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
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.
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).
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.
A few more tips (mailly about the job boards/project trackers) could be found at http://freelancercrowd.com/tutorials.html
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.
great resource, clean and easy
Thx for putting my article in it :D
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this
popurls.com // popular today…
story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com…
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.
This is perfect, thanks ;)
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!
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 ;)
Plasis Jobs is another great freelance job site: http://jobs.plasis.co.uk
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Awesome resource! Thanks for all the links :)
Thanks! The ‘Paperwork & Legal Side of Things’ links are great – probably boring to many but that area really is key to growing ones business.
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Wow! I don’t know where to start. Thanks
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Great list !
Thank you so much.
thanks a lot for the lovely article
Very informative and some great tips!
Thanks.
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Great article. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Great list! Very useful.
Awesome post.
Thank you so much for gathering these together.
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!
Great list Brian, thanks for the mention.
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Excellent post!
Very useful, thanks
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.
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thanks for the huge useful resources !
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Thanks for putting all of this information together. I’ve looked at a couple of these articles already and they are very helpful.
thx
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What a fantastic list of resources! Keep it up