Name: The Freelancer's Bible
ISBN: 9780761164883

Sara Horowitz

Provides a guide for how to make a living freelancing, including how to handle taxes, grow a business, and market effectively.

The Freelancer's Bible

Chris Raastad

This book is a pretty good starting place for everything you need to know to start your journey as a freelancer. It's relatively useful for all stages of the freelancing journey but particularly useful for those who are thinking about freelancing or just starting out. The book is mostly USA focused, particularly in healthcare, retirement savings accounts, taxes and business incorporation, but about 60-70% of the content can be useful for freelancers in other countries. The book is slightly outdated, from 2012, so some knowledge is a bit behind where there have been massive developments in the last 8 years, i.e. coworking spaces, accounting and tax software, and the overall increase in freelance portals and contract work.

Overview of topics useful for readers:
* Getting started
* Office setup
* Freelance portfolio - organizing clients and projects into blue-chip clients, potentially good clients, work for just getting by, and self-development/future building.
* Getting clients - building your love bank
* Closing the deal - contract negotiation and terms
* Troubleshooting
* Marketing yourself, online and offline
* How to grow yourself, constantly raising your rate or clientele, subcontracting
* Building community
* Managing your business - incorporation and US taxes (including a long list of all the tax documents you should read)
* Time management and mental health

Overall, I think it's a pretty good start for freelancing and a useful reference to keep on the shelf. I found the sections on grouping your clients/projects into 4 types, building you love bank, and advice on taxes and business to be useful.