A good way to attract clients for freelancing is to create an online portfolio. This is relatively easy to do, even if you are new to freelancing. A good way to do this is through a website of your own. The website should look professional and modern, so if you are unfamiliar with website building then consider hiring someone to create one for you, or alternatively use one of the many easy-to-use website-building tools available these days.
What Should the Portfolio Include?
The website should not only showcase your talent and give examples of what work you can do, but it should also provide an easy way for clients to contact you. Furthermore, a portfolio should include a brief description of yourself so that the client can get to know you a little better before asking you to work with them. This can make things a little more personal, and makes you instantly more trustworthy.
Something that a lot of freelancers miss out on is explaining their work. Many people decide it’s better to show their work rather than say much about it, but taking the opportunity to explain the project and what you actually did may help to swing some clients in your favor.
Showcasing Talent
The portfolio should put on display your best work. This means that you should include a variety of pieces in your portfolio to show off the various things you can do. Include a range of topics, a variety of writing techniques and try to include pieces that use different layouts. This will attract a wider variety of clients and thus more work.
Another thing to note is that you can include unfinished works or snippets from pieces. As long as the excerpt shows off your writing skills, it is a valuable thing to include in your portfolio.
In addition, try showing off any results you have achieved. If you have been involved in social media management and content creation for sites that show number of likes and shares, screenshot the results and post these somewhere on your portfolio. These make for a very attractive strategy that will draw in more clients.
What if You Don’t Have Much to Showcase?
New freelancers can still create a decent portfolio. How?
Well, you could start by creating pieces for imaginary clients. Write a few example posts of your own, on any topics you fancy, and post them up as an example of your writing. Another way to rack up some new content is to guest post on other blogs, and use these writings as proof of your talent. Alternatively, you could do some unpaid work just to get your feet off the ground, although the first two options may be much more appealing.
Keep in mind that these new posts should still be explained in your portfolio, so your potential clients can see exactly what you did.
Final Tips
It is important to always keep your portfolio updated – it should grow with you. As your career flourishes, your portfolio should expand too. Building a portfolio is definitely worth it for freelances wanting to turn over more work and attract new clients. Try getting started now!
