Email: Gmail via Google Apps
It’s a small but important thing: your email address. Too many illustrators still use hotmail, yahoo or other free email account addresses which, while it may be generally accepted, looks unprofessional to many businesses.
It’s far better to use your own domain name as your email address (which matches your portfolio website) - and to do this but still retain the full features of Gmail, you can use Google Apps.
It’s probably one of the most popular email platforms of today and if you’ve ever used Gmail, you’ll find it hard to go back to another email system ever again.
Premium WordPress Themes: Headway | Themeforest | Woothemes
It’s no secret that we love the Headway theme for WordPress and that we use it for all of our sites and our clients’ sites. There’s a reason for that - it’s not like any other WordPress theme because it can look completely different for every single site which means you can design the site the way you want it and then build it using Headway without having to know complex CSS or HTML.
However, if you’d rather use a theme “out of the box” with less flexibility but easier to get started with, then we would recommend other premium themes from sites like Woothemes or Themeforest.
Phone & Communications: Skype/SkypeIn
You may already have a home telephone line but if you’re working with international clients then a Skype account is a very cost-effective way to call overseas clients and provide them with an easy and/or free way to contact you.
With a SkypeIn number, you can even own a phone number for a different country so if most of your clients are based in the US but you’re based in the UK, you could own a US SkypeIn number and provide your clients with a lower cost way to communicate with you.
An added benefit of using Skype for your primary phone solution is that it doesn’t matter where you work from in the world, as long as you have an internet connection, you’re always contact-able by clients.
Online Backup: Backblaze & Dropbox
If you work digitally or you keep digital copies of your work - and you’ve ever lost any files in a great computer crash (yes, that’s an official phrase!), you’ll know why it pays to be obsessive about backing up your computer.
The best solution we’ve found is to use a combination of Backblaze and Dropbox to backup everything! Backblaze backs up your entire system - which means it’s absolutely vital in the event of a major hard drive crash.
Dropbox backs up key files and then enables you to access them from anywhere - which means it’s great for collaboration, sharing files and backing up vital files you select.
Online Invoicing: Freshbooks & Xero
We’ve dabbled with a number of online invoicing systems over the past few years - some more complex, some very simple - but we keep returning to Freshbooks.
It integrates with Paypal nicely - which means clients and customers can pay you via Paypal if they choose - and enables you to track your time, send branded invoices online (or by mail) and helps you keep do basic bookkeeping.
If you need multi-currency then consider Xero which is similar to Freshbooks but offers even more integration and functionality.
Online Payments: Paypal
Giving customers and clients a way to pay online or via credit card isn’t something many illustrators and creative professionals provide. While it may not be your preferred method of payment, it’s always good to have as a back-up option, especially if you’re working with overseas and international clients.
The fees are often cheaper than paying international transfer banking fees and you’ll find that by offering different payment options for clients, you’ll probably make your life easier too.
While there are other options available (e.g. Google Checkout), none are currently as comprehensive and widely available as Paypal.
Shopping Cart: 1shoppingcart or ejunkie
If you plan to sell any of your own illustrations or products online, then you’ll be very likely to need a shopping cart, unless you choose to use platforms like Etsy.
Many online entrepreneurs will tell you that 1sC is the standard system of all “online professionals” but it depends what your needs are. For most people who sell only a few items (even physical products rather than digital products), ejunkie is more than enough and it’s also much more cost effective than 1SC.
I’d only recommend 1SC if your plan is a fully functioning, online store which requires more complex functionaity and with more advanced features (such as follow-up emails to customers, upsells etc.).
Mailing Lists & Autroresponders: aWeber, iContact or Mailchimp
You might wonder why, as an illustrator, you need a mailing list…if you plan to sell illustrations to customers as well as art directors, then it makes sense to give yourself a way to keep in touch with people who buy from you and/or are interested in buying from you. That’s what you use a mailing list for - to keep in touch with customers and prospective customers.
We first started using aweber about 4 years ago but found it clunky and very unintuitive to use so we switched to iContact which had a far simpler & more friendly interface.
Since then however, aweber have marginally improved their interface and offer a few more complex options for managing your lists/subscribers which aren’t yet available in iContact and so we switched back in 2010.
Online Collaboration: Google Sites/Docs | Dropbox | Basecamp HQ
If you need to work collaboratively on files and documents or share multiple resources across a project with other illustrators and/or creative teams, then an online collaboration/project platform is a great tool to have.
There are plenty of options in this area but my top recommendation would be Google sites & Google docs - especially if you’re already using Google as your main email platform for your online business.
It’s not only free, it’s also very flexible and allows you to collaborate easily with whoever you want in a secure, online environment.
DISCLOSURE: Some of the above links are affiliate links which means that if you click on the link and choose to purchase a product/service we’ve listed above, we may receive a small affiliate payment.
