Freelance Developer Books for building your software consulting business

Video Description

By Popular demand, I'm doing a video on Software Freelancing - which may become a series if enough people want that. This video - in order to give you the most information as quickly as possible, is a series of book recommendations for books I've found helpful in the freelancing parts of my career. NOTE: This is NOT a video about software or programming books. This books about the freelancing part (leads, process, business, communication, etc) that you need to know to do that kind of work effectively. These books aren't software/programming specific, and are likely useful to other kinds of freelancers. This video also explains some about how I got into freelancing, and how I lucked into some experiences that won't be available to everyone. 00:00 What this video is about 01:21 Caveats - Freelancing is difficult 02:17 How I got into freelancing - short version 03:59 Different kinds of freelancing 04:58 Project Based Work 05:38 Subcontracting is much like being an employee 06:34 Upwork and Fiverr and such sites 08:52 Getting freelance jobs is like selling yourself 09:45 Most freelancing comes from leads from your network 10:18 Books on networking (people/business, not TCP/IP) 11:46 Free Agent Nation - about the "Gig Economy" 12:36 Two "How-To" Consulting books 13:24 You need a book on fiance/taxes for your country 14:06 Books about Project Management - estimating for bids 18:20 "Back of the Napkin" - client communication 19:16 "We Got Fired" - Turning unemployement to your benefit 20:42 Wrap up Books mentioned (some links are to newer editions than the ones I have): https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0385346654 https://www.amazon.com/Your-Well-Before-Youre-Thirsty/dp/0385485468 https://www.amazon.com/Free-Agent-Nation-Working-Yourself/dp/0446678791 https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Consulting-Alan-Weiss/dp/1119542154 https://www.amazon.com/Flawless-Consulting-Guide-Getting-Expertise/dp/1394177305 https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Projects-Microsoft-Project-4-0/dp/0442017685 https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Projects-Microsoft-Project-2000/dp/0471397407 https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Project-Management-Traditional-Extreme/dp/1119562805 https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Finance-Accounting-Nonfinancial-Managers/dp/0814436943 https://www.amazon.com/Back-Napkin-Expanded-Problems-Pictures/dp/1591842697 https://www.amazon.com/We-Got-Fired-Thing-Happened/dp/0345471865 Alternatives to Microsoft Project for planning and estimation: OmniPlan for the Mac (What I use and Prefer these days): https://www.omnigroup.com/omniplan Free/OpenSource/CrossPlatform: ProjectLibre: https://www.projectlibre.com/product/1-alternative-microsoft-project-open-source OpenProject Community Edition: https://www.openproject.org/community-edition/