A writing portfolio is a collection of your best work as a writer. While a writer’s resume plays an important role in your ability to land a few great writing jobs, a portfolio is a critical selling point.
Potential clients want to see what you can do behind a keyboard before contracting you to write for them. Your writing portfolio does more than provide samples for review. It showcases:
- Your experience
- Your diverse range of writing skills
- The depths of your knowledge
It helps established writers show off their talents and potentially garner more a higher rate. New writers also benefit from a writer’s portfolio, enabling you to showcase your abilities even if you have little or no experience writing for others.
What to Include in a Writer’s Portfolio
A portfolio for writers generally has four to six writing samples. You should not include too many samples as the client may be overwhelmed and not focus on your strengths. As you select your writing samples, focus on:
- Different types of projects – blog posts, e-book excerpts, articles and so on
- The niches that you specialize in or have deep knowledge of
- Prominent publications or websites you’ve written for
What If You’re a New Writer?
New writers often ask how they can create a writer’s portfolio if they have no writing samples. Are you supposed to pull out old essays from high school? Should you throw some samples together? It all depends.
As a beginning freelance writer, you don’t have experience or professional references. There is no reason why a client would hire you rather than an experienced professional with a solid background. You have to give the client a reason to hire you. This reason is found in your writing portfolio.
A portfolio for writers shows these clients what you can do. If you don’t have writing samples that are professional and show off the type of writing that you want to do, you have to make them. Yes, you’ll be writing for free, but the return on your time making the samples will be amazing.
Should you include stuff you wrote in high school or college? That depends on the type of writing you want to do and who you want to write for. Obviously, an essay about Shakespeare’s love life won’t make much of a statement to a potential client. If you want to specialize in the healthcare niche and have an essay about innovations in medicine, that might work well.
Your writing samples don’t need to be thousands of words long – and they really shouldn’t be. Showcase your talents, but don’t assume the client has hours to devote exclusively to your portfolio.
How to Design a Portfolio for Writers
After you’ve pulled together several samples for your writing portfolio, you need to decide how to present these. The two primary options are to combine them in a PDF file or to make a writer portfolio website. Making a website just for your writing portfolio may seem like overkill, but it comes with exciting benefits. More than that, making a website is easier to do than you might think.
When deciding which portfolio style is right for your, consider how you plan to market yourself. A PDF file is suitable if you intend to apply directly for jobs. For example, your plan may be to apply to jobs through Indeed or other job seeker websites. As long as someone has an email address, you can send the PDF to them.
Make a Portfolio on Contently.com
Contently is one of the higher-end writing platforms. They work with high-level writers with tons of experience, and they pay high-level dollars. However, you don’t have to be an approved writer to create a Contently portfolio. The easy-to-design portfolio page includes your contact information, your writing samples, your headshot and a bio. The writing samples can be direct links to your work. Altogether, this is an easy way to make a professional portfolio. When it’s perfect, simply send your Contently link when samples are requested.
The Benefits of Portfolio Websites for Writers
The best writing portfolio websites offer the same benefits as a PDF portfolio, and it adds a few extra benefits. Just as you can send a PDF file to headhunters, you can send a link to your writing portfolio website. However, your website can be searchable as well. This means that you don’t have to directly send out the PDF. You can let potential clients come to you.
The link for your online portfolio for writers can be listed on your LinkedIn profile and other social media profiles. It can be distributed through the signature block for your email. If you intend to send out a writing resume, you can list the URL on your resume. This presents you more professionally than a well-designed PDF file does.
The best writer website can do more than show off your writing samples. By starting a blog on your website, you could increase organic traffic to your website and may eventually get organic leads for new jobs. As traffic picks up, you can collect email address, such as through OptIn Monster. As your email list grows, you can send out newsletters and ultimately showcase your expertise to a growing audience.
In addition, your blog posts each have benefits. Each post is a recent example of your writing skills. It can be marketed on social media platforms where it is more easily discovered by companies that need your services.
How to Make the Best Writer Website
- Choose your website host. Several companies offer an all-in-one service, including BlueHost. This means that you can find and buy your domain, design your website and host it all through one platform. Other options to consider are WP Engine and MochaHost.
- Buy your domain.
- Choose your WordPress theme. Each of the providers above offer a variety of themes at no additional cost. If you want to explore other options, check out ThemeIsle.
- WordPress uses pre-designed templates that you can customize. This makes it relatively easy to use. If you need any help, you can find all of the answers you need online. There’s a small learning curve, but it’s nothing a layman can’t figure out.
While you may start with a PDF portfolio today, I suggest you work on developing your writing portfolio website as soon as possible, too Then, you can start taking advantage of blogging, social media marketing and more!