10 (Plus) Great Free eBooks: My Top Picks for Freelancers
Posted October 6, 2010 in Tools/Resources
Is there a question about freelancing that you can’t quite figure out, but are afraid to ask? Maybe you’re considering starting a freelance business, but you’re not quite sure that you know enough to get started.
You need some help finding your answers. Fortunately, we’re going to help you find those answers to your questions.
Of course, at Freelance Folder we’ve already created a few really great resources to help you start freelancing and to help you learn more about freelancing. But, as we’ve pointed out before on this blog, there are also a lot of other resources available to help freelancers that don’t cost a thing.
In this post, I’ll list ten free eBooks (plus a few bonus eBooks) that can help you succeed as a freelancer. These eBooks range in length from a few dozen pages to a few hundred pages, but all of them contain useful information that I think you’ll like.
Free eBook Resources
Listed below, in no particular order, are some free eBook resources that I believe most freelancers will benefit from:
- Using the Social Web to Find Work by Chris Brogan. Finding work is something every freelancer is interested in. Although this short guide (19 pages) is several years old, it still does an excellent job of covering the basics of finding work through social media.
- Personal Branding by Chris Brogan. Another short guide (15 pages) from Chris Brogan that freelancers may find useful. This one covers the basics of personal branding, which is something that every freelancer needs to understand.
- What Matters Now by Seth Godin. This free 82-page eBook from Seth Godin is a collection of thoughts and quotes from well-known bloggers and thinkers on important topics. Each topic is about a page long. Use this book for inspiration.
- Getting Started in Blogging from Sharon Hurley Hall. This great resource (53 pages) takes you step by step through the process of creating your own blog to the end goals of monetizing your blog and/or running your blog as a business. I found this book to be very readable.
- More Time Now: Time Management Made Simple Again from Dave Navarro. Time management is one of the biggest problems freelancers face. Dave understands the time challenge freelancers face and addresses the problem in this free 40-page resource.
- The Web Book from Robert Schifreen is a free guide (over 300 pages) to creating a website from scratch. I found this to be a very detailed book on how to build websites. If you need to know more about creating websites, or even if you already knowledgeable in the area, this is a great reference to keep on hand.
- Guide to Guerilla Freelancing. In this compact eBook (22 pages), Mike Smith packs in information on how to start your freelancing business for a minimum amount of money, red flags to look out for, benefits and drawbacks to freelancing, and more.
- 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. This great resource from Michael Stelzner summarizes results from 1900 survey respondents. Learn how to use social media effectively. Although this short report (33 pages) is based on survey information, if you depend on social media in any way this is worth reading.
- Startup 101: Introducing Our Serialized “How to Build a Startup” Book. Rather than an eBook you can download, this resource from ReadWriteStart is an online book that you can read chapter by chapter (or rather, post by post). The link above takes you to the table of contents.
- Seek and Destroy eBook by Peter Shallard. This 61-page eBook discusses some of the common obstacles entrepreneurs face and explains how to overcome them. If your business is stuck and you can’t figure out why, Peter may have the answer.
Bonus: Time Management for Creative People by Mark McGuinness from Wishful Thinking. Do you struggle to find enough time to get everything done? This book is here to help. Over 30 pages on how to manage your time better. (I like that it’s directed to creative people, because I think that fits most freelancers.)
Second Bonus: Web Designer’s Success Guide from airGid media (kevin airgid). I was a little skeptical about this eBook since I was unfamiliar with the author. However, this eBook came highly recommended. I found its 81 pages to be full of business tips for web designers.
Your Turn
I’ve shared over ten excellent free eBooks with you. However, the web is vast and I’m sure that I’ve missed a few good resources.
What is your favorite free eBook for freelancing? Leave your answers in the comments.
Image by DeaPeaJay
Related posts:
- 3 Killer Ebooks For Your Reading Pleasure
- Free Report: Why Some Freelancers Thrive and Others Barely Survive
- How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer – Free Copies Anyone?
- 50+ Free Resources for Writers, Bloggers, And Other Freelancers
- We All Love Free Stuff – Give Some Away And Get More Business
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
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45 Comments
Eddie Garrison
October 6th, 2010 at 10:46 amThanks for all the great ebooks to check out. I’m going to be checking several of them out today and in the future as referrences. Thanks again.
Jen @ Adrinah Design
October 6th, 2010 at 10:54 amLaura,
Great list of resources and I love that they’re free! I’m reading Personal Branding by Chris Brogan. So far, so good!
Thanks for getting this list together and sharing with us.
Jen
Eko
October 6th, 2010 at 11:07 amWow, really useful list…I am interesting with the topic about time management.
Thanks Laura
John Soares
October 6th, 2010 at 11:15 amLaura, you have some excellent finds here.
I’m choosing what’s most important to me now, and at the top of the list is Chris Brogan’s Personal Branding.
Kari
October 6th, 2010 at 11:23 amMark McGuinness also has “How to Motivate Creative People (Including Yourself): http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2009/01/05/how-to-motivate-creative-people/
And his new Creative Pathfinder free e-course on his Wishful Thinking and Lateral Action site.
Laura Spencer
October 6th, 2010 at 11:44 amThanks for all the comments!
I love books (and ebooks), and not only are these written by some of the leaders in their respective fields, but they’re FREE!
Kari,
Thanks for mentioning Mark’s other book. Actually, most of these authors have multiple books. :)
Chameleon Dsgn
October 6th, 2010 at 2:54 pmWhat a great list,, thanks for share…
Kevin Airgid
October 6th, 2010 at 2:54 pmHey, thanx for posting my book here. I hope you all find it useful. I’ve pondered writing a new edition but just haven’t had the time. There still seems to be alot of interest in it. I’ve been freelance for almost 9 years now so I have even more content for a new book, but the time the time!
Sean McVey
October 6th, 2010 at 4:26 pmThis free ebook is on marketing and branding for professional services. I would check it out if you are a business owner or marketing director and want free research on how people buy services: http://spiralingupbook.com/
Laura Spencer
October 6th, 2010 at 4:53 pmKevin Airgid–No problem! :) I’m happy to include your book along with these other valuable resources for freelancers. Do let us know if you update it.
Sean McVey, Thanks for sharing your resource. It does look interesting.
Adam
October 6th, 2010 at 7:24 pmGuess who just filled up his iBookshelf?
I’ve also gotten a lot of good info from PhotoShelter’s reading materials available from
http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/
Stephanie
October 6th, 2010 at 9:15 pmAwesome list here Laura! This gets a happy star from me. I’m sure a lot of freelancers will find these useful. :)
Mizan
October 6th, 2010 at 11:31 pmGreat list Laura. I had web designers success guide . now got few more. Thanks , your post is a must check :)
Irene creates
October 7th, 2010 at 7:42 amThanks so much for sharing these wonderful lists!
Sarwat
October 7th, 2010 at 7:59 amThanks Laura u r an angel 2 share such awesome resources :)
Freelance FactFile
October 7th, 2010 at 8:52 amI wrote a free report earlier in the year called 21 Freelance Challenges and How to Overcome Them. I know I’m blowing my own trumpet here but my freelance friends have told me they found it useful. Here’s the link: http://www.freelancefactfile.com Simply type your email address into the box in the top right hand corner of my home page to get your free copy.
OfficeCavalry
October 7th, 2010 at 9:14 amThis will be a great help for many when starting their freelancing business! Nothing better than free help and advice! :)
Arun
October 7th, 2010 at 9:26 amThanks for that one. I am going through them one by one..
The Freelance Geek
October 7th, 2010 at 10:36 amMore goodies for my iPad. Thanks!
James Fraleigh
October 7th, 2010 at 12:30 pmGreat collection! I’ve only read Godin’s, but I look forward to snacking on the others if they measure up to his. Thanks!
Rasmus P.
October 7th, 2010 at 5:05 pmRecently i made an article about some of the best e-books from the envato network.
Check it out @ http://www.rpgrafik.com
Sharon Hurley Hall
October 7th, 2010 at 5:57 pmThanks for including my ebook on the list, Laura. I found Mike Stelzner’s book really interesting and am a big fan of Dave Navarro’s free resources. I’m off to check out some of the others.
Alison Rowan
October 7th, 2010 at 7:44 pmI’m downloading nearly all of these! Thanks for the great resource. As a tip to others, I find ebooks so much more useful now that I’ve got my ebook reader. I can’t stand reading long documents on a screen, and with ones available under $150, now, they really are worthwhile investments. Happy reading, all. :)
Jennifer Mattern
October 8th, 2010 at 9:35 amSome great finds there Laura. I’ve read a few of these, but hadn’t heard of some others. Gives me something else to add to my to-do list next week. :)
Just to add to the list, we actually have three free e-books for freelance writers over at AllFreelanceWriting.com in our exclusive freebies section – http://allfreelancewriting.com/free-stuff-for-writers/
1. How to Write an E-book in Just 14 Days
2. You CAN Attract New Freelance Writing Clients (Even During a Recession)!
3. Press Releases Made Easy (this is one I used to sell through my PR firm but now give away for free, and applies to all freelancers wanting to get the word out about their businesses)
I hope someone finds them useful!
Laura Spencer
October 8th, 2010 at 10:12 amThanks to everyone who commented! :)
A special thanks to all of those who added their own resources.
tuba
December 26th, 2010 at 8:40 amAs always, nice and thank you for the list. Bookmarked!
pranav
September 22nd, 2011 at 11:46 pmthanks Laura for sharing these great ebooks, I have started reading couple of them.
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