You can Freelance If you think you can!
by Kate McPike

The devil may be in the detail, but Sue Kendrick’s 10 Steps to Freelance Freedom provides a supply of detail that is both rich and necessary as well as one that all novice freelancers (and even some more experienced ones) will certainly find useful.

From her bio to the resource section, Sue generously sprinkles upon every page her twenty-two years of professional experience and knowledge about the industry. 10 Steps is carefully, thoughtfully laid out to provide readers with up-to-date pertinent information about every aspect of the freelance marketplace, from creating effective resumes to collecting from slow-paying clients.

Want to know how much to charge? “Setting Your Rate” provides savvy, sensible advice and an easy-to-use formula for calculating your rates. Afraid of networking and don’t know where to begin? The chapters titled, “Bringing Home the Bacon” provide the rhyme and reasons for diversifying your networking efforts. With the exception of “Advertising” and “Bad Payers” (longer chapters, of necessity, because they strike the heart of freelancing), the remaining eight chapters are short, concise and easy to read and digest.

But better yet are the plentiful real-life specifics. For example, when discussing how to go about setting up an office, Sue advises, “Try and make other family members respect your territory and set working hours when you don’t expect to be disturbed by trivia. This is a lot more difficult than it sounds! It’s amazing how many so-called friends and family have a habit of dropping around on their day off and expect you to drop everything to make them tea, chat or visit the shops, etc., so learn to be firm.” This kind of personal touch, which Sue uses throughout, makes the book solidly credible.

The best touches by far, however, are the honesty and encouragement Sue weaves into every page. “You Can If You Think You Can” (what a terrific way to begin) places responsibility for success right where it belongs – on the shoulders of the would-be freelancer. “But before we get carried away,” Sue writes, “a word of warning!  Without the right mind set, you are doomed for failure!  So before you even think about taking the first step on the road to freelance freedom, take a good look at yourself . . . If you don’t have faith in yourself how can you expect others to believe in you?”  This is good advice, sound advice, the kind of advice your mother or a good friend might offer, and it pops up on every page of this compact how-to.

Although Sue keenly perceives that the “no-hopers” will always be among us and that “self doubt is a very human characteristic,” she understands also, by way of first hand practice and experience, that “the truly successful never let this get the upper hand.” The truly successful do their homework, work from a plan and exercise a can-do attitude. Thanks to Sue’s little e-book, I can if I think I can.

Kate McPike, Freelance writer.  katemcpike@comcast.net