I’m self-employed, and I’ve found 6 essential ways to invest in my business

After three years of running my business, I have six tools that have been the most valuable. One of them is even free — but they’re all an essential part of my budget.

1. A website for building a personal brand and showcasing my work

Having your own website ensures you have a central place to collect and share your work, such as links to talks and sessions, products you sell, and testimonials from past clients. You can also use your website to share case studies about your process for creating things, not just the final product.

No matter what you create, treat your website like a living, breathing place that you can continuously update as your work evolves.

I host my website on Squarespace because I appreciate that the templates are easy to customize without requiring knowledge of website development.

Other sites like Webflow offer more customizability, though, and Substack may be better if you’re looking for an all-in-one platform for sharing a newsletter.

2. One-on-one coaching for getting an outside perspective

Running a business as a solo entrepreneur can be really isolating, which is why I appreciate one-on-one coaching as a way to get an outside perspective on how to evolve my business as it grows.

These sessions have helped me negotiate higher rates, find new clients, maintain relationships with old ones, and discover new tools for tracking the impact of my stories.

3. Authory for tracking and saving stories

Instead of looking my name up daily, I can use Authory to get an email every time a new story of mine has gone live. It’s equally great for saving an offline version of stories as a link or PDF in case the story is taken down later.

That way, I always have an archive of my work and can share links to past stories. I also love that my Authory page is a single-page view of all of my recently published stories, and I can filter by publication or search for keywords.

4. Boomerang for following up on emails

It’s easy for me to send a dozen pitches in a week, and even easier to lose track of who has responses. I use the  Boomerang for Gmail email extension to automatically bring unanswered or unopened emails to the top of my inbox after a specific amount of time.

This way, I know when to follow up on pitches or emails without digging through my entire inbox. You can also use this extension to schedule messages or resurface messages after you’re gone for vacation.

5. Quickbooks Online for bookkeeping

I still remember when I finally graduated from tracking expenses in spreadsheets to using Quickbooks Online, and I haven’t looked back.

Quickbooks offers many ways to track revenue and expenses across different tags and categories, and you can upload invoices and receipts so everything is saved in one place.

Plus, I can use Quickbooks to draft, send, and save invoices, which makes it easy to use the tool as a singular view of how my business is doing and identify invoices that I need to chase down.

6. The Libby app for reading and learning on the go

Equally important to being a good writer is reading good writing. If you’re looking for a free tool that makes it easy to read on the go, I highly recommend using the Libby app, which you can use to borrow e-books and audiobooks from your local library.

I use Libby to read books by entrepreneurs, small business owners, and writers that I admire, and reading using the Kindle app makes it easy to highlight key points and reference them on Goodreads whenever needed.

Some of my favorite books that I’ve read this way are “We Should All Be Millionaires” by Rachel Rodgers, “More Than Enough” by Elaine Welteroth, and “Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language” by Amanda Montell.

No matter what tools you use, they should add value to your business, whether it’s by streamlining a process, tracking your work, or empowering you to focus on what really matters.