Your freelance portfolio is an excellent way of telling the world who you are and more importantly what you are capable of doing. It portrays your experience. It is a good way to show your expectations and a way of branding yourself. A good portfolio should not be congested but rather lean with enough information to tell clients just what they need to know. Other details they may be interested in can always be provided later when they contact you or when you are discussing job specifics.
When starting out, it can be tough because you don’t have any experience or any samples to show. But what should be included in your freelance portfolio once you start building one? There are two integral parts of an ideal portfolio.
Samples of your work
For freelance writers, display your best writing samples. Be careful of where the sample was published. Display samples that were published in reputable publications or websites. One way of doing this is to target easy to break into targets such as small nonprofits and businesses.
Apart from having complete articles, you can also list the type of work that you have done and the clients you worked for. Although some clients will not mind if you display their work or give reference to the same, others are not for it. So always ask for the client’s opinion or permission about this.
It is advisable to have samples of recent work as this is a clear indication to clients that you are still active. Works older than 2 years may not reflect well on you.
Your relevant personal details
These include information that is relevant to your freelancing service and need not include very personal or private life data. This section should include:
- Your name
- A short description about you and the nature of work that you do. For example, if you are a writer, describe the type of writing you do and the specific niche or sub-niche (if you have specialized in one) you focus on.
- If you have a blog or website, provide a link to the two.
- You can also provide a link to your resume or testimonial pages (if any)
- Let potential clients know how to contact you. This can be an email address or phone contact. Skype is also becoming increasingly popular as a way of communication.
Aims of a good portfolio
Your portfolio aims at achieving the following
- Getting you adequate numbers of clients that you can handle effectively. This means not too few neither too many.
- Should help you to earn a regular and steady income.
- Should help you to meet your financial goals.
Content in a portfolio is not static. As you gain more experience, (if you are a new freelancer) you will have more and new things to say about your experience. You will have more samples (and probably of higher quality) to display and you may even have to remove earlier ones. Hopefully, you will have attained the right number of clients to help you achieve your freelancing dreams.
