To be able to spend time doing what you love, you to need to earn a living from it. Yet nothing can kill a creative buzz faster than grappling with business administration. It's an age-old juggling trick: how to make great art, fund oneself and plan ahead for the future. Luckily there are now some wonderful widgets on the Webtop to take the pain out of the processes.

To be able to spend time doing what you love, you to need to earn a living from it. Yet nothing can kill a creative buzz faster than grappling with business administration. It's an age-old juggling trick: how to make great art, fund oneself and plan ahead for the future. Luckily there are now some wonderful widgets on the Webtop to take the pain out of the processes. Applications to help you plan, collaborate, and get paid, leaving you free to spend time with your Muse, and still eat at the end of the day.

The useful thing about Webtop applications is that they run through your web browser. You don't need the newest, fastest machine, just a stable internet connection. It no longer matters whether you're on a PC or Mac, and because your data is stored online, you no longer have to worry about back-ups. You can easily share documents and collaborate with other creatives, no matter where they're based.

Many Webtop tools offer a free basic service. Subscription levels start at around US $5-$12 a month for more features. Plans are usually flexible and allow you to scale up and down. They also make it easy to migrate your data if a better service comes along. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Webtop and a new way of working.

Web Browser

First you need a browser to view the Webtop with. My favourite is the flexible Firefox and here's some of the best Firefox add-ons. Free.

News

With Real Simple Syndication (RSS), you can now subscribe to news feeds and be sent headlines to a Feed Reader. I use Google Reader and our editor Cass recommends Netvibes. Free.

Planning

If you have never written a business plan before check out the online planner from New Zealand company Plan HQ. Free 30-day trial - starts at US$9 a month.

Project Management

We use Basecamp at Mohawk Media to manage all our creative projects. A real sanity saver. Free Basic Account. Starts at US$12 a month.

Documents & Collaboration

If you use Gmail then Google Docs & Spreadsheets is great. Zoho also has an impressive suite of office tools. For hosting and sharing files, Scribd is excellent. Google Docs & Scribd is free, as are most Zoho applications.

Meetings

Campfire is useful for formal online meetings, and integrates with Basecamp. Zoho Meeting has similar features and can be embedded into your blog, wiki or web page. Free Basic Account. Starts at US$12 a month.

Backups

For saving the documents on your desktop there are online backup systems, such as Carbonite or Mozy (which gives you 2GB for free). For picture hosting, try Flickr or Picasa. Free or Free Trial. Hosting plans US$49.95 a year.

Time Tracking

It's essential to record time spent on projects as you go. Toggl is a handy timetracker that won't break your flow. Free Basic Plan.

Billing

Blinksale is a lifesaver at Mohawk Media. Through it we can track time as we go, create and send invoices, and official-looking payment reminders. US$12 a month for a Basic Account.

Money

Once the money is in your account it's essential to track where it's spent. We use the free Wesabe with its excellent tagging system and supporting community. For more money management tools check out this mega list.

There's hope too for Kiwis on modem connections in rural areas, who are stuck with using desktop applications. With the advent of Ajax applications and Google Gears, we're going to see lots more of these web tools working even while you're offline. Eventually you'll be able to carry your entire business in your pocket, and it might be sooner than you think.

As William Gibson said: "The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed yet".