As a brand new freelancer, are you questioning easy methods to create a web-based writing portfolio to indicate potential shoppers? Maintain studying; now we have 5 simple methods so that you can create an expert on-line writing portfolio.
One of many largest hurdles I confronted attempting to carve out a full-time freelance writing career was discovering a solution to reveal high quality work to potential shoppers. It’s a catch-22: Most shoppers or media corporations need to see writing samples that showcase your finest work, nevertheless it’s arduous to get these if nobody will rent you till they’ve seen your author’s portfolio.
The excellent news is that robust writing samples result in work that, in flip, results in extra printed writing samples. To kick issues off so you can begin getting paid what you’re worth, it’s possible you’ll simply should get somewhat artistic and create your individual alternatives. To get the ball rolling, I’m sharing 5 on-line platforms my author mates and colleagues have used to construct their author portfolios.
Why You Want an On-line Writing Portfolio
Put merely, a web-based writing portfolio is a devoted net web page the place anybody eager about hiring you’ll be able to see your experience on full show. Take into consideration your freelance author portfolio as a beefed-up resume designed to land your preferrred shopper.
Whereas starting writers typically query why they will’t merely submit writing samples by way of Google Docs or Phrase paperwork when making use of for freelance jobs, submitting hyperlinks to printed content material is the trade normal.
Most shoppers and media corporations need to see a author’s expertise in motion, and people expertise go far past the flexibility to show phrase. Relying on a author’s area of interest, printed samples can showcase a author’s understanding of trade fundamentals like web optimization and function proof that they wrote their very own content material, one thing that’s more and more extra essential in at present’s world of content material mills and AI.
Author Web sites for Constructing or Internet hosting On-line Writing Portfolios
For writers who know they will do the job however have to create samples, many platforms supply an area to self-publish content material. This may be so simple as selecting a subject that aligns with the kind of jobs you’re searching for after which looking web sites with related content material to be taught what shoppers are searching for.
Since you’ll be able to at all times change content material as you develop your expertise, an important factor is selecting a portfolio web site and getting began.
Listed below are a number of of the very best platforms to construct yours:
1. Medium
Medium is likely one of the best locations for brand spanking new freelance writers to share their work or create new content material, to not point out a low-pressure venue to hone your craft and polish your finer freelance author expertise. A self-publishing web site, Medium affords a simple content-uploading interface and a easy template to which writers can add photographs and different media.
It’s free to publish on Medium, and I’ve had a number of author mates use the platform to create writing samples they used to land gigs at fairly large content material websites. Medium additionally affords a Partner Program that provides writers the prospect to learn content material that may in any other case be behind a paywall and probably receives a commission for his or her content material.
2. Substack
Like Medium, Substack is a platform the place writers can self-publish their content material. Nonetheless, whereas Medium features extra like a social media web site with a concentrate on writers sharing and exploring different creators’ content material, Substack’s platform focuses extra on constructing an viewers of subscribers and permitting customers to monetize their content material with a e-newsletter membership.
Even when you aren’t notably eager about making a following, a Substack account is usually a good solution to showcase your writing expertise and reveal that you just’re in control on the intersection of the content material and tech worlds. It’s extremely simple so as to add content material, and the positioning even permits customers to create podcasts, which could be useful for these of us trying to break into the scriptwriting world.
3. Wix
When you’d choose to have your individual portfolio web site however you’re not but tech-savvy sufficient for HTML or constructing content material with WordPress, Wix is a improbable various. Totally different subscription ranges and a excessive diploma of customizability additionally make Wix a wonderful possibility for writers trying to share various kinds of content material like weblog posts, essays, or artistic writing.
With a great deal of templates and instance pages, Wix has at all times provided a fairly simple-to-use web site. However the integration of AI, together with the platform’s step-by-step information, has made making a portfolio web site even simpler. When you’ve designed your homepage, you’ll be able to simply arrange a weblog to self-publish content material or create pages to hyperlink your different printed work.
4. LinkedIn
When you’re in all probability acquainted with LinkedIn as a solution to share your skilled portfolio or add your resume, not everybody realizes that customers can publish content material on the platform. As soon as logged in, customers can entry the choice from the highest heart of their touchdown web page, the place they’re given the choice to “Begin a submit, strive writing with AI.” Right here, customers can add media, add an occasion, or write an article.
Like Medium, LinkedIn’s “Write article” characteristic permits customers to add photographs and add H2 subheaders, which supplies job-seeking freelancers a solution to present they perceive web optimization finest practices. When you’ve printed your content material, it’s simple to share along with your skilled community or LinkedIn’s skilled teams.
5. Authory
Authory is just like LinkedIn in that customers can create a profile with a customized header and tagline beneath their title. However as an alternative of making a resume, customers add hyperlinks to their printed content material that show with a preview picture, title, publication date, and writer title. The paid subscription value is cheap, and there’s a free model for writers who aren’t able to put money into paid skilled subscriptions.
Authory customers can create a customized URL that includes their title or enterprise title to share on their resume or social media. The platform will even robotically add newly printed work to subscribed customers’ portfolios and provide you with analytics on linked content material that let you know, for instance, what number of Fb feedback a weblog submit acquired.
When you can’t publish writing samples straight on Authory, the platform affords writers an area to drag collectively content material they’ve printed on different websites in a clear, engaging structure. That is particularly useful for writers with content material that doesn’t have a byline (like enterprise blogs) or share weblog content material in a extra professional-looking house.
Making a Killer On-line Writing Portfolio Web page
Even when they’ve racked up a number of writing samples, writers can reveal their versatility by sharing the various kinds of writing they’re able to on their portfolio. A web based writing portfolio web site may embody issues like social media hyperlinks and testimonials from earlier shoppers.
To create the very best on-line writing profile and begin filling it with robust writing samples, strive drawing inspiration from the websites you hope will rent you or different writing portfolio examples. Most significantly, proceed to construct out your writing portfolio each time you add a brand new talent or acquire a brand new publishing credit score. Lastly, don’t overlook to take away older, lower-quality content material as you develop professionally.
Listed below are a number of extra issues to contemplate:
- Ensure that your content material displays trade requirements.
- Showcase the kind of work you’re hoping to get employed for.
- Proofread your work, learn it out loud, after which proofread it once more.
Creating an On-line Writing Portfolio Wrapup
Irrespective of what type of writer you are, a fiction author, an internet content material author, or somebody who produces technical writing equivalent to case research, having an expert on-line writing portfolio can result in higher (and extra) jobs. When you don’t have one, creating one needs to be on the prime of your to-do checklist.
When you’ve actually began to construct out your portfolio, a paid subscription for a web site like Authory or Medium is usually a precious funding when it comes to serving to you land higher alternatives and join with different shoppers and trade professionals.
Do you have got a favourite platform for sharing your on-line writing portfolio, or are you aware of any good self-publishing websites we’ve neglected? Tell us within the feedback!
