From Serf to Surfer: Becoming a Network Consultant

Establishing a network consultancy frequently has more to do with happenstance than with any sort of coherent business plan. People typically develop competencies, do favors here and small jobs there, and then break with the day job when they realize that the independent work is a job unto itself. Knowing this, Matthew Strebe and his contributors on From Serf to Surfer have refrained from presenting any sort of recipe for success as a consultant. Instead, Strebe has mixed tales of his personal consulting career with universal truths about freelancing. The result is a fantastic book that is both entertaining and informative, and which belongs in the backpack of every technical consultant. From Serf to Surfer absolutely nails the proper mix of hard technicalities and soft business skills as they apply to freelance computer and network consultants.

The personal anecdotes are by far the best, since Strebe writes with a hilariously dry style, revealing the silliness that underlies every consultant's business worries. "A combination of sunlight and anxiety woke me up," Strebe writes in an account of a typical consulting day. But there's a lot more to this book than the author's excellent insights into life, taxes, and the customer's psyche. You'll find explicit advice on maximizing tax deductions on business vehicles (buy a dedicated business vehicle), keeping your cool in the face of idiotic clients ("call your mom and resolve all your outstanding childhood issues"), and getting set up with the equipment you'll need (there's a list, complete with makes and models). Read this one, particularly if you're already a successful consultant and think you know it all. --David Wall

Topics covered: Freelance consultancy in the computer networks field. In addition to loads of hilarious and salient stories from the primary author's career, this book contains a great deal of information on such business technicalities as project management, marketing, contract negotiation, client relations, accounting, taxes, and so on. The tax and legal stuff is U.S.-focused, but consultants everywhere will appreciate what Strebe has to say.