Posts Tagged ‘freelance book’

Taking Time to Plan

Jan 12, 2009 Excerpts

This is an excerpt from the book, The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Sample chapters are available for downloading from this page.

“Failures don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan,” says best-selling author and business motivational speaker, Harvey MacKay.

If you are planning to start freelancing part-time, you should have the time to put together all of the plans and start saving for the just-in-case rainy-day money. On the other hand, if you plan to move straight into full-time freelancing, remember that you’ll have those looming deadlines as soon as you take on projects. Even so, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore planning or preparation.

For most people, the concept of business planning is likely to provoke a jaw-dislocating yawn. However, it’s much more productive to welcome this as an exciting time, where you start to understand where you really want to travel on this freelance path. The world really is your oyster—you’ve made the emotional commitment, perhaps you already have some prospective clients lined up, and you may have already done much of this planning work in the back of your mind. It’s invaluable to take a little time to write these thoughts and plans down, for future reference and as a way to refine and catalogue your thoughts.

Many freelancers and small businesses fail in their first few years, and it’s widely agreed by experts that the number-one reason for such failure is because those business had little or no form of planning. This planning document doesn’t need to be a huge tome of numbers and words; it really is the summation of what you have been thinking, committed to paper.

This document is where you start to list known and unknown areas of your plans, so you can elaborate on them over time. A good business plan is an evolving one, so don’t consider it a chore to be completed in an hour and then stuck in a desk drawer and forgotten about.

There is a myriad of web sites dedicated to sharing templates and ideas about what they consider a great business plan. Perhaps the most important element of a business plan is that you remain actively involved with it. Review it frequently, adjusting and editing it where required—especially during those first few months.

Your plan could be just a few pages, or it could be dozens, but unless you have grand plans to circulate it for investors or financial institutions to read, avoid using buzzwords and reams of useless blue-sky figures. The plan is for your eyes only, so keep it succinct and to the point, and an honest appraisal of the “who, what, when, and how” of your plans.

There are many elaborate methods for writing a solid business plan, but let’s start by creating a text document, and answering what questions we can from the list in Example 1, “Business Planning Questions”. For those questions to which you don’t know the answer yet, just write the question, reminding yourself to add that material as you go.

Remember, plans change, so at this stage your efforts are likely to be more crystal-ball gazing than actual fact. You’ll expand on the plan, filling it out in more detail as you work your way through this book and progress over the first weeks and months of freelancing. And it’s fine to add other notes besides the questions included here—even if they’re rough dot points, the more notes the better!

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First Bookstore Sighting

Jan 9, 2009 Book

 

The first photograph to make it’s way to me is from long time friend, Kim Davies, who spotted the book in the Barnes & Noble Manhatta Beach store, Manhattan Gateway Shopping Centre, Manhattan Beach, CA.

Strangely, it was located in the ‘Windows & Office Applications’ section, tucked between Excel and Access titles.

Have you seen the book in your local store? Please take a photo and email it to me - it’s a buzz to see the book on shelves around the world.

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Win a signed copy of the book!

Dec 24, 2008 Promotion

I need your help; just five minutes of your time, and to thank you, I’ll enter you in a draw to win a signed copy of the book, posted to wherever you are in the world.

How? I’ve been inviting smart people I know in the industry to submit fifty words as a tip or hint to freelancers, and a 30 word biography about themselves. You can see them all here. We’ve heard some great tips, and there’s plenty more in the book itself, but what I really want to hear is YOUR hints and tips.

Writing a total of eighty words shouldn’t take you long, and you’ll be helping all the readers of this blog with your experience. I’ll publish the best of the tips here on this blog, and between now and the end of January, I’ll be asking two of my colleagues to help choose one tip they think stands out, and I’ll personally inscribe and post a copy of the book to the winner.

You have until January 31st to send your entry - by submitting the entry via email (send it to ‘me at milesburke dot com dot au’), I’ll assume you give me permission to publish it here, with due credit of course.

I trust you’re already working on that entry, and good luck!

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More reviews

Dec 18, 2008 Book

On December 3, I was excited to share details about the first three reviews that I’d read about The Principles of Successful Freelancing, and it’s about time I shared some more.

Scott Scheper, a VC in Orange County, CA, reviewed the book on scottdig.com;

I highly suggest this book for anyone interested in dabbling in the freelance world. Whether you’re doing some side-project freelance work, or you’re a full-time freelancer, this book is a must. It’s pretty much the freelancer’s bible.

John Lampard also took the time to pen a review on disassociated.com, where he writes;

In summary, this is an all encompassing and highly readable guide to all aspects of freelancing. Whether you are considering taking the plunge, have recently started out, or are even a seasoned pro, this book is a worthwhile read.

Russ Weakley, an Author himself, wrote about the book on his blog;

The book is ideal for those who are about to enter the world of freelancing. It’s easy to read - only took around 4 hours to read cover to cover - and yet it’s packed with a lot of great information.

Thanks Scott, John and Russ for sharing your thoughts about the book with others, and for taking the time to pen a review.

If you’ve read The Principles of Successful Freelancing, I encourage you to write a review about the book yourself - let me know where youve posted it, and I’d love a chance to read it!

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…and the book is now for Sale!

Dec 10, 2008 Announcements

It’s been quite a journey so far, and yet a major milestone was reached today, with the book being released a few hours ago, and available for sale via SitePoint and other (online and offline) bookstores.

As a result, the Buy the Book and Download Free Sample pages of this blog have now been updated with the correct links, or you can just click right here to go to the book pages, over at SitePoint.

Now the real fun begins - reading customer reviews, participating in discussion generated by the book, and shouting from the rooftops ‘My book is now for sale!’.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. I appreciate it!

Cheers,

Miles.

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