If you are new to freelancing or your idea of bookkeeping is a pile of paper scraps that you keep jammed in the back of your desk, then Rockable Press’s latest book, Finance for Freelancers, will make for valuable reading.

What’s Inside?

The truth of the matter is, most of us could care less when it comes to the questions of finance in our freelance business. Isn’t bookkeeping just something to put off until that sick feeling in your stomach forces you to do a marathon session of filling, itemizing, balancing, and…I think I’m going to be sick.

I mean even look at the word “bookkeeping”. It’s just begging for a hyphen and there it is just sitting there looking stupid with its double k’s. It’s just so smug.

Well, there’s good news on the horizon! You no longer have to be a bookkeeping bigot like myself. Author Martha Retallick is here to save your bacon with a little Finance 101 in her book: Finance for Freelancers. This book is designed to help introduce new freelancers to the wide world of managing your business’ money. And for those dragging their heels, the book will deliver a swift kick in the freelance derrière.

Truth be told, a lot of creative freelancers don’t like to deal with the financial side of their businesses. This aversion to accounting can lead to bills stacking up, checking accounts going unbalanced, invoices not being sent, and clients not paying.

Martha goes step by step through the basics on setting up your business with a solid accounting foundation. From bookkeeping to picking out an accountant, the book will give you a great introduction to some of the things you should be thinking about, and the areas you’re going to want to address so that you don’t find yourself buried under a mountain of paperwork, or even worse, a mountain of debt. Continue Reading

It’s been almost a year now since I did my last business card template roundup. As design trends tend to come and go, I thought it might be a good time to have another.

Here’s are a few of my favorite business card templates from our sister site GraphicRiver. Enjoy! Continue Reading

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a skeptical person when it comes to the value of most forms of social networking. While there always seems to be stories of a friend of a friend who is landing clients with Facebook, I’ve yet to see most social networks as little more than a way to connect with your peers or a way to waste a huge amount of time.

Part of my problem is that I have never really invested in creating a strong social presence or spent the time on learning how connection points like Facebook can be run to deliver value to potential clients. So before I write off Facebook completely I figured I should learn a little more about it. For this reason I was looking forward to Rockable Presses’ most recent book Successful Facebook Marketing.
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I realize this may sound a bit absurd, but I don’t know Guy Kawasaki from Adam. In fact, I think I know Adam a whole lot better. So when the girl who was looking after our house mentioned that a book had arrived for me, and it was written by some “Apple dude”, my curiosity was piqued.

I’m happy to say that Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki is worth a read. Even if it was written by some Apple dude.

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I recently returned from a two month stay in Japan, where along with a bit of networking, I made sure to hand out a few business cards. Just a few days ago I received my first potential client contact from one of the cards I handed out. It further proved to me that the power of business cards has not diminished even in this digital age.

Here are a few standout business card templates from GraphicRiver that may get you kick started if you’ve been holding out on getting your business cards done. Sorry about the watermarking, but if you squint a bit you can make it go away

1. BlackDot Business Card

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Nothing quite matches the convenience of exchanging contact information like handing out your business card. Paperless office or not, business cards are still pretty darn useful.

So here are a few great choices from the Creattica network to give you a little inspiration to make your next business card design really stand out!

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It seems to be the natural evolution of the freelancer that sooner or later we all try our hand at photography. While we may never classify ourselves as anything more than a photo hobbyist, we all strive to improve our photography skills.

The new Rockable Press book How to Take Great Photos with Whatever Camera you Got is here to help!

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From expert advice by members of the freelance community to hard cold numbers on what’s happening on the freelance scene from around the globe, Freelance Confidential tells all.

FreelanceSwitch editor Amanda Hackwith uncovers the facts and myths about freelancing and reveals some of the numbers and tips that keep freelancers on the top of their game.

The book is available from Rockable Press in eBook format for $29 and paperback for $34.99 from Amazon.

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Credit: @Saigon on Flickr

As I sit here in the Melbourne Airport, it’s starting to dawn on me that I’ve been looking at travel and freelancing with decidedly rose-colored glasses.

Up to this point I have always thought that working while on the move was a relatively simple thing. With the world-wide penetration of wireless, moving throughout the world with your laptop should be a snap.

The reality is, it makes me want to chew glass.

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Photo Credit: bernat... on Flickr

Motivational posters have graced the offices of businesses throughout the world. They typically contain an inspiring word followed by text designed to grab you by the neck and shake you into action.

They make me sick every time I look at one. So here are a few de-motivational posters to abase and darken your freelance office with. Warning, humor lurks ahead.
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Starting out on your freelancing career can be a daunting task for just about anyone. From registering your business name to setting up your accounts, there can be a lot of stress when making those first important decisions.

One question the FreelanceSwitch forum gets frequently asked is: what should you use to invoice your clients? So we thought we would take a look at one straightforward invoicing service called – Blinksale.
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Well, this is it people. You’ve read Part 1 and Part 2 of our Crazy Comment Personality Guide. Although there is a heap more crazy on the Internet, this week we’re going to wrap up our tour of the crazy comment personality types you will most likely face on your blog.

Hopefully you have learned through these articles how to identify these special people and deal with them. Feel free to use your knowledge to root them out and step all over their dreams.

** Warning – this article may contain humor **
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