You don't really need a productivity suite, though a lot of business folks choose to use one because:

'it just works and it works with everything else'

The two big players in the space are Google's Workspace and Microsoft's 365 platform.

You can pick either one, based on your preference, they both do mostly the same things:

Email inboxes, using your branded domain
Individual and shared Calendars, synced across devices
Office apps (Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations etc)
Text chat, Voice calls and Video conferencing with others
Cloud file storage and document management
Collaboration in the cloud, with others.
And much more...

All of this is bundled into your monthly (per user) charge, and all these features are designed to work seamlessly together.

And the biggest reason that solo freelancers would most benefit from adopting a productivity suite?

Because let's face it, no one truly works alone these days - collaboration is the new game in town.

We don't just create and send outputs anymore,

we co-create,
co-design,
co-work and
co-produce.

Even the solo-est freelancers have clients, contractors and other partners that they need to collaborate with, which is why adopting one of these platforms is such a great leap forward for your work efficiency.

Because of their popularity, both the Google and Microsoft platforms integrate natively with many of the other business tech tools that you (and your clients) work with daily.

Customer, content and task management systems, booking platforms, accounting platforms, the list goes on.

And because of the popularity and user bases of these platforms, many of the other folks you'll deal with in your work are also using them, which makes setting appointments and holding virtual meetings a breeze.

Sharing links and collaborating remotely on documents, spreadsheets, drawings and presentations you create is also a simple affair. Publishing those same documents to the web so that other platforms can access the data as well? Easy.

Even just the chore of deciding which tool you'd use for which task is lessened—it's an obvious choice, you'll just use your main productivity platform for almost everything except for very specialist or industry-specific tasks.

You can even create business process automation tasks for more advanced users. Collecting reviews and client feedback, running surveys, new purchase notifications and adding new form entries to spreadsheet rows are all simplified using productivity platforms.

And even if you're not a very advanced user, you know the potential and the tools are there for you to grow into the business person that will be.

In the meantime, the benefits of leveling up from 'just plain email' and 'the calendar that came with the phone' will be enormous.

Reach out if you're interested in having a conversation about how a productivity suite would benefit your freelance business.

I'm a solo freelancer, do I really need to use a productivity suite like Google Workspace or Microsoft365? No, but it will make your working life a boatload easier!

Adopting a Cloud Productivity Suite for your freelance business.

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