Contractors and freelancers lead very busy lives, with this in mind it’s important to keep on top of the most useful resources available to you in your busy working life. In this blog post, Gorilla Accounting will take a look at some of the most useful resources available to contractors.
Gorilla Accounting specialise in accounting solutions for contractors and freelancers and with this in mind, we have a vast amount of experience in dealing with the industry.
FreeAgent
Online accounting software such as FreeAgent is the ideal solution for all contractors. FreeAgent enables you to improve the efficiency of your business with fast and easy solutions.
FreeAgent is the market leader of online bookkeeping tools, and is also part of the service with Gorilla. After establishing a strong relationship with FreeAgent, we’re pleased to emphasize how well the online accounting software works for both contractors and freelancers.
If you would like to look at the best online accounting tool for contractors and freelancers, make sure to take a look at our page dedicated to FreeAgent.
Various Forums
Keeping up to date with news and updates within your target market can be a difficult task. Finding a solid news source is difficult regardless of the industry that you are in.
Using forums can be a great way to keep up to date with any news and trends that may be happening in relation to contractors and freelancers.
There are various different websites which users could take advantage of such a Reddit and ContractorUK. Both of which have dedicated sub-pages which are targeted at different niches.
For example, on Reddit, you are able to look at different forums related to different issues, such as personal finance and/or business news. Reddit is also a perfect tool to keep up with general news as there are sub-pages related to any topic that you may want to look at.
ContractorUK forum is also a perfect forum to keep up to date with anything that may be going on within the contractor community. The sub-pages on the forum are specific to any needs a contractor may have, for example there are sub-pages related to general advice or accounting needs.
Social Media
Social Media falls into a similar bracket to forums. Most social media platforms nowadays have dedicated sections of their site which are there to inform the user of any current news.
Regardless of how many social media platforms there are, there may only be a few which are relevant to contractors. Sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook all have their benefits for different reasons.
Twitter is a great tool for contractors. The site allows you to keep up to date with the latest news dependant on who you follow. Utilising the follow feature can be a great way to keep up with the contracting industry. The follow feature also allows you to discover new people and offers a different approach to the traditional networking method.
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful social media tools contractors can use. LinkedIn is built upon a professional environment. Several features on the site should be utilised if you are a contractor. For example, the site allows you to connect with others in the industry which could start discussion and provoke different opinions. Other features on the site such as recommendations which allow you to write your experience on colleagues could also be used to your advantage if you have left a positive impression on someone in the past.
Facebook is another powerful tool and is constantly adapting to suit businesses. Facebook could be used for networking but there are other social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn which would be more suitable, due to their ability to interact with people you may not be friends with. With that said, Facebook can be used to promote small businesses and different services with the use of Facebook for business.
Keeping up to date with social media could be the key to your success as a contractor, you should utilise these tools if you are looking to network with similar people within your industry.
Utilising social media can be key to your success, but it is also worth mentioning that there are several tools online which you can use to make even more use of the sites.
Tools such as; Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, CoSchedule and Buffer should all be used to make sure your content is efficient as possible.
Tweetdeck allows you to keep control of your Twitter account in real time. Tweetdeck’s main feature is that it provides live updates in real time and neatly organises all of the features of Twitter. For example, Tweetdeck allows you to see your newsfeed, notifications, messages, activity and scheduled posts all in real time. In addition to this, you can also customise tabs to suit whatever information you may need at that time.
Hootsuite, CoSchedule and Buffer are all a paid service. The three of these products allow you to plan and schedule your social posting with ease. You are able to keep on top of any posts that are due to go out across your social media channels as well as have in depth analysis on every update that you may post.
