Freelance Writing

Create a Basic Freelance Writing Portfolio

Do you have a freelance writing portfolio full of samples to send potential clients? If not, this is something you should do right away. I usually advise aspiring freelance writers to create a basic portfolio sooner rather than later. I use the word “basic” because this does not have to be anything special. Many people think that a freelance writing portfolio has to be full of hundreds of samples that have been placed in national magazines and/or purchased by major corporations.
 
Here are five tips to keep in mind when creating your freelance writing portfolio:

1. Include a wide variety of projects. This makes it easy to find the right piece no matter what a buyer is looking for. For example, your portfolio may include a feature article, SEO article, sales letter, marketing brochure, etc. The more types of projects you have in your portfolio the better off you will be.

2. Your portfolio is meant to attract new business. For this reason, you only want to include your best pieces. It is safe to say that you know which pieces are best, and which ones you would rather keep from clients. If you have a few projects of the same type that you would like to include, this is fine. In fact, most clients request three to five samples so this is encouraged.

3. Always update your portfolio. Many of the samples I used when I started as a freelance writer are no longer in the portfolio I send to potential clients. Instead, I update it from time to time as more projects are completed.

4. But I don’t have any samples? Forget about this common excuse. Even if you don’t have samples you can put together a portfolio. My first portfolio was full of articles I wrote for my college newspaper, projects from my internship, and basic projects that I completed solely for this purpose. If you look long and hard and are willing to create projects specifically for your portfolio, you will be in a good place soon enough.

5. Organize your portfolio in a folder on your desktop. This allows you to quickly and easily find what you are looking for. To go along with this, making necessary updates is also simple.

These five tips will help you create a basic freelance writing portfolio.