Free Free Freelancin'

When freelancing -- and when running any kind of business at all -- getting your office set up cheaply is one of the hardest things you will have to do. If you do it legally (which I'm sure you do), all of the software required by the modern freelancer will cost more than anything else in your office. Microsoft Office Small Business alone costs $320 from Amazon.

Then, you have to buy the whole Adobe suite if you are going to handle documents being sent back and forth. My graphic designer only uses the Adobe suite, so I had to go buy that if I was going to do anything with her. (She's worth it, by the way. Contact me if you have any projects in need of a good graphic artist.)

So, what's a cheap sole proprietor to do in these days of expensive intellectual property?

Two words: Open source

Open source software is software that is basically open to the public to constantly modify and improve, thus creating a product for the public, by the public, that integrates all of the features that the public wants most.

Oh, and open source software is free. Not free as in, "Free software for 30 days. Then you lose everything unless we get your $750." I'm talking free free. What's-under-your-kilt free.

Even though I have Microsoft Office, I have been using Open Office lately for all of my office needs. With this free bundle, you get a very close replica of Microsoft's Office suite: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and a Draw program that "will produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects."

What about email?

I use Thunderbird. I never used Outlook, so I don't really know how easy it was. But Thunderbird has everything I'll ever need. I have two email accounts: work and pleasure. I have Thunderbird separate both accounts and color code them when I get them, so at a glance I can separate emails from my wife asking me to grab some bread at the store from the emails from a client asking about my pricing.

Want Norton protection without the Norton price? Go with Clamwin. It allows you to scan your computer for viruses using a fast, multi-threaded search, and it fully integrates with your email client for attachment scanning. Since it is open source, the virus definition database is constantly updating. A new virus definition could be sitting in your Clamwin anti-virus program literally seconds after it has made its first appearance. You can't pay for that kind of protection... and you won't. It's free.

There are millions of open source programs out there for everyone to use. It's up to you to decide if you want to use it or spend hundreds buying its commercial counterpart.