How to Create a Freelance Writer Portfolio
A guide to freelancing
Knowing how to create a freelance writer portfolio is necessary if you want to become a freelance writer. Your portfolio is massively important in securing clients. It gives them an insight into your education history, a bit about you, and a lot about your work history.
Now, if you’re starting out in the gig economy it can be quite intimidating to start creating your portfolio, especially with little to no prior experience. However, as a flexible and accessible way to earn some cash, the time you take to get your portfolio up to scratch comes with its rewards.
If you have a portfolio, but you’re looking for a way to enhance it, you can still derive some handy tips from this article to bring you every success in the freelance game.
The Basics
Now, in order to create an accessible and successful portfolio, there are a few essentials to include.
We recommend creating a cover page that details your name, how to contact you, which service(s) you offer, and your usual working hours (more so if you only work specific days, or if you work exclusively in the evenings) so your potential clients can know what to expect.
It’s important that there’s a good match with your client and their values, so include a little ‘about you’ section with details of how you got into your specific trade, any hobbies that support it, or any interests that your employer will find intriguing. Perhaps you’re a keen artist in your spare time or love reading about Ancient Egypt. This makes you relatable and interesting to any potential clients.
If there are any gaps in your history due to travelling, this is a good time to highlight them and any experiences you had during that time that you can bring to the table.
Advertise unlikely skills
You may have a history of freelancing, or you may have very little. Whatever your work history, it’s likely you will have taken on roles and responsibilities that, at a glance, don’t seem to link directly to your chosen trade.
Perhaps you want to get into writing and editing, and writing university essays is a great experience to reference. Perhaps you may wish to include one of them as an example of your writing style. Maybe if you took a practical course at university or a year abroad, the skills gained from that environment can be linked to most freelance trades.
If you’re still at university, take the time to find extra experience. A good example is to join societies which have an educational or practical element. Get involved in creating a student newspaper, or take a position such as treasurer or president which involves some responsibility. These skills are applicable to any trade and profession.
Practical skills
If you have freelanced before, your portfolio is the perfect place to showcase your previous work. If it’s a website you wrote copy for, include a link to it or attach some screenshots of the page. Don’t have a lot of experience? Include some excerpts detailing the project and your work process. This will appeal to potential clients and it will give them insight into who they may be working with.
Something that might be nice to include is a review from previous, happy clients. If you’ve built up a great rapport with them, why not reach out for a review, or a quote to reference in your portfolio? This allows new potential clients to see that you have completed successful projects and built up positive client relations.
What should you do if you haven’t freelanced before? Well, including some practice work will help showcase your potential. Offering your services to friends and family, for example, as a graphic designer you could create some wedding invitations, birthday invites. If you’re a writer, start a blog, write some essays or think of some advertisements for a specific company you’d like to work with. Start a blog or create your own webpage, all of these are skills that will benefit your portfolio.
If you didn’t have any opportunities to do this in the past, take on a small passion project. This can give you a taste of freelancing before the real deal. Set yourself realistic deadlines, emphasise your best skills, and then include the work in your portfolio.
Browse Revolancer
If you’re still struggling or needing extra inspiration, browse freelancer websites to see examples of other people’s portfolios. Take a look at Revolancer and browse the listings there.
Another efficient way to make a freelance writer portfolio may be to make a profile and follow the platform’s guidelines. The steps outlined there will help you by providing you with a step-by-step guide to creating a good profile. This allows you to save time, as you create your portfolio and advertise your services on our zero commission website. From here it can be viewed by clients looking to enlist your services.
Before you go
Now that you know how to create a freelance writer portfolio, check out Why You Should Start Freelancing to delve into the pros and cons of the gig economy.
Freelance marketplace: Revolancer