There are plenty of places to find information online about running a business and starting out as a freelancer or entrepreneur. We gathered 10 of the very best resources to get you started.
Seth Godin’s Blog
Seth Godin is a business guru. His material is remarkably well written (it should be – his books sell millions of copies), and you can find loads of free and actionable advice on his blog here.
Tim Ferriss’ blog
Tim’s book The 4-Hour Workweek is something of a freelance/entrepreneurial/digital nomad bible. His blog is full of tons of extra information which he gives away for free. We don’t always agree with Tim, and we think it’s going to be very hard for a freelancer or entrepreneur to work only four hours a week, but a lot of his information is simply superb. See more here.
Nomad List
Nomad List finds you the best places in the world to live and work remotely, based on cost of living, internet speed, weather and other metrics. The site also offers an active chat community if you have specific questions or want to help others learn from your experiences. It’s an excellent resource for digital nomads.
Making it Anywhere Blog
Making it Anywhere is run by Mish and Rob—two highly experienced nomads who’ve worked in a lot of places. They offer a lot of decent commonsense advice that really resonates with us.
Become Nomad Blog
You’ll find some great advice here—for newbie and experienced nomads alike—including lots of very honest analyses of the lifestyle in both its positive and negative dimensions.
Harry Brignull’s – So you want to be a UX freelancer?
This is full of some really great advice on assessing when to make the break into UX freelancing specifically. Harry offers some other useful stuff on his site—but this article is really valuable to UXers.
Work Made for Hire – Katie Lane’s Blog
Katie Lane offers some wonderfully creative advice and is wonderfully creative herself. You get the feeling that Katie really knows her stuff and has been there, done it and bought the T-shirt. See here.
The Freelancer’s Union
This website is all about promoting freelancers’ rights. It’s packed with cool resources, and it gives you a community of like-minded folks to hang out with—can’t ask for more than that, right?
Copyblogger
It’s perhaps the best copywriting resource in town. Even designers need to write copy—and there’s a ton of free stuff here to get you heading in the right direction. There’s a reason Copyblogger is the most popular writing resource online... and you’ll figure it out straightaway.
Freelance Folder
The most popular freelance blog on the web, according to Upwork; it’s not pretty—but there’s plenty of very useful stuff to be found there, plus a huge community. Find out more here.
Useful Books for Digital Nomads and Freelancers
You can find all these books on Amazon (and we’re pretty certain on other booksellers’ websites, too) by their title and author. We don’t work for Amazon, and we don’t take affiliate commissions, either, so we’ve no direct links.
The 4-Hour Workweek – Tim Ferriss
You knew this one was coming, right? It’s the handbook of making life easier, reaching your goals, working effectively and living it your way.
Vagabonding – Ralf Potts
This is a useful handbook to keep when you first start travelling – it prepares you for all the eventualities you might come across with some good humour thrown in.
The Laptop Millionaire – Mark Anastasi
It features some cool strategies for getting an internet-based business off the ground. There are times when it lays it on a little thick—but it’s a great resource nonetheless.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
What will you do when the money starts rolling in? If your long-term objective is never to work at all—Robert’s advice will help you think about how you can prepare for that wonderful day.
Virtual Freedom – Chris Ducker
Chris Ducker’s step-by-step guide to building an outsourced digital nomad-style business is considered to be something of a classic, and—more to the point—it shows how quickly you can grow your business if you want to.
Creative Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business – Meg Ilasco and Joy Cho
Here we have a very simple companion guide for the first-time freelancer from two people who’ve built their business in the recent past.
Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers – Eva Bruck and Tad Crawford
Save time, effort and money, and pick up all the legal and business paperwork you might need for a very reasonable price.
Flow – Mihaly Csikzewntmihalyi
Need to get the work done?—Then read Flow and learn how to keep your attention focused and your business productive.
The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg
It’s a great companion to Flow. Charles walks you through the process of breaking unhelpful habits in your life and replacing them with useful ones. While not directly freelance related, it will still help you to run a better business.
Tribes – Seth Godin
Want to succeed? Find your tribe. Seth Godin’s work shows you just how easy it is to create a market-leading brand for you and your business.
The Take Away
There are endless resources out there for digital nomads, entrepreneurs and freelancers. Those offered in this section are a starting point – they aren’t the only way to go. Always take a little time to evaluate the development opportunities in front of you—and don’t try to do too much development at once. You still need to spend most of your time running your business.
One last thing from Seth Godin: “If failure is not an option, then neither is success.” Use these resources to dream and dare to do something. Sure, you might fail, but—then again—you might succeed and in a year’s time – your name might be among the resources we offer here. Dream; think; research; plan; do; fine-tune; work well, and enjoy each day.
References
Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Rikke Friis Dam and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-ND.
