Step 2: Think about a niche first, then think about a specialty
Your portfolio is your chance to show the world the kind of freelancer you want to be even if you have no experience.
Let’s say you work a regular 9-to-5 job but dream of becoming a freelance writer one day. Your freelance portfolio website should be dedicated to all the work you do as a writer.
A good start. But then you need to narrow down your market.
If you want to be a writer, ask yourself: How do I want to position myself as a writer? Copyist? A content marketer? A blogger? And who are you writing to?
Narrow down your specialty and add to it your website. Think about who exactly will use your services:
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- What are their interests?
- How much do they make?
- Where do they read books?
Here are a few examples:
(Hmm that last one seems familiar)
And don’t worry. If you try something and don’t find it right for you (or your wallet), you can always switch roles. That’s the beauty of freelancing.
Case study: How Brian turned his video hobby into a business
Brian loved making films so much that he enrolled in film school. But halfway through he realized that he had no idea how to turn his passion into a profitable business.
He understood the technical and artistic side of filmmaking, but he didn’t know how to sell his skills.
So he decided to spend some time learning how to be independent properly.
Within three weeks, Brian discovered how to turn his hobby into a profitable business: Producing high-quality wedding videos. Armed with this knowledge, he set two goals:
- Booked three weddings and one of them was for a couple he didn’t know.
- Earn enough to pay for a new camera (about $1,200).
In the beginning, I was giving great videos, you remember. The other was free. A pair was $450. At the end of the first season, customers were paying $1,000 per video. I realized that I was giving people valuable things. They were not paying just to help me. That meant a lot. They really wanted what I had to offer.
He was able to book six clients within a few months. Three of them were strangers!
With each wedding he photographed, he gained a better idea of how many weddings he needed to book to make a profit and how best to market his hustle.
There is no other full-time wedding videographer in my area, he said. There are other people who make commercial and architectural videos. But for now, I stick to marriages and I do them better than anyone else. My clients appreciate that, and it makes it easier for me.
Lesson learned:
Brian parlayed his love of filmmaking into a commercial product of high quality wedding videography. By doing so, he turned his hobby into a profession that earned him thousands of dollars each month.
If you’re doing the same with your hustle and freelance portfolio, it’s time to put samples of your work online for clients to see.
Step 3: Build your portfolio (even if you don’t have a “real” job yet)
This is the core of your portfolio. It’s your chance to show potential clients why you’re the right freelancer to hire for the work you’ve already done.
This is where the first freelancer will run into the Job Seekers Paradox. Where will you get examples of your work to get clients if you have never had a job?
Here are two places I suggest going to get samples for your portfolio:
Create a new job for yourself.
Maybe you’re transitioning into a new line of work. Maybe you just started your freelance business from scratch. There’s no reason why you can’t create new or fake clips to show off your skills.
That’s exactly what one of our students, Heidihe did when he created a fashion design portfolio that helped him enter the industry.
I started in this field because I have Adobe Illustrator on my resume and the portfolio I created, he says. I finally felt like my dreams had come true. I could say the words Ive wanted to say since I was a little girl, Im a fashion designer.
You can do the same in your industry. For example, if you’re a copywriter looking to get non-profit clients, you might create a 700-word donation email to showcase your skills.
Are you serious about writing for financial blogs? Write a few blog posts based on financial issues.
Or maybe you’re a graphic designer looking for big-name commercial clients. You could create a great advertisement for Coca-Cola or Nike. In fact, there is an entire community of adults unsolicited redesign just for this purpose.
Having work to show is more important than whether or not it comes from work with a real client.
Do free client work.
Now the rule that is often suggested is that if you do something, you can never do it for free. I’m here to tell you to forget that rule.
Instead, do it again: It’s great to work for free if you work for the right people.
The most important thing for you in the early stages of your freelance career is to build relationships with clients that can open the door to more opportunities. That means you can work for free with trusted and highly connected people to get glowing testimonials or referrals to new clients.
For more on this, see our topic by topic.
The work you show is the work you will get. If you want to do email marketing, showcase the stellar emails you’ve written. If you want to improve applications, connect to the applications and software you created.
Now is the time to let people know how to find you.
Step 4: Make it easy to recruit (create a killer call to action)
Your portfolio should always include a place for customers to contact you with a call to action. This could be on a separate contact page or something as simple as including your name and email address at the top of the portfolio.
Don’t think this. Here’s a simple template you can use:
If you like what you see here, I’d love to work with you. Contact me at [email protected] with your question and I will get back to you soon.
Other things to include in your CTA contact:
- Name
- Location
- Social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, FB, etc.)
- Phone number
- Address
A good example of this is below:
Source: Rick McClelland
Many website builders like WordPress and Squarespace include extensions that allow you to create your own contact page that will redirect to your email.
The most important thing is to put your CTA somewhere where the client can easily find it. Don’t bury it among your clips and samples. Just put it at the top of the page or sidebar and you’re golden.