As a freelancer, you’re responsible for many tasks.
You’re finding leads, pitching ideas, and doing the requested work.
You’re doing these tasks weekly or daily, which may be exhausting.
But you’ve got to do the work. To grow your business, you must consistently do tasks.
The actual problem is these tasks take time. If you could get these tasks done quickly, you could focus on getting more business.
Fortunately, some tools can help you reduce the workload. If you use the Google Chrome browser, Chrome extensions can save you time. Let’s learn more about the benefits.
Benefits of Chrome Extensions for Freelancers
Convenience: Chrome extensions allow you to access tools directly from your browser, which can save you time and make it easier to stay organized and focused.
Integration: Many Chrome extensions integrate with other tools and services to help you streamline your workflow and reduce the number of apps you need to use.
Collaboration: You can collaborate with team members or clients more easily.
Improved efficiency: By using Chrome extensions to automate repetitive tasks, eliminate distractions, and track your time, you can work more efficiently and get more done in less time.
Increased focus: You can block distracting websites or apps while you’re working.
Enhanced organization: You can create and manage to-do lists and project boards directly from your browser.
Easier research: Extensions allow you to save and organize web content for later reference.
More enjoyable work experience: By using Chrome extensions to customize your browser and streamline your workflow, you can make your work experience more enjoyable.
Best Chrome Extensions for Freelancers
1. Hunter – Email Finder
For freelancers who work as their own outreach specialist, finding clients and their emails is one of the most critical tasks.
Most business owners prefer not to showcase emails on their website’s contact page. So, you have to go through their entire website to find it.
What if you could get emails of employees in one click? With the Hunter extension, you can. Install the extension, create a free account, and then it will start finding emails.
For example, I got emails of employees working at HubSpot.
You can also check the credibility score of any email by hovering over the green bullet next to that email. The bullet is yellow or red if Hunter suspects an email is not credible.
Hunter scans all website pages to extract emails wherever they’re mentioned. What would take you hours, Hunter does it in seconds and gives you credible emails you can use for outreach.
2. Grammarly – Grammar Checker & Writing App
An important email pitch can get ignored because it has one grammar error. Sometimes, you miss a spelling error in your presentation deck. Or skip a comma in a blog post. All these tiny mistakes can cost you.
The Grammarly Chrome extension will scan your page to look for errors and give you real-time suggestions to fix them.
In the example below, the red and blue lines are errors that Grammarly caught in this doc, and if you hover over them, it will give you suggestions on how to fix them.
Grammarly is a must-have tool for all who work with words daily.
3. Liner – Web Highlighter
Research is another primary job for freelancers. But conducting research online can be overwhelming when you have too many tabs opened and can’t remember where you found crucial information.
Liner extension lets you highlight web pages, so you can store and quickly refer back to the information.
I used Liner to highlight important points in this 6000+ words blog post. I can click on the yellow dots to refer to a particular point.
4. Source by PrimoStats – Save Your Statistics
Another common research-related problem is not remembering the page where you found a statistic. You review your browser history but can’t find it.
Source by PrimoStats is a Chrome extension allowing you to save the statistic and its source to a Google Sheet. That way, you can keep and organize your statistics for later use.
No more forgetting where you saw a stat. Source the stats you need in real-time. That way, you save time and create better content.
5. AdBlock – Block Ads or Popups
Have you ever suddenly had a video ad block your screen? You’re so annoyed because the close button isn’t visible, and now you have to watch the entire ad.
That’s when you install the AdBlock extension. AdBlock will block ads from running, so you see the content immediately when you land on a page.
Below, AdBlock blocked 14 ads on the Entrepreneur website.
6. Clockify – Time Tracker
Most freelancers are paid per hour basis. When time becomes a billable currency, each second is crucial.
Unfortunately, freelancers don’t have a system for tracking their time. They’re simply recording the time spent in a Google Sheet, which clients can’t verify.
Clockify allows freelancers to track time. When you start any project, you can start the timer, and it will track the time duration for as long as you work on it.
You can also check the ‘billable’ option if you’re getting paid. It can work as proof to show to your client.
7. Loom – Screen Recorder & Screen Capture
Whether on a client call or interacting with your audience, a video-based meeting is the best way to share your message. But many screen recording apps require complex technical setups.
If you’re looking for a simple solution, you must install the Loom extension. With Loom, you can capture your camera, audio, and screen in one click. You can also generate shareable links instantly.
Best Chrome Extensions for Freelancers
With information overload, it’s easier than ever to get distracted. There’s only so much you can do by yourself. Google Chrome extensions make your work life better and help you do more in less time.
About the Author
Ekta Swarnkar is a professional copywriter and content strategist. She helps online businesses optimize, startups build a presence online, and aspiring bloggers grow a blog. She shares her best tips on her personal website EktaSw.com.
