How to Build an Impressive Portfolio for Freelance Work

Thinking of going freelance? Learn how to create an outstanding portfolio to help you grow in your career!

Many professionals in the creatives industry enter freelancing in order to have independence over their work life. But their career growth is quite different compared to someone who works a nine-to-five. The nature of freelancing drives you to be a walking ad for yourself so you can catch the eye of and seal deals with potential clients. This is why a notable portfolio is the most powerful tool you can have as a freelancer so you can let your works and projects do the talking for you!

In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of creating a portfolio and the best practices you should be doing when building one.

What is a portfolio?

A portfolio is a visual compilation displaying your skills as a creative professional. It contains a curated collection of your best works which employers use as a guide when looking for new hires. In it, you basically introduce your professional self to potential clients—detailing your experience, listing your skills, and showing work samples to present your employability.

While resumes contain similar information, a portfolio gives you more show and tell options instead of just listing your educational background and work experience. There is no rigid format in building a portfolio. It all depends on the kind of work that you do and how you can effectively showcase your expertise in that field.

Why do you need one?

Portfolios can be considered the freelancer’s bible in the highly growing industry with a recently recorded 208% growth in freelance revenue in the Philippines. Investing in the content and quality of your portfolio will help you stand out among the pool of other young creatives. While there are plenty of illustrators out there, a client might be looking for a specific art style that you can produce. It is through your portfolio that they can determine whether you’d be a good fit for what they had in mind. First impressions last even in the professional field, and a perfectly curated portfolio will surely leave a good one among new clients.

Here are the steps to keep in mind when building a freelance portfolio:

1. Identify your best works

2. Categorize your content

3. Think about navigation

4. It’s not just about your work—it’s about YOU!

1. Identify your best works

Create a list of your top 10-20 works that you want to include in your portfolio. Don’t fret if you come up short: always choose quality over quantity since most people will just skim through your pieces.

For students, you may present some of your best school projects, papers, or internship outputs. Be sure to curate them according to the freelance work you’re looking to get. Awards and recognitions are a great way to exhibit your expertise even when you do not have professional work experience yet.

What do you do if you have nothing to show or no recent projects you can include? Consider creating mock ups for imaginary jobs or displaying personal projects that align with your professional brand. Graphic designer—and my brother—Jegi Nero remade the covers of his favorite albums as a pastime he can share on his social media. One of my ates in the ministry, Celina Dayrit, has a blog for personal use that can still be a great way for new clients to get to know her and her writing style better. Basically, the simple answer is: create! You’ll only know what your best works are if you make stuff on the regular.

2. Categorize your content

Organizing your works make it easier to view your pages. For example: have a lot of writeups to show? Divide them into topics like writer Beth Howard does in her website. You can try headers to group them into different types of content like social media copies, feature articles, press releases, and the like.

You can also categorize them according to projects. Designer Logan Waters presents her portfolio according to each project she worked on for a specific company. On her website, you can click through a logo and you’ll arrive at a landing page where she shows in detail what she did for that project. This allows her to expound on the diverse work she does instead of focusing on one skill at a time.

Courtesy of Logan Waters

3. Think about navigation

It’s not enough to just put all your stuff on the page. Like chefs on cooking shows, you also have to think of presentation. Decide on a simple yet user-friendly layout where clients won’t have a hard time looking for specific works.

Think of ways to improve the accessibility of your portfolio. If you want to feature a short film you directed, show the trailer and synopsis only and have a link redirecting to the full movie. This gives clients the option to choose which of your stuff they want to completely view.

4. It’s not just about your work—it’s about YOU!

At the end of the day, clients hire YOU for your skills, not the work you’ve already done. Having a personal website to go along with your portfolio allows them to learn more about who you are and how you work.

Don’t just present your best works in your portfolio but also include important details that clients may want to know such as your main task, the company you worked with, and an evaluation or response you received for your output. Make this short and concise as this serves as complementary information to your works.

Be sure to have contact details listed so potential clients can easily reach out to you. It’s good to also plug in other places where they can find you like Instagram, LinkedIn, Vimeo, and WordPress in case they want to see more of your works in detail.

Finally, the best tip to keep in mind is to never stop creating. Not only will you improve in your craft, but you’ll also get to add more works to showcase in your portfolio!