Create a Writer's Portfolio

A writer's portfolio is a great way for writers to get their work in front of their prospective clients. While putting together a good portfolio is fairly simple, there is some structure that should be followed to make sure that it is an adequate representation of your talents and skills. A high quality portfolio can really boost a writer's career, but a poorly constructed one can even break it. Read on to find out more about creating an effective online portfolio.

Making your Writer's Portfolio Work for You

Whether you are a freelance writer just starting out or a seasoned pro, at some point a client is going to ask for your writer's portfolio in order to evaluate your abilities and determine how you may be able to fill his/her particular needs. Are you prepared? Writers should have good portfolios that adequately display their published work as well as other writing samples that show off their range, abilities, and skill. Back in the day, a writer's portfolio consisted of clippings and samples, pasted into a book or slipped into plastic sleeves, and crammed into a binder. Computers, however, have simplified this practice and made the writer's portfolio easier than ever to assemble and get in front of the clients.



Take it a Step at a Time

Just as it is vital that you actually have a portfolio, it is equally important that you have a writer's portfolio that is easy to navigate and is a good representation of your
writing talents.

You don't want to stick just any old sample in there in an effort to fill space. It is better to have fewer samples that are of high quality than it is to have tons of samples that are substandard and are not complimentary to your writing skills.

1. Find your space so they can find you. Ideally, having your own domain and webspace for your portfolio is best, and there are several web hosting services such as Bravenet, IX Web Hosting, GoDaddy, and VistaPages that offer very affordable web hosting. However, when starting out, the free hosting sites like GeoCities, Bravenet, or TriPod work just fine. Just remember to tag it well so your clients can find you in that sea of sites and keywords.

2. Make it quick and easy. Once your prospective clients find you, you need to make it easy for them to find exactly the information that they are looking for without having to navigate through tons of links or garbled information. Make your page quick and easy to navigate with clear headings and few graphics (for faster loading).

3. Give them only your best. Think about it, if you were going to buy a car and came upon a dealership that only had junk cars out front, you would pass them on by, wouldn't you? Well the same goes for your portfolio. If you put samples out there that are not your best, it is likely that prospective clients will pass you on by. Put only your best stuff on your portfolio, even if it is a little sparse at first. It is better to have a few quality items than to make your clients sift through junk.

4. Offer variety. Your writer's portfolio is your chance to shine and show your clients just what you can do. So take advantage of that opportunity! Put a variety of writing styles and topics on your portfolio. Show them that you can write health articles, SEO web content, press releases, and whatever else you do. You can also post links to your online published articles as well as pdf or doc files for clients to check you out.

5. Keep it clean. You don't want to confuse your prospective clients with a muddled, overly busy page, full of graphics and with little organization. They are likely to just click off without even taking a look at your work. The best thing to do is keep your page clean, free of clutter such as numerous graphics or extensive lists of links with no descriptions. Place your links and samples under easy to read headings such as ''Articles'' and ''Press Releases,'' so that your clients can find just what they are looking for without having to search.

6. Make sure your file formats are universal. Your writer's portfolio will do nothing for you if your prospective clients cannot access your files. Don't post files on your portfolio that are in some funky format; stick to the basics that you can be fairly certain everyone can read, like pdf or doc. Your best bet is a pdf format because anyone can download the free reader if they do not already have it (which just about everyone in the free world does). Keep them all the same if you can. The uniformity looks professional and clean.

Tips for a Top Notch Portfolio

• Promote yourself as an ''expert.'' Select several topics that you are very comfortable writing about and post them together under that specific heading.
• Get exposure through blogs, trade magazines, and ezines. You can contribute to a blog and ezine or start your own. Trade magazines are also a great way to get your feet wet although they typically don't pay much. But the exposure you will get is well worth it.
• Include a brief resume. If you have relevant writing experience, you can include a writing resume on your portfolio. Stick only to writing experience. Your prospective clients don't want to know that you were a waitress when you were 16, or that you worked in retail for 20 years — unless it is relevant to the content that you are writing and promoting yourself as an expert in.
• Be creative! Writing is a creative process; so don't be afraid to show some style and pizzazz!
  

Your writer's portfolio can help you get new clients and propel your writing career, if you take the time to do it well and do it right. If you keep this information in mind and maintain a high quality portfolio, you should have clients biting in no time.