How Do You Prepare Your Best Portfolio as a Freelance Writer?

Building an impressive portfolio for your potential clients

Your writing portfolio is a collection of your best and most relevant works as a freelance writer. This is one of the most important things you should prepare when looking for a freelance writing job.

Though your client may require you to write a test article when applying for work, you should always be ready to present an easy-to-find portfolio that would reflect your skills as a freelance writer.

Here are just some of the things you should keep in mind when preparing your writing portfolio:

1. Show the best you’ve got

You don’t need to hide your talent. This is your opportunity to show the world the extent of your writing skills!

2. Show work samples that are relevant to your niche

While you can include a variety of samples in your portfolio, it is best to focus on a particular niche you’re applying for.

3. Show fresh/ updated samples

Make sure that the information contained in your work is still fresh. This is especially true for technology articles. This would show not only your writing skills but your readiness to keep up with recent trends and developments.

4. Show a sufficient number of samples for your work

You don’t need a hundred articles that your client won’t have time to read. Choose those that would serve as good examples of your writing skills and experience.

Where Can You Place Your Writing Portfolio?

There are several ways you can present your writing portfolio. The important thing, however, is that your prospective clients can easily find it and read samples of your work. You have to make sure also that it looks professional and is easy to navigate and read.

Here are some methods where you can show your portfolio as a freelance writer:

1. Your own blog/ website

You can create a subdomain in your blog or website to feature a portfolio of your works. You can also create a page with thumbnails linking to each of your featured content. It would be good if each thumbnail contains not only the title but also a short description of each post it is linking to.

2. Medium

You can create an account on Medium.com and write samples of your best work there. You can then share a link to your profile, which will serve as a portfolio of your works.

3. Substack

This is somewhat similar to creating an account on Medium. If you don’t have your own blog or website, you can set up an account at Substack.com to feature your writing portfolio.

4. LinkedIn

Creating an account at LinkedIn.com is a must when looking for freelance writing jobs. Not only can you find job opportunities there, but you can also present samples of your work in your LinkedIn Profile. You can either upload a media copy of each of your posts or link it to another site where you have published your work.

5. ClearVoice

I was able to successfully use Clearvoice.com to present some of my best works by simply linking some of my published articles from Medium and my own blog.

6. Google Drive

You can place samples of your work in a designated folder in your Google Drive and share that folder with clients you are applying to.

Conclusion

Try to think from the perspective of your client. If you are looking for a skilled writer in a particular niche, what kind of portfolio would you be happy to find?