*This post will be continually updated over time*
Investing in yourself and your business is undoubtedly the fastest way to grow and develop.
Every possible mistake you could make in your online journey has most likely been made before and even more likely, someone has spoken about it, documented and even created a solution for your already existing problem.
And over the years, I’ve consumed a whole lot of different resources, some good, some bad.
In this post, I’m going to go over some of the best resources that have most improved my business, self, and freelancing journey.
So. let’s start…
Free Resources
Table of Contents
If you’re working on a budget, then don’t worry.
There are thousands of free resources out there that you can get started with.
We’ll start with email lists:
- Ben Settle
- Marketing Examples
- Tej Dosa
- Matt Furey
- AWAI
- BioTrust
- Transformation Insider
Websites:
- MarketingExamples.com
- Answerthepublic.com
- ReallyGoodEmails.com
- SwipeFile.com
- Swiped.co
- EmailDrips.com
Free resources (Downloadable):
Courses that I vouch for:
There’s no doubt that investing in yourself is a good mindset to have.
As Alex Hormozi tweeted recently:
And it’s true…
Courses WILL NOT make you rich.
But taking the information provided and ruthlessly implementing it will.
Look, there’s no doubt some courses out there are trash and not worth their money.
But here are a couple that I’ve bought and can vouch for:
Here they are –
7 Figure Marketing by Sean Vosler:
Sean Vosler has produced copy for some of the biggest info-marketers in the game.
And in 7-figure marketing, Sean goes over in depth everything you need to get a solid foundation of copywriting under your belt.
A perfect way to land the foundation for your marketing and copywriting capabilities.
Cold Email Mastery by Cold Email Wizard
Hands down one of the best info products I’ve ever bought.
And can honestly say this was responsible for landing my first copywriting client via cold email.
So, if you’re a freelancer looking to land clients via cold email?
Or sell any kind of B2B service? Then this is what you need.
This course outlines exactly what you need to do to get replies from potential clients and all the whats and what not to dos.
Following this course allowed me to land one of my first-ever clients via cold email.
If you follow what the course says, you’ll do well.
Daniel Throssell Email Compendium
This is a good one and is only applicable if you are writing emails to either your email list or a client’s email list.
Daniel Throssell goes through all the lessons he’s learned in creating entertaining and profitable emails and how to best optimize your results.
It’s honestly one of the best email products I’ve bought in a long while and couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
If you want to learn more about it, you can get it here.
Mind Control Marketing by Mark Joyner
To be honest, this is more of a book than a course but still incredibly useful.
It covers all of the human biases and psychology you can use to (Ethically) maximize your profits and how to successfully manufacture your marketing campaigns.
Non Fiction books you need to pick up
With whatever endeavor you do in life, one principle that’ll take you far is mastering the basics.
And although this book isn’t a copywriting book per se, it’s probably more valuable than a lot of copywriting books out there.
Bryan Garner covers the basics of concise and effective writing, and if you’re able to do this with your marketing and copy, it’ll take you far.
My favorite quotes from the book:
“Aim to write as naturally as you speak: Sound like a human being, not a corporation.”
Gerry Spence wrote this book with the emphasis on teaching readers how to effectively communicate and argue their point of view in a number of different situations, including personal and professional discussions, negotiations, and legal proceedings.
The chances are, you might not be in this kind of situation, but there are a lot of parallels between this and you, a copywriter or marketer, trying to convince other people to take action.
Not only that, but this book also emphasizes the importance of understanding the other person’s perspective and using logic and emotion to persuade them
And that is exactly what you need to learn about if you’re a marketer or copywriter
My favorite quotes from the book:
“Use simple words, words that create pictures and action and that generate feeling.”
If you’re someone who’s in the service delivery space of any capacity, this is a fantastic read.
This book goes over in-depth how to basically claim what is yours.
Why’s this important?
Well, if you’re a freelancer or deliver a service of any kind, there is a good chance you’ll be in a situation where you’re chasing up invoices, dealing with clients who aren’t willing to take your advice, or a whole host of other things.
Knowing how to navigate these situations is vital for business and everyday life.
My favorite quote from the book:
“Being liked was not much of a reward for being poor and disrespected. By the same token, money and respect were more than enough consolation for having a pack of insecure neurotics dislike me.”
For all of you non-native speakers out there, this is a must-read.
Why?
The author of this book, by the name of Evaldo Albuquerque, is one paper one of the best copywriters in the world at the moment.
And English isn’t even his first language!
It’s common to hear in the copywriting world “Non-native speakers can’t become good copywriters”…
Well, Evaldo Albuquerque has just disproved this point with his track record and this incredible book.
Take Their Money Kyle Milligan
Another Copywriting recommendation.
This is one of the best copy books I’ve read in a while.
In ‘Take Their Money’ Kyle Milligan hones in on the 4 key emotions in almost every single piece of copywriting:
N: New
E: Easy
S: Safe
B: Big
And if you didn’t already know, Evaldo Albuquerque (Author of the above book) and Kyle Milligan are both Agora copywriters.
Would recommend picking it up if you haven’t already and you can do so by clicking here
Fiction Books
I recently saw this tweet online from one of my favorite followers (@ComedicBizman), and it said:
And it’s true.
After you’ve read about and developed a good foundation of marketing and copywriting knowledge, you’ll get more out of reading fiction books than repeatedly reading the same nonfiction books.
Especially if you’re a marketer or copywriter.
And reading fiction will no doubt build that empathy muscle which is one of the most important skills you can develop.
So, here’s a list of some killer fiction books that you should pick up:
> Post Office by Charles Bukowski
> Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
*To be honest, any Charles Bukowski book is amazing.*
> Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
> Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Tools to help you improve your freelance business:
One of the most amazing things about running a freelance business is how lean it can be.
And if you’re working on a budget, you can actually get your business up and running for less than $100.
What a time to be alive.
And here are a few tools that I’ve been using over the past years and months that have helped me with my business.
You definitely don’t need these, but they definitely do help.
Carrd
If you’re selling a service of any kind, and you want a place to talk about your offer and show off some testimonials, then Carrd is perfect.
It only costs $19/year and it can host multiple websites.
And no, you don’t need some fancy website that costs thousands to create.
All you need is a simple landing page that explains what you do, some testimonials, and a Calednly link at the bottom.
Keep it simple!
Desingerr
This is a new one I’ve been using recently.
And honestly, it’s amazing.
Designer allows you to easily create professional-looking lead magnets or ebooks for your business.
Previously I was just using Google docs, but would think to myself how unprofessional it looked…
But this was probably one of the best alternatives that I’ve found to date.
So, I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking to redesign or create any eBooks or lead magnets.
And if it sounds like something you want to try out, you can simply click here.
Email tools
I’ve talked about a lot of different email tools in depth on Email Maximalist.
And if you want to learn more about what’s out there, I’d recommend you take a look at –
> What email software is best for you in 2023?
TweetHunter
If you’re on Twitter, I couldn’t recommend this highly enough.
Although I’m only coming up to a lowly 100 followers (I’m working on it!), it’s still been incredibly useful.
This tool allows you to schedule months’ worth of tweets and threads in literal minutes, look at a tweet from a library of millions of tweets, and use A.I to come up with new ideas.
So, if you’re looking at creating a personal brand on Twitter and you don’t want to be spending all day on the timeline, then this is a good option.
And you can sign up by clicking here:
Before you go...
If you haven’t already seen it, I recently put together a guide on how I create emails for myself and my clients.
It’s everything I’ve learned over the past couple of years distilled into a simple and easy-to-consume guide.
You can get it by clicking here.
And, if you have any questions that I haven’t mentioned, either send me an email at jamie@Emailmaximalist.com
Or Just send me a DM on Twitter @EmailMaximalist
