A few weeks ago I received the book The Principles of Successful Freelancing, for winning the Golden Post Award at SitePoint Forums (thanks guys). Just a few hours ago I finished it, and I’m now writing a review while it’s still fresh in my mind.
Image from SitePoint.com.
This is post 29 of 30 for #30daysofcreativity.
It’s a great book—it’s fantastic. Anyone thinking about diving into freelancing should definitely read it since it goes through the basics of what you need to know and do to get a good start.
It teaches the basics and it covers all the bases very well. Everything from picking out office furniture to expanding and taking on staff, or outsource work to fellow freelancers. Along the way, it offers some very useful tips once in a while to keep things interesting.
Recommendations include looking for second-hand furniture for your office, how to stay connected online, how to stay away from loneliness while working from home, and preventing burnout in general.
You may say that this is all common sense, and you’d be right. That’s my only part negative opinion about the book. I say “part negative” since it’s really not at all negative when you think of it.
A book on successful principles of freelancing should really cover all the basics of preparing, starting and running a business—even if it’s common sense, because common sense differs between people. As mentioned, this book does that job really well.
Generally, the further into the book you get, the more interesting things will get. Especially if you have already began your freelance career. Which brings me to: this book is not only for those in the planning stage. It’ll be almost equally useful for anyone who, like me, is already there.
For example, I’ve gotten some recommendations on ways to acquire new clients, more things I can do to maintain client relationships as well as review the foundation of my business. Perhaps more importantly, the book spawned a lot of ideas and it can be a valuable reference to go back to in the future.
If you’re thinking about starting out on your own, then this book is for you. Don’t hesitate, just buy it. It’s well worth the money if you want to learn how to run a successful business.
And by the way, SitePoint and the SitePoint Team rocks! Special thanks to HAWK for providing me with the book.
