12 Free and Premium Online Invoicing Apps for Freelance Web Designers

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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~3/El1HbIw3Ygo/

When you work as a freelance web designer or developer, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day functions of your business and forget about some of the administrative tasks you need to attend to. Invoicing comes to mind.

Or, maybe invoicing is just taking you way longer than it needs to. If you’re managing invoices manually, that can take up a lot of unnecessary time. It’s time that you could be spending creating websites and doing client work. You know, the stuff that actually makes you money?

That’s why it’s important to reduce the time you spend on administrative tasks as much as possible. One way to accomplish this is through the use of an invoicing app. Lucky for you, there are plenty of online invoicing apps to choose from, that make it super simple to manage invoices for your freelance web development business.

With both free and premium options available, you’ll be able to get up and running with invoicing automation in no-time – and level up the tools you use as your budget increases.

Free Online Invoicing Apps
AND.CO

Example from AND.CO

AND.CO is a free app that makes it easy to send invoices and proposals with just a few clicks. With it, you can create custom invoices, accept payments, track expenses, track the time spent on a given task, and more.

Invoicera

Example from Invoicera

Invoicera is another free invoicing app option for freelancers that greatly simplifies the invoicing process. Now, the free plan is only available to you if you have three clients or less, but it’s definitely a nice way to get your foot in the door with billing management. A few features include time tracking, workflows, and automatic billing.

Invoicely

Example from Invoicely

Invoicely is a free-to-start using invoice app that makes it easy to not only invoice your clients, but also view business reports, accept credit card payments, as well as track time, mileage, expenses, and more.

ZipBooks

Example from ZipBooks

ZipBooks bills itself (if you’ll pardon the pun) as simple accounting software and it lives up to that description beautifully. This app allows you to send invoices, accept payments, conduct reviews, view reports, and gain access to “smart insights” that help you to make better decisions about the future of your business.

Harvest

Example from Harvest

Harvest is a super simple invoicing app that prioritizes the time-tracking feature above all else. But it does so in an interesting way in that this app applies insights to your time tracked, allowing you to make smart choices about your workflow and time management.

Wave

Example from Wave

The last of the free (or free-to-try) invoicing apps on this list is Wave. This app offers a full set of accounting tools for entrepreneurs of all kinds. With it, you can create professional-looking invoices that match your brand, accept payments, and even organize payroll should your company ever blossom into an agency.

Premium Online Invoicing Apps
FreshBooks

Example from FreshBooks

FreshBooks offers the total package when it comes to online accounting and invoicing. It can be used by any type of small business, makes it easy to organize expenses and track time, and it’s cloud-based so you can access your info from anywhere. And plans are pretty cheap to start with if you have a small client base.

HoneyBook

Example from HoneyBook

HoneyBook is another one-stop-shop sort of invoicing app. It promises to help you manage projects, send invoices, accept payments, and even book new clients, all by using its tools. The project tracking feature is especially nice because it offers a bird’s eye view of where you stand with all of your projects – from concept to payment.

Intuit QuickBooks

Example from Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks has been an accounting staple for small business for years now. But it’s shift to an online app has made it even more beneficial for freelance web developers. Organize your expenses, send invoices, track payments, and more, all for a modest monthly fee.

Plutio

Example from Plutio

Plutio promotes itself as the “one app to manage your entire business,” and from its available feature set, it’s easy to see why they’d make such a claim. This app allows you to track proposals, projects, and expenses; send invoices; and even manage customer relationships all from within a single dashboard.

Harpoon

Example from Harpoon

Harpoon sets itself apart from the other invoicing apps on this list because it not only allows you to track expenses, time, and send invoices. It also offers the ability to predict how successful your business will be in the future. The level of insight it offers makes Harpoon a worthy contender here.

Kiwili

Example from Kiwili

Last on our list is Kiwili. This online invoicing and accounting app strives to make day-to-day management of your business easier. It’s cloud-based and includes invoicing, estimates, CRM, accounting, time management, reporting, and more.

Make Invoicing Easier

As a business owner, it seems like there is never enough time in the day. That’s why apps like the ones in this roundup are so helpful. They can take a task like invoicing and help you get it done in less time.

So, if you’re still doing your books the old-fashioned way, maybe it’s time to level up. You might be surprised at how much time you’ll save.


7 Ways Developers Can Contribute to Climate Action

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Original Source: https://www.sitepoint.com/developers-climate-action/?utm_source=rss

7 Ways Developers Can Contribute to Climate Action

Whether you’ve just started out as a software engineer or you’ve been at it for decades, you too can play a role in helping to positively impact climate.

When people first consider this, they tend to think about the impact writing efficient code will have. Of course, you should always write efficient, elegant code. But unless the code you’re creating is going to be used by millions of people, it may not be where you can have the biggest impact from a climate perspective. (Code being used by millions or billions of people is probably highly optimized anyway!)

In this article, we’ll look at seven other ways you can help.

Choose Where You Spend Your Career

Being an engineer means you have one of the most sought after, transferable occupations on the planet. In virtually any city in the world, you’ll be in demand and probably well paid, so you have plenty of options. Choosing to work in a place that’s at the intersection of your cares and your code is one of the easiest ways you can have an impact. Engineering is also one of the few careers where the job can be done remotely, and there’s a growing list of companies focused on hiring people to work remotely.

Find Time to Contribute to Open-source Projects

Open source enables us all to benefit from a collective effort and shared knowledge, so the benefits are already clear. But what you may not be aware of is the mass of open-source projects specifically targeted at helping the environment. Open source also powers some of the biggest sites on the Internet, so you may also find your code being used at that billions-of-people scale mentioned earlier. While it’s easy to find projects you can work on via a quick Google search, this article highlights a few.

Apply Your Skills to Non-profits

A lot of the work being done to combat or deal with the impacts of climate change are being done by the non-profit sector, and the one thing the non-profit sector always has is a lack of capital and a lack of talent. When people think of volunteering, they tend to think of painting a shed or handing out food at a shelter, but you can potentially create a bigger and more lasting impact by applying your skills and experience.

I worked with a non-profit to help design, set up and configure Salesforce’s (free for nonprofits) service, so they could run more efficiently and at a higher scale. Hour for hour this was the best way I could help them to have a bigger impact.

Influence the Way the Product is Designed

With the rise of agile, squads (pioneered by Spotify) and cross-functional teams generally, the dynamic within the team has changed. Engineers now have a seat at the table to drive what the software does, how it works and even the end-customer problems it solves. This means as an engineer you can either walk into the room and be told what is being built or you can stand up and help drive that outcome, by considering the climate change impact of a design decision. A great example of this might be to set default shipping options to a lower impact option in an eCommerce site, or Google maps defaulting to a walking option vs a driving option.

The post 7 Ways Developers Can Contribute to Climate Action appeared first on SitePoint.

Elegant Editorial Design for the Chung Ying Theatre Company 2019

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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/9MxIttVzFYU/elegant-editorial-design-chung-ying-theatre-company-2019

Elegant Editorial Design for the Chung Ying Theatre Company 2019
Elegant Editorial Design for the Chung Ying Theatre Company 2019

abduzeedoDec 20, 2019

Orange Chan Design shared a super elegant editorial design project they created for the Chung Ying Theatre Company 2019 Seasonal Launch. The printed material explores a dark theme with most pages being printed with black background. That alone makes it look awesome, at least for me, but in addition to that they typography and the excellent use of imagery takes the whole design to the next level. There’s also a part that uses just white as the theme and it’s still beautifully done.

Editorial Design

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45 Creative Forced-Perspective Photos

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Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/force-perspective-photos/

Forced perspective photography is used make us, the viewers believe that certain objects are smaller or larger than they really are. It’s the manipulation of the human visual perception; some…

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10+ Free FTP Clients For Windows and macOS

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Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/ftp-free-clients-and-alternative-connecting-methods/

When it comes to transferring large files over the internet, FTP/SFTP is what almost everyone prefers. Although there are a lot of paid FTP (File Transfer Protocol) applications that are highly…

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Top Conversion Rate Optimization Techniques to Boost your Website Sales

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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Designrfix/~3/x8xmKYTxhbo/top-conversion-rate-optimization-techniques-to-boost-your-website-sales

The development of an e-commerce website is mainly dependent on acquiring customers along with most significantly, retaining those customers. E-commerce has grown into a trillion dollar business, and it continues to grow exponentially each year. Therefore, it’s vital for e-commerce business owners to focus proactively on their niche and enlarge it. However, merely spending lots […]

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Apple Sale Event: get a cheap iPad Pro (and Pencil) from Best Buy right NOW

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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeBloq/~3/a8-rkQGkRV4/apple-sale-event-the-best-deals-on-ipad-pro-and-pencil-from-best-buy

Apple's latest iPad Pro is, without doubt, one of the best tablets a creative person can own. And right now it's even more affordable, with Best Buy running an Apple Shopping Event, which offers up to $200 off the latest models.

There are some fantastic offers on all models of the iPad Pro, as well as a great discount on the Apple Pencil, an almost essential buy if you're going to get the most out of the iPad Pro. And, if you're looking for something more traditional in the shape of a laptop, there are some great offers on recent MacBook Pro models too.

In order to get the full discounts advertised here, you'll need to sign up for a Best Buy account, which only takes a few seconds if you login with your Google account. Below, we've picked our favourites from the sale. Oh, and be sure to take a look at our pick of the best cheap Apple products deals for iPads, Pencils, iMac and MacBook Pros currently available online in your region. 

Not in the US or UK? Here are the best iPad Pro deals in your area…


How to Get New Clients to Pursue You

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Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/guide-to-client-pursuing-you/

When I first began my career as a web pro, I thought that all I had to do was to create amazing websites, and then the phone would start ringing off the hook with new business. Sadly, this…

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10 Smartest Local Automotive SEO Strategies for Dealers

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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Designrfix/~3/8qwMzMGK2Oo/10-smartest-local-automotive-seo-strategies-for-dealers

Car dealerships can no longer rely on traditional advertising methods to gain foot traffic. You can’t rely on mailers and television ads to bring in business anymore. Instead, the focus must be on automotive SEO and digital marketing. The trouble is that many dealerships don’t know how to implement automotive SEO strategies, and might even […]

The post 10 Smartest Local Automotive SEO Strategies for Dealers appeared first on designrfix.com.

Should a Web Page Have a Single CTA?

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Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2019/12/should-a-web-page-have-a-single-cta/


Does adding multiple CTAs to your web pages just confuse your users? That’s a heavily debated question in the digital design space.

Some web designers believe that multiple CTAs give visitors more choice on how they convert. Others feel that leads can only handle a single CTA at a time without getting overwhelmed and abandoning ship.

So, what’s the truth?

Well, that depends. Every consumer has unique browsing habits, and different people act uniquely depending on the situation. That means that how you choose to use CTAs will depend on a lot of different things, including the client you’re working with.

While it’s true that multiple CTA buttons could lead to decision paralysis for leads, there’s also a chance that an extra CTA could keep someone moving further down the buying funnel if they’re not yet ready to purchase.

Perhaps the question isn’t “Should a web page have a single CTA?” but “When and why should a web page have just one CTA?”

Defining the Marketing Call to Action

Let’s start simple, by looking at what a CTA actually is.

A call to action is a button or link that tells the user on your website what to do next.

When a potential customer scrolls to the bottom of your landing page or home page, they might see a CTA telling them to “Create an Account”, “Buy Now”, or “Download Here”. CTAs are all about one thing: action.

The mystorytime.com website simply uses the CTA “Start” on its homepage:

Regardless of the end goal of your CTA, the goal is always to drive conversions. For instance, you might be encouraging:

Awareness: “Learn More”, “Find out how”
Consideration: “Download Now”
Decision: “Contact us”, “Book a Demo”
Retention: “Become a Member”, “Sign up Now”
Advocacy: “Share your Thoughts”

The most important thing to remember about CTAs is that every one of your marketing assets should have one. Without a CTA, you’re not pushing your customers to the next stage in their buying journey – which means that you have a roadblock on your path to conversions.

Think of it this way, WordStream found that a single CTA in an email increases clicks by 371%, and sales by up to 1617%. You want those kind of results for your web pages too!

Different Web Pages Require Different Numbers of CTA

Just because every web page should have a CTA, doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to use the same strategy for everything.

Each asset in your digital portfolio, from your home pages to your landing pages plays a role in the customer journey. While some assets, like your homepage, need to give your audience members plenty of choice, others should be as focused as possible.

Let’s look at how many CTAs are appropriate for the different pages on your website.

Homepage CTAs

A homepage is going to have multiple CTAs because it’s the first page introducing customers to your brand and whatever you have to offer.

The people who visit a company or client’s homepage won’t necessarily have a single goal in mind. Some of them will want to learn more about a brand, while others will want to check out your client’s products.

Take a look at the King and Mcgaw homepage, for instance, there are plenty of options to click on:

With a homepage, you want to give customers as much freedom as possible. They’re at a stage in their buyer journey where they don’t want to be pushed into a single decision.

Sure, some customers might arrive on your website and decide to immediately buy something, but it’s not likely. Give leads a chance to enter a journey of nurturing with your client business before you push them into doing too much, too fast.

Product Page CTAs

Most product pages will have at least a couple of CTAs available, because there’s a chance that your site will have more than one kind of visitor. On the one hand, you could have a buyer that wants to add your product to their basket and continue browsing; On the other hand, you might have a lead that just wants to check out straight away.

Depending on the kind of product that your client is selling, you might even have people visiting a website’s product pages that just want to talk to a customer service rep. There are plenty of product pages out there that include a link to the contact page.

Check out this page from Karimoku Cat for instance. It comes with a link to both a product page, and an Amazon page, so customers can choose how they want to continue their journey.

Support Page CTAs

Support or contact pages on a website will also probably have a number of CTAs.

After all, most businesses don’t just give their customers the option to call a service rep when they have problems today. Instead, they might want you to design a page where users can answer their own questions through an FAQ, reach a chatbot, or connect with other users in a forum.

The onwards.agency support page comes with access to an email address for users, a phone number, and links to Google Maps, Twitter, and Instagram:

As a designer, you can choose whether to present those links as buttons, or just basic hyperlinks for customers to click on.

Landing Page CTAs

Now here’s where everything starts to change.

While many of the web pages on a site can get away with having more than one CTA button, your dedicated landing pages can’t.

A landing page isn’t just another part of a client website website, it’s focused strategy intended to drive specific action from a customer. Because of this, most landing pages should only stick with a single CTA that tells the audience member exactly what they want to do next. That’s the case with this simple Squeeze page here:

When your clients put a lot of time, effort and focus into getting their users to arrive on a certain page, it’s your job as a designer to make sure that they stay there. Focus on a specific conversion request that keeps the visitor focused.

If you do decide to place an extra CTA on a landing page, make sure it’s something that will drive a similar outcome to the fundamental call to action. For instance “Buy now” could be accompanied by “Enquire today”.

Choosing The Right Number of CTAs for Any Page

There’s a common belief in the digital design world that you should only ever design a web page around a single call to action. However, that’s just not the case.

While some pages should definitely have a single focus – others shouldn’t.

A single call to action is the best route for dedicated pages where you want your customers to do one thing and nothing else. Squeeze pages, landing pages and lead capture pages often perform better the more focused they are.

If a customer has clicked on an add or an email link to arrive at your landing page, there’s a good chance that they’re already ready to convert. There are other pages on a site that might require a single CTA too. For instance, a particular service page might just offer the option to send an inquiry to a team.

However, there is room in website design for multiple CTAs too.

A home page, store pages, and even contact pages might include more than one CTA button – and that’s okay.

It’s all about adhering to the experience your client needs at different stages in the buying cycle when they’re trying to reach their customer.

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