Below is a list of useful resources. They are either courses or websites I have found useful in my own journey, or belong to someone I know and trust.
Some of these are affiliate links, which means I or my business receive a small commission if you buy something through the link. I have added a note to those that are affiliate links.
I had so many books on my list I decided it was best to start a new page for those! To read about them, click here.
I will add to the resources list as time goes on, so please do check back and see what’s new!
FREELANCE LIFE
If you’re a freelancer, whether new or established, it’s really helpful to belong to communities with other freelancers, so you can find like-minded people, get help with the things you need in your business, and access all sorts of other wisdom.
Doing It For The Kids is a brilliant community for freelancers who are also parents – because each of those things is challenging enough by itself! There is also a podcast with a huge back catalogue of useful episodes, and lots of opportunities to connect with the others in the community. Click here for more details.
Being Freelance is another lovely community with a wide variety of freelancers who are members. I’ve met (virtually so far) all sorts of interesting people, and had many discussions about the merits of different types of biscuits. A podcast, regular meetups and online chats and much more. Oh and a book club – see Books for the good ones we read. Click here for more details about Being Freelance.
The Freelance Lifestyle is a community that was set up by Emma Cossey. There is a free group, a Freelance Business Lounge membership, and a variety of useful courses to start you off on your freelance journey. Click here to find out more.
Freelancer magazine, as well as publishing a magazine and running courses, organise several sessions of coworking each week. You can find out more about those here.
If you’re looking for a graphic designer, copywriter, editor, proofreader, web developer, podcast producer, videographer, coach, freelance marketing or communications consultant, accountant, legal professional etc etc, connecting with someone in one of these networks is a great place to start. I know lots of people who fall into these categories, so if you do need connecting to someone, either join one of these communities if they’re relevant to you, or get in touch and I will see if there’s anyone I know who could help you.
BUSINESS TOOLS, RESOURCES, EVENTS, COURSES
I use Smarterqueue to schedule my social media posts, because it suits the way my brain works. You could try it here – this gets you a free trial before you choose whether to sign up to a paid one. (Affiliate link.)
Payhip is a very useful tool for selling digital downloads. Mainly because they sort out the digital VAT for you (which you have to do yourself otherwise). I just have a free plan as I don’t use it that much at the moment, but you can sign up for a package that charges you a monthly fee and gives you a lower transaction fee. If you sign up through my link, which is here, I get a small sum from Payhip as a thank you.
If you need business insurance, you could ask PolicyBee to find a suitable policy for you. I’ve used them ever since I first became a freelancer over 10 years ago. Click here to get in touch with them. (This is an affiliate link – if you click on it to get your quote, or you call them for a quote and mention my name, when you take out a policy through them you get £20 and I get £20.)
If you’re thinking about doing a coaching qualification, I highly recommend Optimus Coach Academy, who I trained with. Click here to visit their website. (Affiliate link.)
CREATIVE COMMUNITIES
There are all sorts of places you could go to find other people who are creative. Here are a couple that I am active in. There are others which I will add as I find out more about them.
Create Connect is a monthly roundtable for creatives. We discuss all sorts of business-related topics while doing our own creative activities (I draw penguins). You can find details here.
Creativity Found helps adults get creative. Whether you’re looking for courses to do, workshops to attend, or want to find some business help for your creative business, you can either browse the website or take out a membership. Details are here.
PERSONALITY PROFILES
Ah, personality profiles. They are a fascinating rabbit hole to me. You can do Myers Briggs or Wealth Dynamics or The Fascination Advantage. I’ve done all of those and more (which I will add when I remember what they are!) If you’re in a big company you might do Insights, or you might have come across DISC – both of those talk about colour energies.
Coaching with DISC. I recently attended a workshop about DISC, and can provide you access to obtain a DISC profile with a follow-up coaching session with me. Contact me if this is something you’re interested in, I don’t yet have a separate page about it!
And I’m certified in a system called Creative ID, so that I can share that in my coaching and in workshops. If you’re interested in how personality profiles can be used as a freelancer and in the context of innovation and creativity for teams, contact me for more details. You can read more about it here on my website.
ONLINE BUSINESS AND MARKETING
Elizabeth Goddard has a range of courses that are useful for online business owners.
Click here to visit her website and see what she has on offer. (Affiliate link.)
If you like sprinkling your content with affiliate links (and declaring them, obviously), you might like her ‘Lazy Guide to Affiliate Marketing‘ course, which you can purchase here. (Affiliate link.)
Laura Robinson of Worditude offers short courses on marketing your business, and setting up a business that is aligned with your own life, not the way everyone else does things. (I can highly recommend ‘The Comfy Business Playbook‘, for example.)
Click here to visit her ‘everything’ page showing all the courses and services she has available. (Affiliate link.)
FOR MUMS
Emma While’s Conscious Curation is brilliant for helping you figure out how to add more joy into your life. She also has a membership and various other courses, including the free Jumpstart which she runs regularly throughout the year.
Click here to visit her website.
ASTROLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY
Vanessa Corazon sells the Moonsight PlannerTM which you can add to your digital calendar to see the moon’s phases and transits. Whether you want to just see what phase the moon is in, or you want to get really into planning according to your own astrology, she has a wide range of resources you can buy.
Click here to visit her website. (Affiliate link.)
Random picture of Stonehenge – because why not – it’s my website, my choice of images! Copyright Nina Lenton.