Does the gig economy have you running around like a chicken with its head cut off? You’re far from alone.
For freelancers, scurrying about logging in to this, that and the other site has become the norm. And it seems like every potential job you respond to has someone new asking you for something unexpected.
I’ve been saying this for about ten years now, but it’s time to say it LOUDER. And it’s also time to take my own advice.
You MUST get your portfolio up to speed. The reason why you can’t take fast action on freelance opportunities is a portfolio that’s all over the place… or maybe you don’t even HAVE a portfolio.
Gigging keeps us on our toes, no doubt. Getting prospects to LOOK at what you created, and RECOGNIZE that you can do this for them, too, may just be the biggest chunk of the battle.
The work should be so tight and so on point that they’re inspired to IMMEDIATELY reach out to you with a paid offer.
Honestly, as freelancers, we can’t afford to screw around. There’s no recovery time after you psych yourself up for a new project but then you’re passed over. Instead, you must keep moving… a bouncing ball, boomeranging on to the next opportunity.
For this reason, we’re better if we build what I’ll call a living portfolio, for lack of a better term.
What’s a Living Portfolio?
A living portfolio refers to a showcase of your work that’s constantly growing… one that you continually add to on the fly as you move from project to project, gig to gig.
Why is this important? Because you know what happens when a potential new client comes along, or someone wants a temp worker, but you’re not prepared. And it happens ALL the time.
The potential client or hiring manager wants to see an exact match of something you worked on for someone else, that also applies to them.
So let’s say they need a copywriter to write a brochure for a skincare product. You’ve written a skincare email newsletter, but not a skincare brochure.
If you don’t have the brochure sample in short order for them, it’s on to the next freelancer, and you’ve been dropped like a hot potato.
What actions could you take to stop this gig from going south?
- Show them the skincare emails you created.
- Show them a brochure you created for a different niche.
You can only do this if your portfolio is impeccably organized.
Having a good sense of what’s located where in your collection of work samples means you can grab the key portfolio piece, and send it off without skipping a beat or fumbling the ball.
Organizing Your Work Samples in a Portfolio
To execute what I just described, this is how you could organize your samples for easy access:
- Set a location for where your newsletters live online, and label it.
- Set a location for where your brochure samples live online, and label it.
- Make sure any relevant portfolio pieces have been uploaded, and linked to from the location in question.
This is very easily accomplished with a website, but most people initially have trouble wrapping their heads around the concept.
Build this in WordPress or another content management system.
Yes, competition for jobs and work has never been more intense. But remember that the freelance game’s gone global. Some if your competitors will be top caliber, but many more will be hacks.
Everyone who claims to be the category of professional you are, will NOT meet your level of excellence. The hiring person doesn’t know that, though. That’s why you want to have your portfolio ready, to communicate instantly on your behalf.
So if you want to land rewarding work that matches your core skillset, you’ve got to have everything all ready to go when potential payers come knocking.
Because your freelance activities are dynamic, your portfolio should be, too. That means constantly adding to a body of work that keeps growing, bigger and bigger.
Everyone Should Have a Work Portfolio Online
I want to just say this for people who aren’t freelancers. The job market isn’t stable like it was back in the day.
You don’t know if your company will downsize, move to a new location, do a merger, get bought out, or something else that produces an uncomfortable work environment for you or leaves you out in the cold with no job.
So even if you don’t see yourself as a “gig worker,” we all kind of are at this point. If it ever comes time that you need to pivot, having the work porfolio will literally save your life.
It doesn’t have to be creative professionals, either. Everyone has the ability now to make visual presentations in Canva, PowerPoint, and Google Docs.
Examples of Different Types of Work Porfolio Websites
- A product innovator showcases all of the products they’ve developed.
- A home organizer showcases before and after photos and testimonials.
- A home restoration expert showcases photos of the process of renovating and restoring homes.
- A writer showcases creative projects they’ve worked on for clients.
- A graphic designer showcases their best visual works of art.
You can take photos of projects you’ve done, collect data, do product montages, create work mockups and much more.
Anything that’s relevant to the work you do that shows your value can be made into a shareable file that you can simply pass the link along to a potential employer.
Your Work Portfolio: How Everything Presents
Here’s the walk-through of what happens when a potential employer posts a gig or job, and you apply.
The potential client or hiring manager posts a job or gig.
You see it. This is work you can do, so your goal is to attract their attention by way of 3 things:
- A cover letter or pitch that paints you as competent and capable.
- Your resume, in case they want a peek at your career background
- A relevant work sample that showcases your talent and ability.
That last piece is the most important, even if you’re tempted to skip it. Sometimes when you get to that part where they ask for samples, your mind goes blank.
You definitely can do this job, but… samples?? How to put this together fast, so I can send this out promptly and get the gig?
For this to be smooth, and not ruffle a strand of hair on your head or disrupt what you’re currently working on, you must have samples at the ready. So there must be shareable files.
The files must be organized in easy-access folders. And this must be stored online so you can quickly share a link instead of fussing with emails and file attachments.
Create an Online Portfolio: Visualize it First
Before we dig deep into the details of online portfolio building, let’s start with a visual. Someone wants to see samples of your work. Where will you direct them?
Having a website of your own makes the most sense. Why? NO distractions and no competition from other professionals who do what you do.
Once they’re on the website, what will they see?
- A Home page introducing you, what you do, and how you’ll help them.
- An About page that details your career background (most people visit this page right away)
- A Services page that presents what you offer in a clear, organized way.
- A Samples page – this is where your porfolio will live.
- A Signup page – could be optional, but email capture works the best to convert clients.
- A Contact page – easy access to your name, phone number if you’re sharing that, and email.
How to Create an Online Portfolio
I’m going to give you the basics of creating a work portfolio if you’ve never done it before. Or, maybe you’ve only served clients in this capacity.
Sometimes it’s difficult to accomplish for ourselves what we achieve for clients. That may have to do with our ability to stay objective. Or, overwhelm could interfere with our vision and goals for the portfolio.
Having the steps in front of you can help you focus your mind. Here they are:
Step 1: Gather your work samples.
Save the following in folders, either on your computer or in a virtual cloud storage area. Organize everything topically, by niche, or however it makes the best sense for your industry and professional role.
Where to find work samples to add to your portfolio?
- You may have some on different computers.
- Some may be email attachments.
- Some you may need to transfer from your work computer to your home by emailing them to yourself.
- Some you might need to write up in a Google doc or take photos of product montages and such.
- Some might be worked up as a case study that shows the before and after – this the best “proven” testament to your worth, if asked.
Testimonials could also be another element of your work portfolio. If you don’t have any, send out emails or make a request for testimonials from your clients and coworkers, on LinkedIn.
Step 2: Turn your work samples into shareable files.
PDFs and .JPGs work best for this purpose. Add your name and title, contact info and URL to each sample. Watermarks are also advisable to prevent content theft.
Step 3: Create a website.
This should not be a Facebook page because content gets stolen from there. It should be your own site, hosted securely online.
Consider buying your own name as a domain name, or purchasing a domain that reflects your company name if you plan to use one.
Step 4: Write copy for the main pages of your website.
This includes Home, About, Services, Samples, Contact, and any others.
Step 5: Categorize and present.
Decide how you’d like to categorize and present your samples on the site. Everything could be listed on the Samples page. Or, you might link from menus located at the top, in the sidebar or from a page of your site.
Create Your Digital Portfolio and Add Project Mockups
Your online work porfolio doesn’t have to only contain work that you completed for actual employers.
If you’re short on samples and looking to break into a niche, you can assign yourself some work in areas that you’d like to practice creating in. For writers especially, this could produce favorable results.
Most potential clients aren’t looking to go over your experience with a fine-tooth comb. They just want to be sure of your talent and capabilities.
If you know that you’d like to write, design or create in a specific niche area, do some projects on your own.
Take pictures, or add visuals, and turn these into PDF or .JPG file samples to present in your portfolio, along with other work you’ve completed for clients and employers.
Build a Portfolio Website, Make it Dynamic
Once you’ve developed your website and everything looks exactly as you’d like it to look, make a plan for routine updates and maintenance. The “living” aspect of your portfolio makes it dynamic.
Get into the habit of making fresh portfolio samples to add to your collection. Each time you complete a project for a client, capture the visuals right away.
- Start using Canva to organize your samples.
- Have a Canva doc template ready that you can copy and paste words and images into from your client projects.
- Crop the image, add white space, add a headline or other graphic enhancement.
- Add your contact info.
- Save as a PDF and download. Upload to your website and link to the file from a Samples page or menu.
You can also save some samples on a private page. Your clients who don’t want the world to know that you wrote their copy, or have you display their copyrighted material on your site, will appreciate this.
If a potential client requests a certain type of work sample, you can always just log into your site, grab the link and pass it to them via email.
How Much to Create a Website Portfolio?
How much does making a portfolio cost? It depends on how much you’d prefer to invest in the following:
- Web based tools to help you push the word out.
- Your domain and hosting.
- A lead capture system if you plan to add that to your site.
- Service providers, such as a copywriter or virtual assistant, to implement the website creation process.
If you only choose to invest in web hosting, you’re looking at maybe $400 per year for a start-up site that’s list-building from zero.
If you outsource, you may end up investing a few thousand dollars for site creation, site maintenance, and other related work that you farm out to a creative professional.
Great news! All that is tax deductible. Keep good records.
Portfolio Website Services
I’m Dina and I’ve written copy since 1996, and run my own content businesses online since 2003. I can guide you through the process of making an online portfolio to showcase your work samples.
Here’s what I can help with:
- Procuring a domain name
- Ordering web hosting
- Setting up an email that matches your domain
- Drafting copy for your main (static) pages
- Adding images to your site’s main pages
- Researching the best plan for SEO and executing that
- Organizing your portolio area based on existing samples
- Setting up email capture and sign-up forms on your site
Get a Quote for Online Portfolio Creation
Choose what services you need:
- Procuring a web domain and hosting
- Writing your first draft of web content
- Editing existing content for your porfolio
- Setting up a WordPress site and doing the basic design
- Uploading and resizing work samples
- Adding or tuning up your SEO
- Updating your portfolio, adding new samples
My website design and copywriting rate is $70 per hour. I’ll be able to estimate hours after we discuss your project in detail.
It takes approximately 2 weeks to create a basic, 5-page website from scratch.
Adding deep content pages, editing images, and activating lead capture will require additional time.
Email dinagio@dinagio.com for a project quote today.