Whether you’re a professional freelancer with years of experience under your belt, or you’ve never taken a freelance gig in your life, this article will give you exactly what you need to succeed as a freelancer. There are many freelancer resources for beginners, for areas such as how to start, and tools you must have.
With the right resources, you can make a comfortable living without leaving your home.
Freelancer Communities
Freelancing can quickly become isolating. Having the help of others who have traveled a similar path, can save you time, make you better at what you do, and creates a more enjoyable work experience.
Try out one of these popular freelance communities:
Contena
If you want to break into the freelance writing world, we recommend you join the Contena community of writers, editors, and content creators.
ProBlogger
ProBlogger is a community of over 300,000 bloggers. You’ll find job postings, resources, and like-minded people. It’s a must-join community for newbie freelancers.
Accounting
We all want to make money but few of us enjoy dealing with the intricacies that go with keeping your books up-to-date. Good thing there are tons of great accounting apps designed to help freelancers manage their money.
Freshbooks
Freshbooks is a fantastic tool for invoicing and they offer free plans. It provides tracking systems as well that can help you organize and streamline your work.
Blinksale
Invoicing service Blinksale makes it easy to send invoices and track payments — so you can focus on doing more of the work that gets you paid.
Xero
Xero is a comprehensive accounting and invoice system. They have tons of great resources that are perfect for a newbie freelancer.
Literature
No matter how far we advance technologically, there’s something special about a good old fashion book.
Here are four books every freelancer should read, earmark, and read again:
How to be a Rockstar Freelancer, by Collis and Cyan Ta’eed is a highly recommended book that provides just about everything you need to succeed.
SOLO – Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers, by Palle Schmidt
The Freelancer’s Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Have the Career of Your Dreams—On Your Terms Kindle Edition, by Sara Horowitz
The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing: How to Write, Work, and Thrive on Your Own Terms Paperback by Zachary Petit
Coaching
You have the potential, you just need to ignite it! That’s where a career coach can help. Starting a new career in freelance has its challenges and a career coach can help navigate potential obstacles so you are able to find great success in your new endeavor.
Here are just a few ways a career coach can help beginner freelancers:
- Strategize next steps
- Meet personal goals with confidence
- Discover opportunities
- Manage work-life balance
- Establish a schedule
- Set boundaries
There are many freelancer resources for beginners available today, and this is just a starting point.
If you want to learn more about a new career path or complementing your existing, our award-winning coaches at the Ignite Your Potential Centers offer complimentary 25-minute phone sessions.
We are the #1 career coaches in San Francisco and Los Angeles, let us show you how we earned that praise.