How to Build the Perfect Freelance Writing Portfolio

Prospective clients use your portfolio to determine if they should hire you.

Your freelance writing portfolio showcases your writing work and helps sell your writing services to potential clients. A sloppy or poorly developed portfolio results in a negative first impression and gives prospects no reason to hire you. Conversely, a well-organized portfolio shows that you take pride in your work, which is something potential clients want to see. The perfect freelance portfolio contains polished samples that showcase several different types of writing, making it possible for you to appeal to several different types of clients with one portfolio.

Things You'll Need

• Writing samples
• Three-ring binder or leather portfolio

Instructions

1. Review your past work to find the best samples of your writing. Consider including magazine-style articles, website content, blog posts, advertising copy, brochures, reports and other types of writing in your portfolio. If you do not have a great deal of writing experience, develop several mock samples that showcase your talents.

2. Format each sample in a similar manner to make the portfolio visually appealing to potential clients. Use professional fonts and graphics to enhance your samples without creating distractions.

3. Package printed samples in an attractive binder or leather folio. If you use a binder, protect your samples with clear sheet protectors. Organize your samples by project type or topic to make it easier to find specific samples during meetings with prospective clients. Alternatively, tailor your portfolio to your client's needs. If you schedule a meeting with a prospective client who wants to hire a sales letter writer, remove other types of samples and add samples of your best sales letters.

4. Create an online portfolio to supplement your printed work. Convert your samples to PDF format or create HTML pages to give potential clients direct access to your work.

5. Update your portfolio regularly to ensure that potential clients always see your best work. If you have 20 years of writing experience, avoid using samples you wrote early in your career. Displaying your most recent work helps you establish professional credibility with potential clients.

Tips & Warnings

• Using sheet protectors designed for three-ring binders makes it possible to quickly swap samples in and out of your portfolio. This allows you to customize the portfolio for specific types of clients.

• If you lack graphic design or website design skills, consider trading your writing services for the services of a professional graphic designer or someone skilled in website development.

• Proofread and edit your work carefully before you include it in your portfolio. In a competitive market, just one typographical error or misplaced apostrophe is enough to convince a potential client to hire someone else.

• If you plan to use previous work projects as writing samples, ask your employer for permission before including the projects in your portfolio. Some projects contain proprietary information that employers want to keep private.

References

• Writer-On-Line.com; Seven Steps to Creating Your Commercial Writing Portfolio; Peter Bowerman; April 2005
• All Freelance Writing; How to Build a Web Writing Portfolio Even if You Have No Experience; J. Mattern; March 2009

Resources

• "Smashing Magazine"; Creating a Successful Online Portfolio; Sean Hodge; March 2008