Tips For Creating Your Online Freelance Portfolio
In the US, there are more freelancers than ever before. In fact, there are close to 57 million freelance workers in the US, which accounts for 36 percent of the workforce.
If it’s your dream to become a freelancer, then now is the perfect time. One of the first things you should do when embarking on a freelance career is to create a freelance portfolio. But, how do you make one?
Create Some Samples
In order to create a portfolio, you first need to have some samples. If you don’t have any professional samples, don’t sweat it, as you can always create your own. For example, let’s say you want to be a freelance writer. You can create blog posts and publish them on your own site, or you can contact a charity and offer to do free writing work for them.
You don’t need dozens and dozens of samples. Focus on quality over quantity. Three or four quality samples will be plenty.
Don’t Just Show, Tell the Story
Portfolios aren’t just about showing your work. In order for your portfolio to really shine, you need to explain your examples.
With each sample in your portfolio, spend some time explaining the process you went through in order to execute the project. If you experienced any obstacles while completing the project, don’t be afraid to talk about these. Discussing obstacles will show your potential clients that you have good problem-solving skills.
You also want to make sure you discuss the impact of your work. For example, if you created an awesome blog post, you can talk about the number of views that post got and how it helped drive clients to the site. Or, if you’re a web designer, you can talk about how the site you created resulted in more online bookings for the company.
Whatever it is, make sure your potential clients understand the impact of your work. You can even create a mini case study if you want to give a more detailed description of how your work helped your clients.
Focus On What You Want
When you showcase your portfolio, it’s also very important that you talk about the kind of work you’d like to do and the types of clients you’d like to worth with.
Point out specific companies you’d like to worth with or a specific niche you’d like to focus on. This is especially important in the beginning stages, as your portfolio may not yet showcase your dream projects.
Are You Ready to Build Your Freelance Portfolio?
Now that you have a better understanding of how to build a freelance portfolio, it’s time to get started on your own. Before you know it, you’ll be gaining clients left and right thanks to your spiffy new profile.
