I want to promote at a specific time, I compose the tweet in HootSuite, and specify the time that I want it sent.

 

- Adopted FreshBooks for invoicing - technically not automated, but it does seem to make the process of sending invoices easier. I've already set up all of my recurring hosting invoices for 2013 - invoices that I would normally forget to send. FreshBooks will also send out reminders automatically when the client hasn't paid. Has some really great features.

 

- Haven't signed up yet, but have been having a play around with the demo of Gather Content (https://www.gathercontent.com/). Similar interface to Gravity Forms for WP, but you create a series of pages and forms for your client to fill in with their content. You can set suggested word limits, provide tips and advice, save drafts for later and collaborate on content together, before exporting it to your site. Looks very cool.

 

Would love to hear what kind of tips and tricks you guys use to save time in your business. I'm sure there are loads of awesome ideas floating about.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

PS. Merry Christmas from down under!! Hope you all have an awesome break!!

'GatherContent' sounds like a great idea. Certainly better than emailing over word documents so you get to a point forgetting which version is which! Will take a look, thanks for the suggestion

 

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Jackl

'GatherContent' sounds like a great idea. Certainly better than emailing over word documents so you get to a point forgetting which version is which! Will take a look, thanks for the suggestion

 

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Jackl

 

It's a really great product. Hope you find it useful. :-)

Certainly a good idea to automate a lot of the contract generation, I have to admit we do something very similar, although through a modified/custom wiki software that pulls data from various places I.E git servers, server monitoring software api’s, the wiki itself and other places to generate a lot of overview type documents… certainly saves time.

On the thought of Git or indeed SVN, we’ve seen and ourselves adopted the use of git to deploy/update 50/60 + WordPress installs simultaneously as we use a stock (custom) WordPress setup as our boiler plate and modify the appropriate .gitignore to push updates to both WP and plugins across rapidly.

As for freshbooks, checkout Xero (UK) http://www.xero.com/ , We ourselves and a number of our clients use/ have used them. Their software is really feature rich whilst being perfectly intuitive whilst still keeping an accountant happy. Also good on a price front.

Edited June 1, 201313 yr by CSN-UK

A website cost estimator would be useful.

 

Codecanyon has a sample here.