Building A Better Marketing Portfolio
A marketing portfolio is one of the best tools in any freelancers kit. Not only is it your best chance to brag about your skills, but it’s an essential part of bringing clients on board. Think of it like a creative CV, a resume can help a interviewer imagine how you work, but a portfolio can show how you work.
Sure, portfolios are commonly associated with artists, photographers, and visual creatives, but anyone can create one. As long as you have some examples of your work (in whatever medium), you can create your own portfolio. The real challenge is making one that is engaging, showcases your ability, and keeps the reader interested until the very end.
Personally, I’ve been slowly chipping away at my own freelancers portfolio, it’s time for me to build my own presence as a freelancer and look for ways where I can realistically grow my business. I’m not a fan of the black and white, bullet pointed CV’s, plus I work in digital marketing, it makes sense for there to be a place online where my work lives.
Hence the Steph Writes Stuff rebuild, I love writing about anything and everything, but I want to turn this website into something a little more well-rounded as It enters it’s second year.
So this is another “let’s explore this together” sort of blogs. Whilst I know the basics of building a portfolio, I’ve been looking for ways to make it better.
How to build an effective Marketing Portfolio
As you start to map out the content you want to include in your marketing portfolio, there’s a few things you should consider as fundamental pillars:
Short bio: Introduce your work with a strong professional bio that highlights your interests, background, and expertise. This is also a great place to include your own mission statement - an explanation of why you find your work meaningful.
Resume: Add a resume to your portfolio to outline your experience and give some content behind your work. Be sure to incorporate all the essential aspects of a strong CV, including your employment history and academic background.
Contact details: If the goal of your portfolio is to get people to contact you for work opportunities, you’ll need to make it easy for them to find your professional email address and phone number. If you have social media accounts relevant to your profession, you should definitely link them.
Samples of your best work: Written something you’re extremely proud of? Put it in. This is your time to shine a light on your most successful work and provide the proof you are a master of your trade.
Testimonials: To create a strong first impression, place positive customer testimonials next to your work samples. Showing that your work doesn’t just look good, but it’s exactly what the client needed.
Awards and recognition: Got any big rewards worth shouting about? Whack them in too. It doesn’t matter how big or notable the award is; you earned it, and you’re proud of it.
Whether you want to make a printable, or online platform to host your work - the same key points should always be included.