As a freelancer or designer of some kind, you need to make sure you have the right tools almost at your finger tips when you need them or your projects will take forever – and time is gold when you’re a freelancer. The more time saved, the more projects and new money you see coming in the door. Plus, the more tools you have access to, the higher quality work you can do.
With that, if you’re a Chrome user (or Chromium) you’re gonna love this post. See, I was a Firefox user for years. I loved it, thought it was the best browser out there and told everyone Chrome just flat out sucks.
Well, I decided to give Chrome a try one day and after some testing, tweaking and a final change to Chromium (I’m a Lubuntu OS user), I think I’m gonna stick with Chromium for now on. Don’t get me wrong about Firefox, still think it’s a GREAT browser and love it just the same, but from a freelance business owners stand point, Chromium is just a better fit.
So, I wanted to share what I think are…
5 MUST HAVE Chrome Extensions For Freelancers
These aren’t ‘Magic Button’ extensions or anything like that. As a matter of fact, these 5 extensions I share below are actually pretty simple and more about time and convenience than anything else. BUT, I think they are essential for any freelancer or designer using Chrome.
Again, more time saved equals more time for new projects and more money coming in. As a freelancer of some kinda, that is always a good thing :-).
- Google Mail Multi-Account Checker – I LOVE this extension. It sits at the top of you browser and automatically checks all of the Gmail accounts you have added to it. You can do everything right there no matter what page you are on and never have to open Gmail or some software app. HUGE time saver. I use it for both my business and personal accounts.
- Super Simple Tasks – This is another extension I love and use daily. I’ve looked all over the web for the perfect todo app, and in the end, I just needed something simple and quick. This extension allows you to manage your todos right from your browser and have instant access to them.
- Web Developer – If you’re a freelancer programmer or web designer, this extension is a GREAT tool. You get instant access to a bunch of tools you would normally have to use a bunch of different apps for, but all in one place and built right into your browser for you.
- SEO For Chrome – SEO ends up being an important thing for just about any freelancer whether for their own sites or for client sites. This extension gives you all of the info you need to produce better SEO results.
- Simple Time Track – We all get stuck wasting time, or not tracking billable time as needed. This extension will help with that by allowing you to track time on tasks or even set a specific amount of time to get a task done.
Two bonus Chrome extensions I think every freelancer should have…
MeasureIt! – Again, as a freelancer or designer, you need to have the right tools – this little extension allows you to get the needed sizes for making images, creating elements and making sure things fit as needed without having to redo them over and over again.
Screen Capture (by Google) – A perfect screen shot extension that allows you to add some cool and needed things to the screen shot after you grab it. GREAT for showing clients examples, portfolio work and grabbing webpage shots for creatives as needed.
What Chrome Extensions Do You Use In Your Freelancing and Design Business?
It’s time to share! Use the comments section below and let us know what Chrome extensions you use to make things easier, save time and get work done with a higher quality. Also, if you have any tips or tricks – share’em.
