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21 July 2024

Five questions freelancers ask about portfolios

An open-source image obtained from Unsplash with a modernistic background and the text, "Brand Design".

The best way to show what you’re good at is to do whatever you’re good at. Whether it’s writing, graphic design, or consulting, your potential customers want to know that you can help them solve their problems.

As a freelancer, you accomplish this by sharing your work history with your business leads. This list is known as a portfolio. It represents your history, capacity, and personality as you work. As I spoke with new freelancers, several common questions arose regarding the portfolio. Since they come up so often in my discussions, I believe that answering some of them here would help many aspiring freelancers begin their careers strong.

So, here we go. The most common questions freelancers ask when they first come across the portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
A: That depends on what you want to show with your portfolio. If you want to be comprehensive, upload all the work you’ve done in the past from start to finish. If you’re highlighting specific traits that help you stand out, show the work that’s generated the most results for your clients. How you structure your portfolio depends on you. Just make sure it’s easy to access and that it demonstrates you at your best.
 
Q: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
A: A website dedicated to your work samples is the easiest way to share samples of your work with the world. Within your page, you can write about your work as a case study where you highlight the problems your client faced and how you solved it with your work. You can also integrate your portfolio into a curriculum vitae (CV) or create individual website pages for each work sample you have.
 
Q: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
A: First, don’t show your whole portfolio to your business lead. Your contacts won’t have time to read it all. Rather, find the three pieces that show how you’re the best fit for your lead. For instance, if your lead was looking for a consultation about genomics, show only the parts of your portfolio where you’ve worked on genomics.
 
Q: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
A: In many cases, you can build your portfolio with mock cases that you upload to your website. For writers, that means starting a blog and writing SEO-optimized pieces. That applies to any kind of written document you’re interested in writing.
 
Q: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
A: The only rule I have here is this: don’t share any work your client doesn’t want you to share. This would be outlined as a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement. You can ask your clients if it’s okay to add the work you’ve done to your portfolio. But if they say no, don’t add it.

Scale up your work with a portfolio

Starting your career as a freelancer or business founder is a daunting task. Building a portfolio stands among the most challenging parts when finding your first customers. Nonetheless, finding a way to demonstrate your proficiency in your services will go a long way to succeeding as a freelancer and scaling up your business. In the early days, you’ll most likely build mock examples of your work to show your potential. As you find clients and customers, you can start adding samples of your work with them and establish a solid sampling of you at your best.

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