Freelance Resources

Calendly

Send a link instead of trading emails about times. Calendly reads your real availability, lets clients book a slot themselves, and puts the video link, reminders and time zone handling in place without you doing anything.

ChatGPT

The default AI assistant for freelancers. Genuinely useful for first drafts, rewrites, research summaries and awkward client emails, as long as you treat what it gives you as a starting point rather than finished work.

Claude

Anthropic's assistant, and the one freelancers tend to reach for when the job is long or the writing has to sound like them. Strong on big documents, contracts and code, with the same care needed over facts and client confidentiality as any AI tool.

Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business

Paul Jarvis argues that staying small is a strategy, not a stepping stone. A practical case for building a business that stays deliberately one-person, and the systems that make it work.

Fiverr

The biggest marketplace for packaged freelance services. Buy or sell fixed-price gigs across writing, design, development, video and marketing, with the price and delivery time agreed up front rather than haggled over.

FreeAgent

UK accounting software built around freelancers and small limited companies. Invoicing, expenses, VAT and Self Assessment in one place, and free outright if you bank with NatWest, RBS or Mettle.

PeoplePerHour

One of the UK's best-established freelance marketplaces. Post a project and get proposals from thousands of vetted freelancers, or find freelance work yourself, with buyer protection and no upfront fees.

Survival Skills for Freelancers

Tried and Tested Tips to Help You Ace Self-Employment Without Burnout

The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

A new, updated and expanded edition of this New York Times bestseller on how to reconstruct your life so it's not all about work

The Freelance Bible: Everything You Need to Go Solo in Any Industry

Alison Grade's comprehensive guide to going solo, from working out what to charge through to registering a business, finding clients and getting paid. Broad rather than niche, and written for the UK.

The Freelance Introvert: Work the way you want without changing who you are

If you're happy in your own company most of the time, have just a few really close friends and prefer to work alone, the answer is probably yes.

Toggl Track

One-click time tracking that tells you what an hour of your work actually earns. The free tier covers solo freelancers properly, and the reports are the bit that changes how you quote.

Trello

The simplest way to see what you are working on. Drag cards between lists to track jobs from enquiry through to invoiced, with a free tier that is genuinely usable rather than a trial in disguise.