AI Tools For Freelancers

When You're on Your Own‚ AI Has to Earn Its Keep

A downside to being solo is that the AI software needs to be worth it from day one and you can't spend an hour figuring out how to use some new software only to end up with an unbilled hour on your ledger․ The ROI is non-negotiable․

I have been doing this for six years now․ Primarily writing‚ content and a little bit of UX here and there․ I am a little behind the times․ I like to track time in 15-minute periods․ So for the last 18 months or so‚ I've been running the numbers on the AI tools out there to see which ones are actually giving me some of my day back․

This is what has stayed in my rotation․

10 of the Best

1․ Claude

What I use it for: Writing‚ long-form (4-6 hrs/week)

The first couple weeks it was really bad․ Garbage outputs․ Instead of saving time‚ I was wasting it․ It took me a while to realize the brief is everything․

If it's more than 500 words‚ I try to go with Claude․ I can get something down with a really good prompt․ Instead it has turned what used to be a two-hour slog into 20 or 30 minutes of fine-tuning․

2․ Grammarly

For: The details (1-2 hours per week)

It's the one that picks up on things I miss when I'm hunched over the screen at 11 PM․ The tone checker is a lifesaver․ It will tell you if you're being a little too casual for a corporate type․

3․ Otter․ai

On: Client calls (2-3 hrs/week)

I have it running on every call so I can just talk․ And if a client says "we were in agreement on X‚" I can pull up the transcript․

4․ Notion AI

To: Make order of things (1-2 hrs/week)

If it's in my workflow‚ I can use this to read through something like a project update or a long document․

5․ ChatGPT

When: I hit a wall (2-3 hrs/week)

When I can't‚ I go to ChatGPT and give it a subject and it gives me 20 to choose from․ I don't usually pick from that list‚ but something within that list will inspire the real idea․ They became some kind of thinking partner when I'm stuck․

6․ UtilityGenAI

For: Minor tasks (30-45 min/week)

If I have something to rewrite or a few subject lines to knock out‚ I'll just use UtilityGenAI's free tools and save my premium credits for when I really need it․

7․ GitHub Copilot

Some Python (1-2 hours per week)

I do a fair amount of scripting for data and the like‚ so when I want to pull a dataset‚ I can just comment what I'm looking for‚ and it generates what I need․ Much faster․

8․ Descript

Video (2-4 hours/week)

That was like an accident‚ then I was angry that why nobody offered me before that․

Want to cut a word? You let the word drop out of the text․ I've done it in less than an hour when it maybe would have taken me three․

9․ Loom

Instead of meeting for 1-2 h per week

That way‚ instead of a half an hour sitting down and meeting‚ I can record a five-minute Loom‚ and they can watch it whenever they have a second and move on․

10․ Surfer SEO

The strategy is (1-2 hours a week)

With Surfer‚ I've noticed that when the time is right‚ a data-driven outline reveals itself to me in a jiffy․ It saves me an hour of manual keyword work․

My method of working with them

I performed tests with four tools at the same time‚ but it is always better to learn something one by one․ Otherwise nothing․

Don't go in headfirst․ I'd suggest:

1․ Put Claude or ChatGPT to work on the heavy lifting․ 2․ Keep Grammarly running in the background․ 3․ If you are on the phone with your clients‚ use Otter․ai․ 4․ Choose one other to fix your most pressing issue․

And don't be in a hurry to judge them․ Give them 30 days․ You'll see the value in week three‚ not the first day․

Bottom line

If I'm being conservative‚ these tools are saving me 15 to 20 hours a week on work that isn't exactly making me any money․ At say $100 an hour‚ that's $1‚500 to $2‚000 that I'm just saving in the bookkeeper's time․ For a few hundred in monthly fees‚ it's easy to make the case․