There are a lot of reasons to create a successful freelance portfolio, from attracting high-profile clients to adding new milestones, or maybe you just want to re-create a portfolio that is more creative and alluring than the previous one. A creative and alluring freelance portfolio can help you in building a more adverse client list and attract quality clients. You can generate more revenue all the while enjoying what you love to do. With this in mind, we have decided to share a few tips to create a successful freelance portfolio.
The very question before beginning would be to describe a portfolio like what is a portfolio and why do you need to have a portfolio. Well to answer this a portfolio is a document that contains all the information about you. This is a place where you can showcase your projects, skill set, achievements and milestones, and anything that you find important. A portfolio is something that can be used to give ideas about why choosing you for the project is a good choice and not your competitors.
Adding personalization and unique ideas you can make a portfolio so good that you can win your clients with your skills and projects completed. Additionally, anyone can have a portfolio for example a portfolio of a model will include all her previous modeling work while a portfolio of a student will include all the academic achievements of the students and his certifications and workshop attended. Depending on the person and requirement one can make various kinds of portfolios.
Benefits of a good Freelance portfolio
- All the projects are in one place to showcase
- It helps in building trust with the client as the client knows how much value you are going to add to their business by looking at your exemplary work.
- You can represent a legitimate business and business ethics through a clean and concise portfolio
- An alluring portfolio can help in generating a good traffic
- It can also help potential clients to know about you without much discussion in emails.
- This helps in enhancing your career as a freelancer by promoting your best work.
Now that we have established why making a good freelance portfolio is important, we are now going to discuss a few points on how to make a strong and clear freelance portfolio that can be beneficial for you.
- Make a dynamic freelance portfolio website
Every freelancer should have a portfolio before approaching the client. The most important part of creating a portfolio website is having a good domain name that represents your business and you, along with a good brand logo that can capture the client’s attention immediately and the client recognizes the brand immediately.
You must also have a good tagline as it attracts potential clients and gives an insight into how your work is and your work ethic. As a freelancer, always aim to give a short, clear and concise description of how you help your client in improving their work and increasing their revenue. Having a concise description can give you an edge that may as well work wonders for your upcoming projects.
Providing an about me section with your picture and goals can help the clients to build a rapport with you through the world wide web and can also help in building authenticity and trust in your brand. Along with this do not forget to add testimonials from previous work so that you can showcase how your work has helped businesses achieve goals and get maximum benefit.
Always have a call to action and contact form ready so you can have potential clients or clear any doubts regarding your business. Never forget to add your photo to your freelance portfolio for better visibility and quality traffic.
- Mention your specification
It is important to mention what is your niche and what you are comfortable with, to avoid any further confusion or having to provide poor quality work. Although it is important to say yes to all the work and expand your horizons, at the same time it is also important to mention what you are comfortable with and what might be a difficult task for you.
For example, if you are a travel blogger then any technical write-up for you might make you uncomfortable and if you are a technical writer then any food blogging or travel blogging content might make you uncomfortable. It is best to mention these beforehand to get quality work and smooth delivery of the task assigned. You can also mention the companies you have worked with previously to filter the type of work you like or the type of company you like.
- Always have something like hire me in your freelance portfolio
Having only information about your work and all the written content can make anyone visiting your page bored. Always be sure to create an innovative, creative, alluring, and beautifully crafted page for people visiting your page with reasons why they should hire you for their business.
Having a quality hire me page is a must if you are serious about your freelance work as it will showcase the various reasons why you should be hired and not anyone else. Making this page alluring and beautifully crafted can also allow you to add a custom and personalized touch to your portfolio.
- Have some giveaways prepared
Always prepare to give something free to people visiting you, this would be a great marketing strategy and can help you with gaining potential work as such if they liked your free services then surely they will go for your paid services if not today then tomorrow
For example, if you are a web developer have some tips and tricks prepared to share with your visitors, if you are an illustrator have some drawings and random icons showcased to show the more depth of your artistic and creative side, if you are a travel blogger, prepare to share some noteworthy traveling tips which you have learned so far.
Having value for their time, the visitors might return and you can get a quality audience for your website.
- Talk about your work
Your potential client does not know about the work you have done in the past or how you overcame any hurdle that was present with your last work unless you told them about it. This is one thin line and you do not want the client to think you are self-absorbed but you want them to know about your hard work. So the point is not to overdo or underdo this.
Most of the time your client might not know about the dedication and efforts you put into completing the task assigned unless you tell them. Only after knowing these, will your client appreciate you and your work. Always make sure to add how you helped your previous clients and how your presence helped them in generating high revenues.
The best quality tip for having an awesome freelance portfolio is to keep adding new and exciting projects into the portfolio and learning new things which are in sync with your freelancing business. Always be visible in terms of your work and never hesitate to showcase your work to the world.
If you are interested in reading about a story of an amazing person who overcame his fears and now is a successful Social Media Manager and Senior Writer then please visit Abhimaan Biswas on Storiyaan.