Web Worker Daily

With the official release of Windows 7 on deck for later this week, Microsoft Press has released a free, 332-page downloadable e-book, “Deploying Windows® 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine.” The book — which reuses material from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet — covers a wide range of topics related to deploying Windows 7, including:

• Deployment Platform
• Planning Deployment
• Testing Application Compatibility
• Migrating User State Data
• Deploying Applications

While primarily aimed at system administrators rather than home or small business users, if you’re looking to make the move to Windows 7 there will undoubtedly be some information in here that will help. The book is a free download (6.5 MB PDF) from Microsoft.com.

Are you moving to Windows 7?

(via gHacks)

There’s no shortage of free learning materials available online for both new and experienced freelancers. While you can turn to hundreds of articles and blog posts, there’s nothing like reading a longer, more comprehensive book to really get some insight on a particular topic.

Here’s a collection of some great downloadable PDFs, e-books and manifestos:

Freelancing and Teleworking

Go Freelance

Leif Kendall’s “Go Freelance” is an introductory guide to the world of freelancing. You’ll go through the process of preparing yourself for the leap to the freelance world, finding work, networking and setting rates. If you’ve been freelancing for while, some of Kendall’s advice might seem elementary. But if you’re a new freelancer or about to become one, you can easily learn the basics from this e-book. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by: borman818

As a freelance online community consultant, I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to stabilize my income to reduce the ups and downs that come with having my own business. The most obvious solution is to manage your pipeline to make sure that you have new projects to replace the ones that are completing, but it’s also a good idea to have alternative income streams to complement your main client work and fill in any gaps.

In an ideal world, you finish one project on Friday with your next project ready to start on Monday; however, we don’t live in an ideal world, and even our best planning efforts occasionally go awry. While my client base has been fairly steady, I’m always concerned that I might have gaps. I would rather have plans to fill those gaps rather than being caught off guard and unprepared, so recently, I have been experimenting with alternative income streams that will generate regular revenue without relying entirely on client work.

This isn’t a new topic on WebWorkerDaily. Georgina recently wrote a great post with some of her recession avoidance techniques: saving more, managing debt and spending, and strategies for finding new work and staying motivated, while Anne Zelenka wrote a great post with 10 new ways to make money online, and Mike and Aliza followed up with 10 more new ways to make money online. However, I wanted to write about my personal experiences with alternative income streams. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a new Web publishing tool on the block that seeks to deliver on the convergence promise between “blogging, social networking, and…American Idol!” So says Sue Heilbronner, president of WEbook that makes its debut today. I spoke with Heilbronner and Melissa Jones, the site’s content manager, and I asked questions from the point of view of someone who has written and published seven books to-date.

So what is WEbook, really?
From what I understood so far, it is a collaborative tool for writing books. You can create a book project, invite anyone to co-author with you – including an open invitation to the entire WEBook community – invite feedback from others including the community, and then submit for consideration to be published by WEBook in either print-on-demand, e-books, audiobooks or all of the above. The community votes on a submitted manuscript (the American Idol portion of the site) through a 1-5 rating system.

The first published book from WEBook’s Alpha phase is titled Pandora, an international terrorism thriller composed by 17 writers.

Read the rest of this entry »