Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280828 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 185 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780980455243
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Miles Burke has been involved in designing and developing websites since 1994. In 2002 Miles became the Managing Director of Bam Creative, his design studio located Western Australia. He serves as Chairperson of the Australian Web Industry Association, and was a winner of the "2007 Top 40 under 40" award by Business News.

Customer Reviews

Real Practical Freelance Advice
Being a freelancer is the new black. It's just a crazy fun loving world where nothing can go wrong. Well as a crusty old freelancer I can tell you that's far from the truth.

Well Miles Burke in his new book The Principles of Successful Freelancing discusses just that. Miles is no stranger to making the leap into world of freelancing having done it three times.

When I first picked up this book, I'll be honest, I was a little skeptical. But I found this is a good book. It's well written with an entertaining layback style all it's own. I can just imagine Miles sitting back in a cafe or coffee shop chatting about freelancing. You could easily read this book on 4-5 hour plane flight.

This book is squarely aimed at the person who is considering getting into freelancing or has just started. It covers off all aspects of the freelancers life cycle, such as:

* From starting out and a hard look at oneself, are you cut out to be a freelancer.
* Preparing for the transition from regular work to freelancing, and all the things you really need to think about (but don't).
* Finances, making sure you really do stay in business and keep a positive cash flow.
* Productivity, time tracking, getting into that productivity zone and not being distracted.
* Selling, winning work and understanding how to sell. Something all freelances fear at some stage.
* Customer service, or keeping the client, project management made simple, and dealing with difficult clients.
* Lifestyle, work habits, life balance are discussed, this is huge area that I know freelancers cut corners on.
* Expansion, life beyond freelancing, the final stepping stone on the way for a freelancer, be that back into employment, or expansion using outsourcing or your own staff.

You know what's really good and annoying too (well for me) with this book; it is just full of all those tips and tricks that I just wish some freelancing mentor had told me all those years ago in the previous century when I started freelancing.

I enjoyed this book to the point that I found myself nodding and smiling as Miles waxed on with another aspect of freelancing, pointing out the pitfalls along the way. And sometimes I was wincing as I realised that after 14 years in the game I've still got a few things even I can improve on.

The one thing I didn't like, and this was just me, is it was it had a few too many lists in places. It made me think I was checking off my freelancing skills all the time. But really that was a very minor point.

Overall, highly recommended, if you are a new freelancer, or old one, or maybe just considering freelancing, get this book, read it. Act on it, it's a great reference source, then later on, reread it.

But you know with this book, it's now a little bit easier.

I'm very glad I read this book, it was useful, informative, and well done.
In the past, I have worked for others. More recently, I have run my own business. A few months ago, I closed that business and moved back to the U.S.A. and am currently doing a little bit of freelance work, writing mostly, just until I begin my grad school program.

My experience with freelancing has been mixed, primarily because I have discovered that I have some gaps in my knowledge.

To see if I could get some help, I picked up this book. While the book is focused on working as a website designer, the main principles should apply to most fields. That is good. I have done some website design, but the bulk of my freelance work has been writing for books and magazines, or consulting.

I have enjoyed reading this book. In short, the content is about 20% pep talk, 20% reality check, with the remaining 60% being great advice and useful information.

Obviously, no book will ensure that anyone will be a success at freelancing, but I could have used the information in this book a long time ago, before I started my last business. That business was successful, but I would have benefited greatly from the insights in this book, and in retrospect, I would have done several things differently.

The Principles of Successful Freelancing gives great advice about what is really needed to be successful working for yourself. It starts by having you ask yourself the right questions to determine your attitude, your capabilities, and to make sure your perspective and expectations of the process are realistic. It then moves into practical steps of preparing for the transition from employee to self-employed, managing your finances, preparing your work space, finding and keeping clients, and so on. It even has a great chapter about learning how to find and maintain a healthy work and life balance as well as advice for making the transition in reverse, if you find this isn't the life for you.

At my current stage of life, I don't expect freelance work to be much more than a side project. That doesn't mean I will never go back to working for myself, or starting a business with a partner or two, but for the moment I am content to do a bit of writing here and there to earn some extra income and prepare to do something else as my main source of money. This book has many good tips for freelancing part time as well, and has been well worth the time I spent reading it.

a must-read for anyone considering freelance work
Excellent book on what to consider when moving into freelance work. Clear and concise, offering tons of useful advice, aimed squarely at either those new to freelancing or those considering a move.

It asks the reader to consider if they are ready to make the move into freelance work, as well as all the preparation necessary to do it successfully. Some of the advice is aimed more towards the US market, but the core principles apply, and the information is presented in such a way that it's easy to follow. Sections on managing finances (determining costs/charge rates), setting up your business, winning work and managing work/life balance are interlinked with a case study following two typical freelancers.

The book is packed with excellent references to resources on the web, and I spent a fair bit of time flitting between the two.

As Justin said in another review, this book could do with a follow-up volume for those having made the move, at a deeper level.

Highly recommended for those making the switch though.