TW Newsdesk, November 8: Making a strong and consolidated portfolio is perhaps one of the most important things for a freelancer. The freelancing industry, today, has a vast scope and huge demand. While this creates a million new job opportunities, it also means that there are at least triple that amount of people ready to occupy such positions.
So, what would make a prospective client choose you from among the hundreds and thousands of applicants, providing the same service? In my experience, an organised and focused freelance portfolio might just do the trick.
A portfolio is basically a collection of what work you have done in the past and what experience you have. Think of it as an introduction to your credentials and an accurate presentation of the quality of service that you can provide. That service can be anything from writing to designing to marketing; there is literally no limit. This can be in the form of a pdf, a word document, a google drive link or just a link to a portfolio website.
What a portfolio mainly consists of is some basic information about past clients, the services provided to those clients, their feedback and testimonials and the service(s) you are prepared to provide the current prospective client.
It is not that crucial that the best portfolio for a freelancer is made with a very fancy and elegant design tool with a lot to attract the eye. As long as it contains the basic requirements your freelance portfolio need not be very spruced up. Your portfolio can also just be simply a pdf or a word document containing raw text if it best captures the essence of your work. However, if you are looking to present an elegant design, design websites like Canva can be very helpful.
So, what template can you follow to best organize your freelance portfolio?
About You
The first page of your portfolio should consist of who you are, where you give the client a little description about yourself, what kind of business you do and what kind of businesses you serve. One of the most important things to remember during this step is to not go on with a lot of information about yourself. Focus on your services and reveal personal tidbits about yourself if and how they tie up with your work. For instance, instead of writing “I like drinking coffee”, you could write, “every morning you’ll find me at my desk with a cup of coffee with a word doc open to create great marketing strategies”. So always try and integrate your work with your personality.
Primary services
This page should include the primary services that you offer. This has to be very specific. Say, it is designing, so specify what sort of designing services you provide; is it graphic designing or UI/UX designing, and so on.
Pro tip: do not include more than 3-4 primary services but do give them an idea about the arsenal of skills that you possess. Here you can just list out your services or add a little description of the same. You should also add your prices for each service that you offer in this section of your portfolio.
Samples of Work
This next page is very important. This should include specimens of the work you have done in the past, websites you designed, content you created or articles you wrote for previous clients. In case, you have never had clients before, you can also add your personal projects that can give the client an idea of your capabilities.
Results
This page will include the before and after results of those projects you undertook. You can add screenshots of your past client’s website showing an increase in sales and so on.
Testimonials and feedback
This page should have any feedback or testimonial that you can present that endorses your services, your work ethic, etc. Your testimonials can also be from unpaid opportunities.
Recommended services
This is going to be the last page of your portfolio. This should include what services you can provide for this specific client. Pro tip: always try and customize this page for every new client. This will make them feel that you have really paid attention to their work and it really goes a long way in establishing a good rapport.
So, with all this in your quiver, you are now ready to get out there, make and shoot them with the best portfolio and grab that next opportunity. Happy Freelancing!
