A portfolio of work samples is essential to securing client work as a freelancer. Include these five key elements to build a strong portfolio clients will gush over. 

5 Key Elements of a Strong Freelance Portfolio

[Prospective Clients Will Gush Over!]

A strong portfolio is essential for any freelance worker.

Portfolios allow you to showcase your skill set and communicate to potential clients how you can help them. Your portfolio must be well put together and polished. Put your best foot forward and get your portfolio ready to take on the freelance world.

Here are the five key elements to include in your freelance portfolio that will have clients gushing over you.

OVERVIEW OF CONTENT

• Include Important Components
• Use Specific Examples
• Showcase Only Your Very Best Work
• Include Industry Specific Examples
• Include Practice Project Samples
• Keep Your Freelance Portfolio Updated

Include Important Components

When a client looks at your portfolio, they want to see that you’ve addressed all the critical aspects of your profession.

They want to see your qualifications and skills to ensure you do in fact know your stuff.

Important components of a portfolio should include:

• A brief snapshot of who you are
• Overview of your services offerings
• Detailed work samples with descriptions
• Testimonials from raving fans
• Relevant education and experience
• Results driven metrics
• Contact information

Ensure your information is clear and concise so the viewer can review all your information without any obstacles. All your portfolio content should be presented in a logical order.

Use Specific Examples

Portfolios are not only an opportunity to showcase your work. They also provide an opportunity to tell potential clients about your work experiences.

Provide a brief description of your work. Include relevant case studies to showcase your problem solving abilities.

Provide a concise explanation to accompany each portfolio sample.

Showcase Only Your Very Best Work

A portfolio is NOT a collection of ALL the work you have ever done over your entire life. The term portfolio is often used interchangeably with Curriculum Vitae (CV). However, a portfolio should showcase a specific body of your work within a specific niche or industry. If you have expertise in more than one industry, you may create multiple portfolios within your entire CV.

Your portfolio must be tidy and neat, not overflowing and disorganized. Don’t overwhelm potential clients with every job or project you've ever worked on. Pull out the best ones you are most proud of or the ones most relevant to the types of projects you’d like to work on in the future.

Overwhelming potential clients with too much content is a sure fire way to get them to jump ship and move on to another candidate. No one cares about how well you managed a care schedule for your turtle when you were 10 years old.

Your portfolio should only include samples of your very best and relevant work. Take inventory of any relevant work and decide which samples showcase your work best. Consider how the collection of work samples represent what you have to offer a potential client.

Ask a trusted friend or colleague to examine your examples and provide feedback.

Include Industry Specific Examples

Consider who you want to work for and the industry you would love to work in.

Write a list of your ideal clients and ask yourself what they would love to see. What kind of samples would impress them?

It might help to explore other portfolios of professionals in your industry and see how yours stacks up. Never copy others of course, but you can assess your own work against another potential candidate and see how it compares.

Get out there and see what other successful colleagues are doing in your industry.

Include Practice Project Samples

Portfolios are an excellent opportunity to showcase your quality of work and experiences to prospective clients.

But a common misconception is that portfolios are only meant to account for paid work. Not true at all! Choose sample work from your personal or practice projects as well. As long as the prior projects are relevant for the types of clients you want to work with.

Personal projects can also be great gap fillers.

Keep Your Freelance Portfolio Updated

Always keep your portfolio updated as your business grows and your professional career develops.

Reevaluate your portfolio every three months and decide if the work featured is still relevant to your mission.

And always request feedback as you update your portfolio with any new and exciting projects.

SUMMARY

A strong portfolio is crucial to the success of any freelance, remote, or online service based contract worker. By highlighting your specific skills, prospective clients will seek you out for your areas of expertise. 

NEXT STEPS

Need help building your portfolio of work samples? 

Let’s collab! Contact us at hello@angiehouse.co today about internship positions available. 

You'll receive resources and guidance to help you build a portfolio that gets you noticed and will have clients gushing over you. 

Click on images below to check out portfolios of past interns and The Write Path Academy alumni.

Reach out today for more information about internship opportunities available.