When we set out to launch The Freelancer Hub, our aims were clear; we wanted to create a bright, vibrant, welcoming space for creatives of all walks of life and industries. All we wanted to be able to do was support freelancers (and wannabe freelancers) with the insight, inspiration, and gentle cajoling into the self-employed seas.

Now, we’re on a growth mission. 

You can find us steadily creating content on our Instagram account, and we have a monthly newsletter which you can sign up here to receive. This is for you if you’re a content creator, someone getting paid to make online content outside of a PAYE remit, a full-time freelancer, a self-employed savant, or someone thinking of dipping their toes into a 5-9 side-hustle. We’ve got you covered. 

That being said, a huge part of what we do at The Freelancer Hub, is learning about shaping our own businesses and (ad)ventures, by reading some brilliant business books. Between the team at Tandem Collective UK, we’ve read our fair share and we’ve begun the process of siphoning the wheat from the chaff when it comes to celebrating our tried and tested favourites.

Here, you’ll find a Top 5 recommendations list of books The Freelancer Hub team think you should read in your freelance journey.

Born For This by Chris Guillebeau

This is the No.1 book that Tandem Collective founder, Naomi Bacon, recommends everyone (freelance or otherwise) reads throughout their careers. This book talks about how ‘greater career success’ is actually deeply rooted in whether we find fulfilment in the work we do. In the book, Chris encourages readers to ‘strike out’ on their own and find the work you were BORN to do, with a self-styled career – the ability to do work that ‘feels so perfect it doesn’t even feel like work’.

This is the perfect recommendation for fresh-to-freelance’rs, for those with a side-hustle that has potential, or for those stuck in the ‘what now’ rut of a humdrum job.

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

This is the March ‘Business Book Club’ pick for The Freelancer Hub, so keep your eyes peeled for more Start With Why content over on our social channels, but for now, let me tell you a little bit about the content of the book.

We’ve prescribed this book for those who might worry about ‘traditional’ career paths, and those who want to develop confidence in pursuing the work they were born to do.

Inspired by author Simon Sinek’s TedTalk, which coincidentally is the most-watched TedTalk of all time. In Start With Why, Simon talks about how great leaders inspire everyone to take action, with a positive effect. And it’s not about the ‘how’, it’s about the ‘why’. Or maybe a better way of phrasing it is, that the HOW is the WHY.

Essentially, in business / work / career / side-hustle (whatever you’d like to call it), it doesn’t matter WHAT you do, it matters WHY you do it – and that can change everything.

Do Nothing: Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing and Underliving by Celeste Headlee.

I’m recommending this book because so much of the reason that people leave in-house or PAYE roles is due to corporate burnout. These people then go freelance. Then, they suffer a new type of burnout – the freelance kind, the kind they can only blame themselves for, because now they are ‘the man’.

Naomi and I have always said that every freelancer finds (and pushes) their limits during their first year of full-time freelance life. It’s a rite of passage, and you can warn them as much as you like, it’ll happen regardless. But where we can come in is finding the way back to what’s sustainable, what’s healthy and what’s productive.

Enter, Celeste Headlee, author of Do Nothing.

Celeste talks about how a four-day work week was originally trialled in the 1950’s to give workers more time off to spend on the products that they’d been working to produce. She talks about the balance of ‘living to work’ and ‘working to live’ and she encourages you, for once in your lives, just to stop. Take pause. Do nothing.

This book is ideal for those suffering from corporate or freelance burnout (read: overwhelm, panicking, dreaming about work, not being able to sleep because of work, etc.)

The Imposter Cure by Dr Jessamy Hibberd

Okay, so you’ve made the leap – you’re going to go freelance. Self-marketing is one of the hardest skills to develop. Setting your rates can be even harder. These are the kind of tasks that become impossible when you’re riddled with fresh-to-freelance Imposter Syndrome.

This book is the reminder that you are not a fraud. You do deserve success. And that yes, you can believe in yourself. This book is how to stop feeling like a fraud and escape from that meddlesome mind-trap of imposter syndrome holding you back.

It’s all about understanding that failure will happen; it’s an essential part of success. Discomfort is a trigger for self-growth. Compassion is infinitely more powerful than self-criticism.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it you must, and this book is just the tonic to help smooth over those syndrome-sads.

Your Goal Guide by Debra Eckerling

Okay, so you’ve got your WHY, you’re free from Imposter Syndrome, and you’re raring to go. What’s next?

I found this book so helpful to dip in-and-out when it comes to goal setting, and following through on promises to myself and my business. Debra’s guide will push you to start with a plan, even if it’s a loose one. Essentially, we’re looking for DETERMINE the mission, EXPLORE the options, and BRAINSTORM your path.

This is an ideal guide for someone with LOTS of ideas, but who needs a little support and structure behind the creativity, without too much pressure – accountability, without the panic!

Have you read any of these? Or do you have a book that you think better belongs on our list?

We’d love to hear about them. DM us at @TheFreelancer.Hub on Instagram, and don’t forget to check back at the end of March for our Business Book club content on START WITH WHY by Simon Sinek.

Lex is a communications, content and launch strategist primarily working as a freelancer within the culture & arts industries. Lex is the mastermind behind The Freelancer Hub on Instagram