The Design Cubicle

28 Must Read Articles For Growing Your Freelance Design Business

Published on Sunday, March 15 2009

While attending design school one thing I regretted after graduation was the lack of business and networking classes they offered (seems to be a trend among other design schools as well from what I’ve heard).

While social networking and blogging has filled that void, I thought I’d share 28 of my favorite freelance/business articles that have helped me over the years in developing and improving my freelance design business.

Freelancing Tools & Resources

» 270+ Tools for Running a Business Online
» 101 Essential Freelancing Resources
» The Ultimate List of Freelancing Resources
» Guide to Blogging for Freelance Designers

Find More Freelance Work

» The Monster List of Freelancing Job Sites
» 17 Places To Look For Freelance Jobs
» 101 Ideas to Get More Freelance Work and Generate New Client Leads

Promotion & Growth

» Freelancers: Here’s Why You Need a Blog
» Freelancing 911: Turn Your Business Around With Cold-calls
» 12 Triggers That Always Produce More Customers
» 10 Things to Remember When Promoting your Business
» 10 Ways to Promote a Business Online for Free
» 10 Tips for Recession-Proofing Your Web Site
» Kick Starting a Freelance Business… When You Can’t Afford to Fail
» 40 Resources To Become A Successful Freelance Graphic/Web Designer

The Paperwork & Legal Side of Things

» How Do You Write a Design Brief?
» 8 Things You Should Include In Your Terms of Service
» Freelancers: Why Estimates Are Important + Free Starter Template
» Setting Up a Basic Project Outline
» AIGA Design and Business Forms
» Legal Resources for Freelancers
» How To Write An Effective Design Brief

Must Read Freelance/Business Blogs

» BoDo: Business of Design Online
» FreelanceSwitch
» Inspired Startup

Miscellaneous

» 6 Things Every Freelance Designer Should Have
» Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Freelance Designer or Small Firm
» 10 Ways Personal Branding Can Save You From Getting Fired

Feel free to contribute your own favorite freelance articles in the comments.

Bookmark It

1. Tanya Gagnon March 15, 2009 9:38 am

   Wow, this is such a great resource. Thank you so much for sharing. I will have weeks of reading here.

   You are right about school not preparing people for running their own business. I have learned so much in the four years I have worked for myself, and am always learning. Thanks again.

    
2. David Airey March 15, 2009 10:13 am

   Hi Brian,

   Great to see ‘Business of Design Online’ (BoDo) get a mention. It’s a fantastic resource, and not often mentioned (from what I can tell anyhow, maybe I’m wrong).

    
3. Brian March 15, 2009 10:23 am

   David,
   I agree… BoDo is an amazing resource that I also feel is often overlooked. They cover a nice range of business/freelance topics that any business professional could benefit from reading.

    
4. FreelancerCrowd March 15, 2009 10:25 am

   A few more tips (mailly about the job boards/project trackers) could be found at http://freelancercrowd.com/tutorials.html

    
5. Aaron March 15, 2009 11:26 am

   I’m bookmarking this for sure. In this economy, a list like this is priceless. By the way, your graphics are great! I don’t know where you got them, but the alphabet soup picture is especially cool.

    
6. sriganesh March 15, 2009 12:20 pm

   great resource, clean and easy

    
7. Hein Maas March 15, 2009 12:34 pm

   Thx for putting my article in it

    
8. Rachel Ortiz March 15, 2009 12:40 pm

   Thanks so much for taking the time to do this

    
9. Brian March 15, 2009 1:35 pm

   Aaron,
   Most of the images used on TDC are found via http://compfight.com/.

   Hein,
   No problem! It was a great article.

   Rachel,
   Glad you found the articles valuable like I did. Best of luck.

    
10. T-Law March 15, 2009 1:47 pm

    This is perfect, thanks

     
11. Khoality March 15, 2009 2:10 pm

    This is an incredible list of good stuff. I think I’ll read 2-3 of these resources per day. Thanks for the compilation of helpful links!

     
12. Brian March 15, 2009 3:15 pm

    T-Law & Khoality,
    You are both very welcome! And thank you for the comment. Hope to hear more from the both of you very soon

     
13. Ben March 15, 2009 3:19 pm

    Plasis Jobs is another great freelance job site: http://jobs.plasis.co.uk

     
14. Alyssa Meadows March 15, 2009 5:36 pm

    Awesome resource! Thanks for all the links

     
15. Leon Poole March 15, 2009 6:03 pm

    Thanks! The ‘Paperwork & Legal Side of Things’ links are great - probably boring to many but that area really is key to growing ones business.

     
16. Bill Lowden March 15, 2009 8:04 pm

    Wow! I don’t know where to start. Thanks

     
17. Manu March 15, 2009 9:44 pm

    Great list !

    Thank you so much.

     
18. Webdesigner March 16, 2009 12:16 am

    thanks a lot for the lovely article

     
19. Sean Delaney March 16, 2009 2:41 am

    Very informative and some great tips!

    Thanks.

     
20. Patternhead March 16, 2009 4:55 am

    Great article. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

     
21. Timothy March 16, 2009 7:09 am

    Great list! Very useful.

     
22. Heather March 16, 2009 8:05 am

    Awesome post.
    Thank you so much for gathering these together.

     
23. Sue Wampole March 16, 2009 9:25 am

    Brian, A compilation like this is a sign of an organized mind and generous soul. Good of you to share, and pick up where design schools leave off.
    Nice resources!

     
24. Calvin Cox March 16, 2009 11:11 am

    Great list Brian, thanks for the mention.

     
25. jd March 16, 2009 9:06 pm

    Excellent post!

     
26. daniel March 16, 2009 9:07 pm

    Very useful, thanks

     
27. Gez March 17, 2009 12:54 am

    Hi Brian

    Thanks for a fab article with great resources. I love your blog too, and I agree with Aaron your graphics are great!

    Thanks so much for sharing.

     
28. silentgirl March 20, 2009 6:41 pm

    thanks for the huge useful resources !

     
29. Paul March 21, 2009 12:01 pm

    Thanks for putting all of this information together. I’ve looked at a couple of these articles already and they are very helpful.

     
30. Solexy March 22, 2009 2:05 am

    thx

     
31. Damian Herrington April 1, 2009 1:03 pm

    What a fantastic list of resources! Keep it up

     
32. Maria Ratgeber April 5, 2009 2:09 am

    Thanks for this great list. I like this list “The Monster List of Freelancing Job Sites”

    Thanks and greetz

    Mario

     
33. Edwin April 11, 2009 2:42 pm

    Thanks man for the articles.

     
34. Raymond Roman July 2, 2009 9:05 am

    Thanks, hire me!

     
35. Web development lucknow September 16, 2009 3:43 am

    This is a good list.

     

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