Rockable Press is very proud to announce the launch of our newest book, LinkedIn and Lovin’ It!

Why a LinkedIn book? LinkedIn veteran and FreelanceSwitch writer Susan Johnston was encouraged to write a guide on LinkedIn after noticing something: “Although LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for freelancers and other creative professionals, I noticed that much of the information on LinkedIn is geared towards job-seekers. So, I decided to create my own guide specifically tailored to people who consult, freelance, or own a business.” In LinkedIn and Lovin’ It, Susan Johnston teaches you how to build a rock solid LinkedIn network that can be a constant source for recommendations and referrals. Advice includes:

• Setting up every aspect of your profile to bank on maximum response.
• Build your network to reach your next top client, employer, or partner.
• Build your profile to get your work in the spotlight.
• Do research on the competition & companies, find jobs, gather data.

Interested? Head over to the Rockable Press page to download a free 14 page sample! LinkedIn and Lovin’ It is available in three DRM-free ebook formats (epub, mobi, and pdf) for only $17. Join Rockable Press’s LinkedIn Group to get an additional voucher for $3 off!

We’ve had a few posts recently discussing the usefulness of networking sites like LinkedIn for freelancers: 5 Reasons to Use LinkedIn, Are You Getting Clients on LinkedIn? And over on Rockable Press’s own LinkedIn Group, we’ve had a fantastic discussion full of tips for freelancers looking to network. Read on for some of the tips from our readers!

Since I’m a FreelanceSwitch writer, I have to keep coming up with ideas for articles. Since LinkedIn is one of those places where you have to write in order to communicate, it’s a great generator of raw material. Say someone asks a question, I answer it, and I happen to think that my answer is pretty clever. (It’s one of those writer things. We all think that what we say is pretty clever.)

So, I take said clever answer, do the copy and paste thing, and there it is, the germ of another FreelanceSwitch article. Call it the LinkedIn Forced Writing Plan. (Martha Retallick)

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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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We’re very proud to announce the release of Freelance Confidential, Rockable Press’s newest book on freelancing. This book aims to provide the hard numbers on the biggest issues of freelancing and advice on how experienced freelancers can improve their business. More than just another single person’s view on freelancing, Freelance Confidential contains contributions from the Editor of FreelanceSwitch, Amanda Hackwith (that’s me!), a panel of expert entrepreneurs and freelancers, and YOU, the FreelanceSwitch community!

Last winter, we asked readers of FreelanceSwitch to contribute to a global survey on freelancing–over 3,200 of you responded! Get those statistics and you’ll learn the real numbers on the biggest questions which revealed some surprising new trends for the freelance industry. Did you know…?

• Fewer freelancers live in large urban cities than did three years ago. What are the benefits?
• New referrals from advertising and cold calling has dropped significantly. What’s the best new source?
• Freelancers with former experience as an employee report the highest level of satisfaction and happiness. Why is that?

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Have you ever met a person who was kicked out of a high school English class for sarcastic remarks during grammar lessons? Well, now you have.

I was never a big fan of grammar; in fact, I was pretty much its worst enemy.

Fast forward to today, and in a strange twist of irony, I find myself writing for a living. Grammar and I have had to put our shaky past behind us and make friends.

So it was with some trepidation that I decided to do an eBook review for 100 Writing Mistakes To Avoid.
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Anytime I work with a young copywriter eager to launch their career, there always comes a time when they ask the inevitable question: “what are some good how-to books for copywriters?”

The truth is, there are none. A good how-to book may provide a few tips, a couple of poignant stories from the trenches, but the cold, hard truth is that you just have to jump in and hope you learn to swim fast enough to keep up. Because the reality of being a copywriter is nothing like you’ve learned in advertising school or in any book on the craft. The real world of a busy, working copywriter is faster and far more demanding than you could imagine.

Still, there must be a book or two that can help, right? Oh yes. But, they’re probably not the books you’d expect. These books aren’t how-to manuals on writing killer copy. Instead, the following essential reads are intended to inspire, stoke the imagination and prepare the next great copywriter to embrace innovation and trust his or her inner voice. Here are my 5 unexpectedly awesome books for copywriters.

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When a copy of The Wealthy Freelancer showed up at my door, the wife was quick to open the package and start perusing the contents. Now, I won’t get into how I feel about other people opening my packages, but what she said next caught my attention.

“You’re going to like this,” she said.

I asked her why, but she kept replying, “Just read it. You’ll find out.”

So I did.
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Last week I introduced you to the latest collaboration between Rockable Press and FreelanceSwitch, How to Write Great Copy for the Web by Donna Spencer. I am happy to announce that the book has been launched today and Rockin’ List members get a $5 discount code on the digital book, bringing the book’s price down to just $10. Get subscribed and check out the book.

“In How to Write Great Copy for the Web, author Donna Spencer will help you start writing content for the web that works! Learn about how writing web copy differs from other forms of writing, and how writing useful, functional and concise copy can both help persuade your readers, and also help with search engine optimization!

Whether it’s for your own site, or for somebody else’s, How to Write Great Copy for the Web will quickly bring you up to speed with some clever strategies that will make you popular with your site’s visitors, or with your clients!”

We know it’s hard to judge a book by its cover, so we’re making the first chapter and the table of contents available to download for anyone who is interested. That way you can decide for yourself if this book is right for you. We think it’s great for any sort of freelancer who wants to write web copy, be they freelancer writers who are new to the web, or web designers whose clients keep asking them to take care of copy—it happens all the time, so it’s a great idea to learn the skill and make some money out of it!

• Download the first chapter here.
• Get your discount by signing up for the Rockin’ List here—your coupon code will arrive within 24 hours.
• Purchase How to Write Great Copy for the Web here.

Update: Our $5 off for subscribers offer closes in under 48 hours.

While there are great resources out there for anyone interested in freelancing, working as a graphic designer can have a few twists that makes it worth your while to take a look at books that specifically offer information geared towards freelance graphic designers. These books can provide an education on the nuts and bolts of the freelance graphic design business.

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Starting out as a freelancer? Having a reference manual on your bookshelf will make the process much easier. There are great resources — both books and ebooks — that will provide you with all the information you need to start freelancing in one place. From what you need to get started through how you can continue to grow your business, these books will provide any freelancer with a wealth of information.

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Thursday Bram, a regular FreelanceSwitch contributor, has launched a new book for freelance writers, Marketing Your Freelance Writing in 31 Days. The book takes you through all the steps required to get your freelance writing business from having no clients to becoming well-known and making money.

At $13 for 65 very informative pages (I’ve had a read of the book myself and can vouch for its usefulness) this book is a great deal. However, Thursday has kindly offered FreelanceSwitch readers a coupon code to get $3 off and bring the total price down to a flat US$10. Simply enter this code at the checkout:

FREELANCESWITCH09

This code will expire in around about a week from the publication of this post, so don’t delay! Go and buy Marketing Your Freelance Writing in 31 Days.

A freelancer’s career path is rarely a straight line. Many people begin freelancing almost by mistake — maybe they were asked to write an article for a trade journal, or just placed a bid on an Elance project to make some extra money. Other freelancers get frustrated with their jobs and want to try something different. They end up loving the experience enough to stick with it.

If your career has been anything like mine, there’s a good chance you started out by focusing on a few niche projects where you felt you were something of an expert. But as time passes it’s easy to feel as if there’s a whole lot of lucrative projects on the market that you’re ignoring. Maybe you identify a demand for press release writing, but you’re not comfortable selling press releases. You need to learn more.

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It is a rare freelancer that enjoys marketing. It is even rarer to find one who knows how to do it right. With so many means of advertising your business, which do you chose? Which method brings in sacks of money, and which one will only deliver quick kicks to the ahem…you get my drift.

The problem many freelancers run into is that they spend all their time researching and experimenting with several advertising methods when they should be first identifying their ideal clients and then develop their marketing message.

Sound like market-mumbo-jumbo to you? Don’t worry, John Jantsch’s book Duct Tape Marketing cuts through the bull and delivers sound marketing advice.

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