Fact: A business is only a business when it has paying clients. Sure, you might have a “pro bono” client or two for the experience, testimonial, or other solid and strategic reason, but paying clients are what put money in your pocket and keep the business lights on. Nothing makes a new business owner feel more Boss than that first cha-ching in her Paypal account. It’s true.

And once those clients are happily signing contracts and paying your bills, you want to keep them happy with clear communication and explicit expectations. Human beings like boundaries (even if we fight against them, we still like to know what they are) so unless you’re a zoologist you’re going to want to get some borders up on your client work asap.

Note: if you’re a zoologist and you’re reading this post, please say hi in the comments! 

One of the quickest ways to get your client work organized is to get it out of your inbox. I know, I know. I’m the founder of GMail School and I’m here telling you to get OUT of your inbox. Look, inboxes are great for, ya know, emails. But once your prospect is a client those emails turn into tasks and an inbox is no place for task management. I’ll put a disclaimer here and say that if you have just one client you can probably manage it via your inbox. However, if your business has more than one client (especially ongoing/retainer clients)  a project management tool is about to become your new BFF.

 

But nothing is more overwhelming to a creative mind than a million choices so I’m gonna break it down for ya. Yes, there are dozens of other PM tools out there but these are my top 4 favs for creative business owners. Pick one and get it in place this week:

Basecamp

• My team is busy and constantly in action
• I want to add files to a project and see them all at once
• I’m willing to pay for a project management service
• I’m visual – lay it all out for me
• keeping track of what everyone is up to is important to me
• I want to share projects with clients, but not always let them see everything my team can see
• I’m on the go a lot and need to be able to add comments straight from email without logging in to a system

Basecamp is one of my favorite project management tools out there. It’s easy to learn, highly visual, and you can add a lot to it. Basecamp recently rolled out Basecamp 3 and it is… amazing. If you are a designer or work with a team of designers, check out Basecamp for sure.

Flow

 

• I’m willing to pay for a project management service
• I’m linear
• I love to collaborate in real time
• I’m always on the go and need both iPad and iPhone app options – I use Dropbox a lot and want something that connects with that
• I need to assign tasks to others and track the completion

After hearing about Flow, I knew I had to check it out. I found that it was very similar to Asana, but it comes with a price tag. There are a few more features (like the iPad app) but, again, it comes down to what you are actually going to use. A system is only as good as the people using it. Which one will you use?

[Tweet “A system is only as good as the people using it. Which one will you use?”]

Zoho Projects

• I live and breathe Google products
• My team collaborates via chat and wants to use forums
• I need to be able to see what’s coming up and plan for it
• I’m willing to pay for a project management service
• A service that connects to a CRM and many other products is appealing to me and my team
• I want to be able to see how much of a task is completed so I can coach my team around getting it done
• My team needs to track their time spent (we often bill by the hour)

Zoho is a powerhouse of programs, all brought to you by the Google family. Zoho Projects is just one of the many offerings and, as such, it can connect to all of the the others. The biggest thing that Zoho has that none of the others listed here have is time tracking. The chat feature is friendly and fun too. Yeah, Zoho is a Google gem.

Need more? Or maybe even less? Here are two additional support options:

Google Drive

• I want to be able to share editable documents with my clients
• I use surveys and forms regularly
• Cloud access is key – I need to get to my documents from anywhere I go
• I already use Google products I need something that’s free

Dropbox

• My team and I share a variety of file types regularly
• Cloud access is key – I need to get to my documents from anywhere I go
• I want to be able to share individual documents and entire folders full of many docs, all by sending a link
• I only need a small amount of storage space and I’m willing to pay for an upgrade for more storage
• I like sharing products I use regularly with my community and I really like being rewarded with extra space and bonuses

Now that the guesswork is gone, it’s just a matter of knowing what you like, the way your brain works, and making a choice. Don’t spend more than 20 minutes or so choosing a system here. Get one in place, get in and start adding your projects, and maintain clear, open communication with your incredible new clients!

So, tell me, what’s YOUR favorite project management tool? 

Don’t forget to take a moment to pin, tweet, and share with other creative business owners you love. And be sure to follow along on Bloglovin’ as I share my answers to the top questions I’m asked every single day.