Freelancing

So I was researching some great new code snippets for my forthcoming WordPress Tutor website when I came across an advert for a Freelance Mac App Bundle. As I’ve fairly recently made the switch to using a Mac, and I offer freelance services, it seemed like a no-brainer to go and check out what the offer was at least, besides I was still looking for a few mac app alternatives to PC software I’d previously been using. Now I don’t know about you, but when I clicked over there were already a few familiar icons. Here’s what I found…

• 1Password – This is password management tool that you can use to automatically store secure logins to all of your websites across the web. You can have a different (and complex) password for every site you visit and then you create one powerful master password which unlocks them all and fills out forms for you online. I’d previously been using Roboform and even paid for an extended Mac license but unfortunately Roboform doesn’t seem to integrate as well on a mac and as such I’d be eyeing up alternatives. 1Password was at the top of my list as it appeared to have a beautiful GUI and integrated seamlessly with the Mac experience. The only reason I hadn’t bought this yet was my stubbornness at having already bought a years Roboform license. 12 hours into my purchase and I only wish I’d made it sooner…
• Billings – Potentially the least enjoyable part of my work is logging and the hours, creating invoices and managing the admin and bookkeeping side of my business. I already use a service called Freeagent online but if this software lives up to the hype that I’ve been hearing since I got a mac then it might be time to make the switch. It’s definitely the cheaper option of the two!
• TextExpander - If you are a web developer then it’s likely you already know the power of snippets. I’ve been searching for a simple way of storing the many commonly used pieces of code for my website and so far have been pretty much using a plain text file. TextExpander promises to not only store these snippets by context but automatically input them for you when you start to type their specific combination. This is bound to save me countless hours in my workflow!
• LittleSnapper – Truth be told I’ve already been using the demo version of this for a couple of months. It’s a utility that allows you take entire (or partial) screenshots of websites and edit/store them on your computer. The images captured via LittleSnapper are great for adding images of sites you’ve created to portfolios, creating step by step tutorials or even capturing cool web elements you’ve seen on other peoples websites for some added inspiration when yours is taking a break I’m extremely happy that I no longer have to try and keep my image database below the demo limit!
• WriteRoom – This is an app designed to give you focus in your writing. It blacks out your entire screen and is made so that you can just get your words out and ignore any distractions. I’ve not used it just yet but with it’s auto-save feature it’s likely to be great little app for when I need to create a blog post or perhaps finish a report on a tight deadline but I have hundreds of tabs open in my browser (ok maybe not that many…), with Facebook & Skype both screaming for my attention.
• Radium – This from what I understand is a digital radio player. I almost without fail, play all my music through Spotify on my phone Mac and PC so I’m not the best person to comment but it’s probably fair to assume that if you are someone that does listen to online radio station this will probably offer you some value. Rather than trying to make something up and profess myself as an an expert in something I’m not you are probably best checking out their site if you want to know how this app benefits you!
• Arq – This is an online backup solution for your mac that utilises Amazon S3. You can quite literally back up the entire contents of your hard drive to a private “bucket” online where it’s stored securely in case you ever have any mishaps such as your mac being wiped, stolen or worse… I guess maybe if it exploded that could be worse! Either way I was using a solution called JungleDisk on the PC and this is looking like an almost seamless replacement so I’m very happy to discover it!
• Alarms – This is an excellent app for all you GTD (Getting Things Done) fans out there. It’s like a ToDo list with built in alarm notifications so that you can make sure you are always on task and keeping the pace. I’ve used basic ToDo lists in the past  but none seem to have the power of an alarm reminder on my iPhone so I can only assume that this power will transfer to the desktop environment as well!

So there you have it; a pretty impressive array of mac apps by most peoples standards and when you factor in the fact that it only costs $49 this is a genuine steal. I would talk more about the Freelance Mac App Bonuses but the truth is if you’re not already salivating then this probably isn’t for you. Though having said that I will give a quick mention to the fact that one of it’s several bonuses is a premium WordPress theme that I will probably be adding to my development arsenal.

The Freelance Mac App Bundle is only available for less than 4 days as I write this (yes I was late to the show this time) so don’t walk, but run over to get your hands on this incredible offer and make sure you come back to let me know how you are using these apps within your daily schedule!

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