Just finished reading The Wealthy Freelancer by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia.
Before I go any further, I’ll tell you that I was quoted in the book. And in a pleasantly surprising move, they sent me a copy. (Thanks, guys!)
So with that out of the way… Get this book!
I’ve complained before that, as freelance designers, there are not a lot of books for us, especially compared to our colleagues in the copywritng field. There is Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks which is a fantastic boook. But beyond that, it’s a bit thin.
The Wealthy Freelancer, though, is not specific to copywriting even though that’s what you may know the three authors for. Freelancers of any type will get something out of this, including designers. (I can’t recall anything in the book that wouldn’t apply to us.)
I’ve been freelancing for a while and have learned quite a lot in that time. So I’m always thrilled to learn something new, or read about a new spin on things. This book is full of that type of material.
The first thing that grabbed me was in the first chapter. It’s The IDEA Matrix for Mindset Mastery. A lot of beginning freelancers could stop after reading that and feel they got their money’s worth.
Over on page 192, they made a great point about about dealing with client e-mail that every freelancer should consider. (It’s a change I made after I read it. Wish I had figured that out on my own years ago.)
I don’t do “reviews” and this shouldn’t be considered one. And, frankly, their website will do a far better job of telling you about the book than I can.
But when I run into something really good like this, I want to mention it so you can explore it further and consider it for yourself.
I will say what a said when talking about the “…Starving Graphic Artist…” book: If you’re going to buy The Wealthy Freelancer, commit to taking action on what you read. Simply reading the book isn’t enough.
I’ve run into too many people who read books like this for the momentary high or boost of enthusiasm they get. But a week after reading the book, they haven’t done anything with the information.
If you don’t consider yourself a “wealthy freelancer” right now, and read this book but take no action on it, you have to question whether you really want to be one.
You can’t walk away from this book with finding a least a couple of things you can start doing immediately. If you can’t find something, it’s not the book… it’s you.
So if you’ve been struggling a bit and feel this book is for you, make a commitment to take action on what you read. If you do, I think you’ll find yourself making far more progress than you have to this point.
