The Freelance Way

Největší bestseller Melvilu vydaný po roce 2016 míří do světa!

A protože freelancing (neboli podnikání na volné noze) je celosvětový fenomén, který Robertova kniha rozebírá do větší hloubky i šíře než zahraniční tituly, rozhodli jsme se ji vydat také v angličtině a dalších jazycích. Půjde o nejodvážnější vydavatelský počin v 12leté historii Melvilu, a pokud se podaří, téměř jistě otevře cestu do světa také dalším českým autorům literatury faktu.

Robert knihu přepracoval pro mezinárodní čtenářské publikum a přidal přes 350 změn, obrázků, cvičení, zdrojů a příkladů ze světa včetně doporučení, která mu exkluzivně zaslali světoví autoři David Allen (GTD), David H. Hansson (Basecamp, Restart), Adam Grant (Dávat a brát) a Austin Kleon (Ukaž, co děláš). Úvodní část zkrátil a výsledný rukopis je o třetinu kratší než 760stránková česká předloha.

Oslovili jsme zkušeného překladatele Erika Pipera, který jako rodilý mluvčí rukopis převedl do svěží soudobé angličtiny, přičemž zachoval styl a ducha originálu. Na textu dále pracoval americký editor Scott Hudson a aby toho nebylo málo, Robert ještě přizval tucet zkušených freelancerů z půlky světa na závěrečnou oponenturu. Výsledkem je strhující odborná kniha, která se čte jako po másle.
——
Freelancing is by far the simplest approach to doing business on the free market. With very little capital, risk and equipment, you can turn gigs and side jobs into a successful business career, become your own boss and do meaningful, well-paid work.

Yet over time, freelancing may also prove to be quite a challenge for your self-management, for a freelancer is both an expert and a businessperson. Failing to recognize this leads many freelancers to a bitter end, so developing both your expertise and business skills is essential for attaining sustainable professional growth and better profits.

There’s just one more catch. You may soon find out that the rules for success written for companies and startups lack relevance for freelancers. Freelancing is so distinct, that what you need isn’t just any business strategy, but the freelance strategy. In other words, you need this book.

The Freelance Way is THE business book for independent professionals. It presents the best available and fully up-to-date freelance know-how, compiled from hundreds of quality sources, including surveys, the latest market data, advice from world-class experts, as well as real-life experiences and stories from hundreds of professionals in different fields and countries, which makes the book highly relevant to freelancers worldwide.

The contents of this volume cover all the basics and best practices for beginning freelancers, as well as advanced career strategies and tools for freelance veterans. There are practical tips for greater productivity, successful teamwork, smart pricing, powerful business negotiations, bulletproof personal finance, effective marketing, and much more.

Regardless if you've been in business for 20 years, or are just starting out, this book will help you to grow, avoid countless mistakes and develop a successful personal business based on your expertise and good name, to live a free, independent, and fulfilled life.

This book will help you if:

- You are a freelancer.
- You are dealing with freelance problems that people around you don’t understand.
- You are considering quitting your job to freelance and are afraid to take risks.
- You are just starting out in small business.
- You have been freelancing for a long time and want to acquire new business skills.
- You are thinking about your career strategy and where will you be in ten or twenty years.
- You are doing gigs alongside your daily job or studies and it already resembles a business.
- You are self-employed, working for a single client and want to be more independent.
- You are running a company or agency founded by you and on your good name.
- You want to understand freelancers, freelancing and the gig economy in general.

About the author

Robert Vlach is a senior business consultant, specialized in supporting independent professionals and business owners. In 2005, he founded one of the largest national freelance communities in Europe and later, in 2012, Europe's first think-tank for freelancers which meets regularly in Prague and other cities. He has been holding freelancing courses for more than a decade, and has consulted on over 300 business cases with individuals, startups, and companies. Robert lives with his family in the Czech Republic and Spain.