Get help starting out in an IT or computer consulting career, or any other type of consulting career, with these best-selling books from Amazon.com. Advice for striking out on your own as a self-employed free agent, independent contractor or freelance is included. They cover it all, such as start-up costs, self-employment taxes, marketing techniques, customizing and negotiating contracts (agreements), and legal considerations. Sample agreements included.

See also Work-at-Home Jobs for books with honest advice about working at home as a free agent, consultant, freelance or independent contractor, landing a telecommuting job as an employee, or starting up a home-based business as an entrepreneur, including an Internet business.

When you're ready to look for consulting, freelance or independent contractor jobs, see Consulting, Contract & Freelance Jobs.

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Getting Started in Consulting
By Alan Weiss - ISBN: 0470419806
Practical advice for starting a consulting business that can earn a six-figure income. Learn how to establish goals, handle legal, financial and administrative issues, market and grow your business, propose and close business deals, and maximize retirement investing. The appendices include tips for creating a business plan, sample to-do lists, home-office equipment recommendations and advertising sources.

Getting Started in Computer Consulting
By Peter Meyer - ISBN: 0471348139
Meyer, with his impressive credentials as a writer, contributing editor, and principal of the Meyer Group, is deemed the "consultant to the consultants." He covers a vast array of topics, including start-up costs, setting fees, bidding on and negotiating contracts, paying self-employment taxes, marketing your services, and solving hardware and software problems. Experienced computer consultants share their insights throughout.

Answers for Computer Contractors
By Janet Ruhl - ISBN: 0964711621
Ruhl explains the difference in contracting while reporting taxes via a W-2 or 1099, or as a corporation. She also helps both beginners and seasoned contractors set and get the highest rates, find contracts with ethical consulting firms, avoid abusive contract clauses, locate clients without giving agencies a cut, succeed on contract, and upgrade skills.

Ruhl has authored other popular, related books, such as the

Computer Consultant's Workbook
Computer Consultant's Guide
Computer Job Survival Guide

Flawless Consulting
By Peter Block - ISBN: 0787948039
This best-selling consulting book of all time is "A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used" when you don't have control. Through illustrative examples, case studies, exercises, and commentary, this latest edition focuses on ways of interacting with clients and dealing effectively with them. Chapters include "Contracting Overview," "Techniques Are Not Enough," "The Contracting Meeting," and "Dealing with Resistance."

The Consultant's Legal Guide
By Elaine Biech, Linda Byars Swindling - ISBN: 0787947636
To avoid costly litigation, it's a good idea to learn about the legalities of contracts and other matters of the consulting business. That's what this book is all about. Biech, also the author of the best-selling books listed below, and Swindling, an attorney, cover just about everything consultants need to "legally" know. But they spare you from the legal jargon by explaining it instead. Includes a diskette containing tools, sample contracts and forms, checklists, and links to related resources on the Web.

Biech is also the author of these best-selling books for consultants:

Business of Consulting: The Basics & Beyond
Consultant's Quick Start Guide

Working for Yourself: Law and Taxes
By Stephen Fishman - ISBN: 0873378547
Attorney and legal writer Stephen Fishman discusses the U.S. laws and taxes that apply to consultants, freelances and independent contractors. Topics include pros and cons of working for yourself, choosing the right type of business (e.g., sole proprietorship or corporation), protecting your company's name, and paying self-employment taxes.

Fisherman also authored Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements. It includes "tear-out" agreements plus the printable, electronic equivalents on CD, with plain-English instructions.

Freelancing For Dummies
By Susan M. Drake - ISBN: 0764553690
As with all the For Dummies books, the title is not intended to insult, but rather indicate that the information is friendlier "for the rest of us." Get humorous-but-sound advice for organizing your home office, managing your budget, allocating your time, evaluating projects, landing new business, dealing with clients, and paying your taxes. Includes practical tips on assessing your skills and real-world stories from successful freelances.

Free Agent Nation
by Daniel H. Pink - ISBN: 0446678791
Want the bigger picture? To better understand the trend toward self-dependence and what it can mean for you, read this book. Pink reveals how millions of talented Americans have squeezed out from under the corporate thumb to strike out on their own as free agents, such as consultants, independent contractors and freelances, what inspired them to do so, and how this "new economy" opens the doors of independence for the rest of us.

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