photo credit: Olando7

I frequently get emails from aspiring freelancers who basically say something like this: “I want to get into freelancing. I’ve read all the books I can find about freelancing in my library and at the bookstore. Do you have any others that you would recommend?”

Here’s basically the answer that I give them:

When I first started freelancing, I did the same thing: There’s a “freelancing” section at my library and I read and re-read each one of those books. None of them got me freelancing. I tried and didn’t do so well. I bought a couple of freelancing books and they didn’t help either.
Now that I’ve enjoyed many years of successful freelancing, I periodically go back to the library or the bookstore and look at what’s there. Guess what: same advice; occasionally updated for the web (but not usually).

So what changed for me? What reading did I start doing that made the difference? Here’s my advice: Stop reading freelancing books. Yes, there are a few good ones out there and you’ve probably read them. But there are also a lot of useless ones out there, too.

Instead, read 4 different kinds of books. And read these zealously:

1.    Read books about sales. Wake up call: Freelancing is sales. Successful freelancers know this. Wannabe freelancers wish it weren’t the case. Understand sales and the sales process and then implement it and you’ll always have more work than you can handle. Some good sales books include Jeffrey Gitomer’s “The Sales Bible” and Tom Hopkins’ “How to Master the Art of Selling”. (Note: Gitomer is in your face so be warned that you will finish his book insulted but informed while Hopkins is old school. Really old school).

2.    Read books about customer service. Once you’ve sold someone on your freelancing skills, you need to keep ‘em happy. That way, they’ll get more work from you in the future. Customer service is what makes the difference. There are lots of great customer service books out there but Blanchard and Bowles “Raving Fans” and Carl Sewell’s “Customers for Life” are great books on the subject.

3.    Consulting books. This was the biggest differentiator for me and what launched me into my career. Freelancers are consultants, but we don’t just deliver advice, we deliver some kind of writing/graphic/whatever deliverable. Consulting books, for some weird reason, are consistently superior to freelancing books when answering fundamental questions like “how to start a business” and “how to get more clients”. I may call myself a freelancer but my practice is successful because it is modeled after a consultant’s practice. My favorite books on the topic of consulting were written by Alan Weiss. His “Million Dollar Consultant” is his most famous book but his “Ultimate Consultant Series” of books are his best work on the topic.

4.    Books about your clients’ industries. If you specialize in certain industries (and you should), invest in books about your clients and their industries. I work with a lot of real estate agents so I have a bunch of books for them. The first ones I bought were really general but they became more specialized as time went on. My rate goes up because I know the technical details and the lingo and I understand their challenges.

There might be some good freelancing books out there but in my experience, you can skip most of them and read these 4 books and you’ll be far more successful.