If you’re a freelancer, I’d be willing to bet that you have at least one monitor in your workspace dedicated to YouTube videos (for at least part of the day). We all have to get our daily quotient of cute kitty videos, after all. But when the kittens run dry or you’ve listened to all of these podcasts, you may want to check out these freelancer YouTube channels. Professional development has never been so fun or easy.
1. Chris the Freelancer
Chris is everywhere. Literally. He lives abroad and teaches people how to, as his headline says, “live and work anywhere.” While we all may not be able to globe trot and click away on our laptops in exotic locales, Chris’s advice is still pertinent to those of us who work for ourselves. He talks about finding clients and making the most of your time. And just because Panera Bread or Starbucks is as far as you travel, you can still be a digital nomad. Just one who roams around your own city.
2. Brett Dev
Like Chris the Freelancer, Brett Dev is a well-known freelancer who lives abroad (Chiang Mai, Thailand, to be specific), and he does a lot of web dev tutorials and freelancing tips. He gets into the lifestyle of living abroad and working abroad as a freelancer, showing you personal vlogs as well so that you can see what you can be getting into. Like Chris and his nomadic lifestyle, you may not be interesting in living in Thailand, but the advice is solid.
3. John Morris
John Morris is aimed at new coders who want to make a career out of the skills they can learn from him. Nowhere near as exotic as the previous two entries, John gets folks the best information he possibly can. He has over 57k subscribers, and there’s a good reason for that. He’s easy to listen to and learn from. You can’t really get better than that if you’re trying to finish tutorials.
4. Mike Locke
If you’re freelancing, you absolutely have to keep the clients and their users in mind. Mike Locke is a UI/UX designer, and he goes through what that means in simple terms that apply to your job and life. He has been in the field for 17 years, and you can tell from the quality of his videos. UX is something we can all study up on more, so here’s a good opportunity for us all.
5. Derek Banas
My notes on this channel are two words: whoa, nelly. And that’s about all I can think of to say about it. Derek does tutorials on pretty much everything, and he has playlist after playlist about everything from livestream gaming to C# to Crochet to Django, Visual Basic, and roughly everything else in the world. He does this all by request, so check it out and learn…something. Everything?
As a freelancer, sometimes life throws you a curveball, and you have to accept a job doing something that you’re not entirely familiar with. But you have to put food on the table. Channels like Derek’s make that much, much easier than it normally would be.
6. Gary Vaynerchuck
Because he’s Gary Vaynerchuck.
7. TED (and TEDx)
Kind of like GaryVee above, there’s not a lot that needs to be said about TED talks. I’d be willing to bet we’ve all seen some, and I am here to tell you that you need to watch more. TED talks and the local versions (TEDx) are all done by experts in their respective fields who bring a unique idea to the table so that the audience can think about it. Maybe they’re explaining something or just presenting a what-if, but if you’re a freelancer, seeing and learning from pioneers in different fields and thought leaders is one of the most surefire ways to keep yourself above your competition.
8. Project Management Videos
Project management is easily one of the most important skills for you if you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur. Without handling your projects with care and organization, it’s so easy for things to either spiral out of control or to have something important get dropped at just the wrong moment. The topics you’ll watch here are easy- and quick-to-digest, and you will absolutely get ideas on how you can not necessarily do your job better, but definitely manage it better.
9. Chris Fox
Chris Fox came across my radar when I was writing a lot of fiction. But that’s not only who can benefit from his advice. As an independent author, he knows that time is his most valuable resource (much like freelancers and entrepreneurs!), and he shares what he has learned about making the most of it. Whether you’re a freelance writer or dev or designer or something else entirely, Chris Fox’s channel will have something for you. Marketing strategy, writing craft tips, or maybe even the nuts-and-bolts part of sitting down and making sure you don’t waste time. He helped me along my way, so I hope he can in yours, too.
10. freeCodeCamp
If you’re a freelance dev, look into freeCodeCamp. It’s just what it sounds like: an online camp where you learn to code. For free. There are tons of tutorials, a Slack server, and a wonderful community around the channel, too. Whether you want to go through the full camp program or just watch a few videos to hone in on some skills because a client asked for something you haven’t done in years, freeCodeCamp should have you covered. They deal with all aspects of code, from front-end JavaScript, back-end JavaScript, Git, Vim, and everything else that you may need to know about as a freelancer in the tech field.
11. Behind the Brand
You didn’t set out to be a failed freelancer or entrepreneur. You want to succeed because you’ve got what it takes to succeed. And you can see how your path to greatness aligns with different brands and influencers and their paths. Instead of a typical advice channel, Bryan Elliott sits down with people and actually talks with them. Not to them. Not at them. But has real conversations about what makes them who they are. Plus, you do get the standard advice videos, too, so if that’s your thing, you’re going to love this.
Finishing Up
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of channels out there aimed at freelancers and entrepreneurs. This is really just scratching the surface. You will definitely find, though, that the cream definitely has risen to the top with these, and when you get a chance to sit down with each and every one of these (or a single one — that’s okay, too), you should be far more ready to hit the daily grind than you were before you pressed play.
What are your favorite freelancer YouTube channels?
Article featured image by fatmawati achmad zaenuri / shutterstock.com
Great post! Thank you. ?
Great list! I’m a huge fan of Gary Vaynerchuck.
Great list! I’m a huge fan of Gary Vaynerchuck, too.
This is a nice list. Some interesting stuff on the channels.
Thanks for the list! As a woman… I couldn’t care less that they are all dudes, so long as they are good at what they do.
Wow, complete sausage-fest. I’m with Birte, that *is* embarrassing for you guys – what an oversight. I’d be updating this list, stat.
Wow, Elegant Themes – no women. Not even Amy Landino (formally Schmittauer). While, I don’t doubt the dudes on this list are great (where’s Brian from backlinko by the way?). This seems more like your personal youtube playlist not an objective list for freelancers.
Best list.
Thank you Keeton.
Alessandro Castellani is also very good channel. I like is videos its all about beginner developer to become core. Highly recommend.
I hate to be the one to point that out, but seriously, 11 channels and not a single one is hosted by a woman? That’s embarrassing.
Love your list. As entrepreneur we have to self motivate us regularly, these Youtube channels are one way of doing that. I subscribed to all of them. Thanks for sharing
You can also find great ad-free content on LinkedIn learning. And upon completion of courses you can display your certificates on your profile.
Mike Locke is awesome!!! Started watching his content years ago when I was just getting into the industry. Highly recommend.
I would have added Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko. The free how-to information, tips, and step by step education provided by Brian Dean has been invaluable to my business and my clients.
I’m a new fan of Miles Beckler and am growing increasingly addicted to his podcast/YouTube channel. I especially like that a lot of his videos are short and get right to the point; it makes it easy to integrate him into my everyday routine.
Thanks for the tip, I just subscribed to Miles’ channel
Philip VanDusen!!! He’s the most informative, encouraging, freelance-design guy anywhere!
Excellent article. Lots of things to learn. I wished to add the Elegant theme channel, though very specific but had taken web design to a new level. Best wishes.
That will be a great idea. I really get valuable information here…
Thanks, B.J. CSS Doohickeys are awesome, and so is your list of sites to check out.
Struggling to find my niche and direction in designing! The right post at the right time!
Cheers!
Rich
There’s a really good one for designers called The Futur.
+1 to this! There are so many things to learn in The Futur. Chris Do is one of the best coaches in the business of design.
+1 Chris Do its amazing
+1
mmtuts it is another very good channel
Would love to see some women on here!
No doubt. Sarah Doody has a lot of great content if anyone’s interested.