My name is Tom Myer. For the past 7 years, I’ve run a web development consulting firm called Triple Dog Dare Media. I’ve worked as a lone-gun consultant, as a contractor, as a partner with other folks in my company, as the head of ad-hoc teams, and as a manager of employees. I’ve subleased office space, rented my own space, and worked out of a converted office space. I’ve worked on small jobs that lasted an afternoon, led teams on six-month projects, and been “that guy” that comes in for a day or two to provide an assessment and flies out.

Throughout all that time, I’ve been approached many times by many wannabe, gonnabe, and oughtabe (and just a few people who were merely curious about my lifestyle but had no intentions of ever following through) freelancers/consultants. They wanted advice, ideas, and to buy me coffee or lunch. I was always glad to help. Mostly I was just stunned that anyone wanted to hear my advice.

This last year, I was approached by my book agent (Neil Salkind) about some off-the-beaten-path ideas. I’d just finished writing a book on CodeIgniter for WROX and had some other titles under my belt. The very same day that I started talking with Neil, I received emails from three total strangers seeking advice on how to become a successful freelancer.

None of these three, like none of the folks before them, ever wanted to start a restaurant or retail store or even a traditional high-tech software company with outside investors. They were Javasacript geeks, PHP ninjas, HTML wizards, and QA geeks who were tired of slaving away inside a dreary cubicle, or who were facing certain layoff or downsizing. They wanted more flexibility and balance in their life, and they wanted to make some real money with their skills–but they wanted to avoid all the pitfalls (like financial ruin) that they may encounter. And all of them were terrified of the M word…marketing.

I forwarded these notes to Neil and said, “Listen, this keeps happening to me. Why don’t I write a book about this and start a blog over at myerman.com as a companion piece?” Ten days later, I had a contract in hand to write a book, and so now I’m retrofitting what was once a personal web site into this blog.

The focus will always be on the technical professional who wants to create a thriving, balanced, and profitable freelance or consulting practice. If you want to start any other kind of business, or if you have a non-technical focus, some of these concepts will help you, but the focus will be on the geek.

Why? Because geeks are (generally) very smart people with their own strengths and shortcomings, and so far not a lot of attention has been paid to them.

Here’s what the book’s going to cover, in brief:

• How to tell if you’re ready to become a freelancer
• How to run through some effective self-assessment
• What kind of fees should you start out with
• How to figure out your specialty or focus
• How to put together an effective one-page marketing plan
• What you need to do before your first day of business
• How to get business in the door
• How to survive your first 30 days
• How to survive your first six months
• How to survive your first year
• How to grow your business

What this book isn’t:

• A dreary manual that trots out the same old advice about incorporating
• A scary book on how to make cold calls
• A fear-mongering book about the perils of financial ruin
• A rah-rah tome that would only benefit the most outgoing and extroverted

As I start writing the book, I will continue to post materials here, as well as provide opportunities for subscribers to tune into teleseminars and other materials. More later!