40 Places Where Freelancers Can Learn More About Business
People become freelancers for all sorts of reasons. Very few do it to get into business – that’s just a side effect. To be successful freelancers, we need to be savvy business people.
Understanding business takes work – some light reading, some heavy ploughing though your government’s forms and requirements, maybe some serious study, and keeping up with business news and events. Material for small businesses and entrepreneurs will be especially helpful.
Here is a reading list for you to pick and choose from: 40 Places Where Freelancers Can Learn More About Business. This list is a starting point. Please add to it in the comments.
Websites and Blogs
We freelancers seem to spend a great amount of time online, so that’s where we’ll start our reading list.
- If you want to get straight to the main points without too much reading, Sitepoint.com has two very helpful articles which summarize business for freelancers: Best Practices for Freelance Business Part 1 and Best Practices for Freelance Business Part 2.
- If you prefer the “encyclopedic” version, Wikipedia’s business article has many subtopics, and links to useful external resources.
- Business Pundit is full of tips and articles covering a wide range of business topics. Some are especially useful to freelancers, including Freelancers Make More Money by Firing Clients.
- Businessballs.com contains “free career help, business training, organizational development – inspirational, innovative ideas, materials, exercises, tools, templates – free and fun.”
- Freelanceuk.com has a useful section on running your business.
- Newbusiness.co.uk also contains business advice from a UK perspective.
Many news sites have great business information, including:
- Fox Business is a great source of business news, and has a Small Business section.
- The BBC News business section is a similar news source from the UK.
Your government has probably published some useful information about running a business. For example:
- US: Business.gov is the official business link to the US Government.
- Australia: Businesslink.gov.au is a practical guide to business from the Australian Federal Government.
Magazines
If you prefer to read from paper, a great place to start is with business magazines – though many of them can be read online too.
- Businessweek.com contains top business news stories, and has a Small Biz section.
- Inc. is a daily resource for entrepreneurs.
- Entrepreneur is another magazine and online resource for entrepreneurs.
- America’s Best is a magazine for small business owners.
- Family Business Magazine is a guide for starting and running family businesses.
- Home Business Magazine is aimed at “home-based entrepreneurs and business owners; people who work from home; and telecommuters”. It is an online magazine.
- In Business Magazine is helpful, and humorously includes a section called Suck it Up! – “Business days from heck: If they can prevail, so can you!”
- My Business is “the leading magazine for small-to-medium enterprises, the dominant sector – 92 per cent – of all business in Australia. Its credible, information packed and easy-to-read format speaks directly to the key business decision makers.”
- Opportunity World & Money ‘N Profits is “the magazine for small business opportunities.”
Newspapers
And while newspapers are still around, make the most of the business section – in print or online.
- The New York Times business section
- The Chicago Tribune business section
- Los Angeles Times business section
- The Sydney Morning Herald BusinessDay
- The Age BusinessDay
- NZ Herald business section
- Business Report contains many business articles published in South African newspapers.
Books
Books – paperback, hardback and electronic – teach you about business in a more linear fashion. Here are some books and lists of books to get you started.
- Small Business Kit for Dummies is a “reference for the rest of us.”
- The Bootstrappers Bible by Seth Godin is a free ebook for “…entrepreneurs who are working their butts off to start a great business from scratch with no (or almost no) money.”
- Getting Rich In Your Underwear: How To Start And Run A Profitable Home-Based Business
by Peter I. Hupalo is primarily written for those just starting a home business. - Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki – “What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!” This book explains how to make your money work hard for you instead of you working hard for money.
- Wikibooks have a detailed ebook called Getting Started as an Entrepeneur.
- Smallbizbooks.com have published Startup Guides for Businesses. Each book focuses on a different type of business, including books on Consulting Service, Freelance Writing Business, Graphic Design Business, Online Business, Coaching Business and Personal Trainer Business.
- Amazon.com’s Must Read List for Small Business Owners contains a list of 39 recommended books relevant to business.
- Bainvestor.com have a long list of recommended books called “Entrepreneur Books: Entrepreneurship and Small Business Books”, with an emphasis on what is important to know when starting your business.
- DailyLit email good books to you in daily digestible chunks. They have 43 books in their Business category, many of which are free.
Courses
There are plenty of business courses you can do online. Here are some that will cost you your time, but not your money.
- My Own Business.org has a free online course which is presented by successful business owners who point out the common, avoidable mistakes.
- SBA (US Small Business Administration) offer free online business courses including Starting a Business, Business Management, Business Planning, and Marketing & Advertising, and more.
- Suite101.com provide free online business courses, including Business Planning, Business Law and Business Management, and more.
- About.com’s Small Business Startup Course is a free Canadian course covering a wide range of topics.
- About.com’s: Online Small Business Success Course is designed to teach you how to market yourself and your business more effectively.
Leave a Comment
Two Newspapers on Business that are better sources than the three American Papers on your list are The Wall Street Journal and Barrons.
Great resources & Great Stuff
Thanks
If you’re in the UK then Business Link has a range of materials that are of use.
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/
I’d also recommend getting along to your local OpenCoffee network: http://opencoffee.ning.com/
If you’re in Bristol come along to ours: http://www.opencoffeebristol.org/
Really good to boost the business side of things. I have been lacking in this area for a while – and now more keen than ever to shape up + run my business well – despite the fact that this is inherently harder for a creative, like me.
Great list + well worth keeping handy – thanks Adrian!
S+
I learned business management when I worked in the Corporate sector – nothing like real world experience to teach one a thing or two. I always advise new designers fresh out of school to get a job with a creative studio, agency, print-shop etc. to learn about the biz side of things before they try to go it alone as full-time freelancers.
Thanks for the list!
Great list! I’m a huge fan of free e-books and online courses…they are definitely the future of education!
Great resource of help links, definitely useful.
Awesome list… Now I just need figure where to start reading!
Definitely a fantastic resource for freelancers wanting to better understand business.
Another good resource for legal forms other other business documents is:
http://www.nolo.com/
Good stuff, I was actually doing my own homework on this matter since I am a new freelancer.
Great list of business focused resources. It has been a pet peeve of mine for a while that designer’s lack training in marketing and design. When a designer opts to become a freelancer, they automatically become a business owner, and as a business owner he/she must become a marketer to survive. You see, we started freelancing because we are good at what we do, but we never learned the business and marketing needed to grow a business!
That is why I founded The Graphic Designer’s Business Blueprint, a 12-part teleseminar series focusing on the business and marketing strategies needed to develop a successful freelance design business. You can check it out at http://www.graphicdesignersbusinessblueprint.com
Thanks again for your info and for taking the time to help provide business building information
jen
I liked all of the resources except for Courses. None of them were very good.
TANK YOU VERY MUCH, DUDE!!!!
Great List. Very inspiring. Thanks.
I’ve recently put together my favourite list of freelance books. Maybe you can add that link to your list above: http://www.gofreelance.org
Nice post. Informative post.
thanxs, i need to learn about business beyon web design industry, many thaxs
Thanks much for this very informative post. This will truly help people find their niche to get started.
What a great list of resources – thank you so much for putting this together!
Another site that’s useful for freelancers is Location Independent: http://locationindependent.com/
It’s emphasis is on developing a work-from-anywhere lifestyle, and many of the articles are extremely relevant for freelancers, whether they choose to live a nomadic lifestyle or not. Lea’s also just launched a course called Build A Location Independent Business, which is also worth checking out.
Thanks again for the list – will definitely be giving it a stumble
Amy
xx
very useful. thanks!
SCORE and the SBA both quote the statistic that 78% of businesses fail because they do not have a written business plan. One useful source of insights into writing a sound plan for freelancers who may not have done it before, is http://writebizplan.com/blog/
Freelancer should be aware of SCORE and SBA statistics that indicate 78% of start-up businesses fail because they have no written, detailed business plan. Guidelines, insights and basic overviews for plan writing can be found at http://writebizplan.com/blog/
Great list, gonna check it out now.
Check out the Personal MBA program as well.
http://personalmba.com/
Wow, that’s a massive list. While reading is good, I’d suggest meeting up with others in your position, ideally in person. Networking at is such a powerful opportunity to make friends, share ideas and learn new skills. It need not be at expensive conferences, there are also TweetUps, book clubs, and other meetups. Start your own if you can’t find one near you!
Lisa
twitter: @lisarex
The darkside of freelancing… But not so dark if you find the good side of it : making a profit! It helps a little having a day job in some related bussiness, that’s true. Still, all these resources are very very handy. Thanks for posting!
Freelancing has been a great tool for me to start a business. It gives you the sense of service a business must have. It also provides a great deal of time that you can invest in your own business education.
hello. i need more idea to start a new business. what will im going to do first if i dont have lot of experience. thanks.
Great article. These links are perfect for any creative graphic design agency.
Thanks.
I found the HMRC website very helpful when starting up http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/tmastarting-up-in-business.shtml
Freelancers can learn about the pros and cons of forming a limited liability company at my website of LLC resources: http://www.limitedliabilitycompanycenter.com.
It is a free information resource on limited liability companies (LLCs). It helps a business analyze the advantages and disadvantages of LLCs, provides comparisons to other types of business organizations and has a complete state-by-state list of free state forms, filing requirements, filing fees and the addresses and phone numbers of every secretary of state office in the United States.
I’ve been personally maintaining the site as a public service for nearly 6 years and get thousands of visits every week from people with questions about forming a new business.
If it is learning more about business, then I guess you are correct with you first option. Websites and blogs are the important sources of information for any freelancer whatever may be the industry he belongs to. Actually they learn many business and professional tactics too, through these sources. I hope websites include video websites too, which is yet another source of information for free lancers.