As a brand new freelancer, are you questioning find out how to create an internet writing portfolio to indicate potential shoppers? Hold studying; we now have 5 straightforward methods so that you can create knowledgeable on-line writing portfolio.
One of many largest hurdles I confronted attempting to carve out a full-time freelance writing profession was discovering a option to exhibit high quality work to potential shoppers. It’s a catch-22: Most shoppers or media corporations wish to see writing samples that showcase your greatest 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 value, chances are you’ll simply need to get a bit inventive and create your individual alternatives. To get the ball rolling, I’m sharing 5 on-line platforms my author buddies and colleagues have used to construct their author portfolios.
Why You Want an On-line Writing Portfolio
Put merely, an internet writing portfolio is a devoted net web page the place anybody concerned with 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 splendid consumer.
Whereas starting writers typically query why they’ll’t merely submit writing samples through Google Docs or Phrase paperwork when making use of for freelance jobs, submitting hyperlinks to printed content material is the trade customary.
Most shoppers and media corporations wish to see a author’s expertise in motion, and people expertise go far past the power to show a superb 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 as we speak’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’ll do the job however have to create samples, many platforms provide 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 on the lookout for after which searching web sites with comparable content material to be taught what shoppers are on the lookout for.
Since you’ll be able to all the time change content material as you develop your expertise, crucial factor is selecting a portfolio web site and getting began.
Listed below are just a few of one of the best platforms to construct yours:
1. Medium
Medium is among the best locations for brand 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 provides a simple content-uploading interface and a easy template to which writers can add photos and different media.
It’s free to publish on Medium, and I’ve had just a few author buddies use the platform to create writing samples they used to land gigs at fairly massive content material websites. Medium additionally provides a Associate Program that provides writers the prospect to learn content material that might in any other case be behind a paywall and doubtlessly 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. Nevertheless, whereas Medium capabilities extra like a social media web site with a deal with 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 publication membership.
Even if you happen to aren’t significantly concerned with making a following, a Substack account generally is a good option to showcase your writing expertise and exhibit that you simply’re up to the mark on the intersection of the content material and tech worlds. It’s extremely straightforward 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
In the event 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 implausible different. Totally different subscription ranges and a excessive diploma of customizability additionally make Wix a superb choice for writers trying to share several types of content material like weblog posts, essays, or inventive writing.
With a great deal of templates and instance pages, Wix has all the time provided a reasonably 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
Whilst you’re most likely accustomed to LinkedIn as a option 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 publish, strive writing with AI.” Right here, customers can add media, add an occasion, or write an article.
Like Medium, LinkedIn’s “Write article” function permits customers to add photos and add H2 subheaders, which provides job-seeking freelancers a option to present they perceive web optimization greatest practices. When you’ve printed your content material, it’s straightforward 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 identify. 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 identify. 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 identify or enterprise identify to share on their resume or social media. The platform will even robotically add newly printed work to subscribed customers’ portfolios and offer you analytics on linked content material that let you know, for instance, what number of Fb feedback a weblog publish obtained.
Whilst you can’t publish writing samples instantly on Authory, the platform provides writers an area to drag collectively content material they’ve printed on different websites in a clear, enticing 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 just a few writing samples, writers can exhibit their versatility by sharing the several types of writing they’re able to on their portfolio. A web based writing portfolio web site may additionally embrace 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 achieve 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 just a few extra issues to contemplate:
- Make certain 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
It doesn’t matter what kind of author you might be, a fiction author, an internet content material author, or somebody who produces technical writing resembling case research, having knowledgeable on-line writing portfolio can result in higher (and extra) jobs. In the event you don’t have one, creating one must be on the prime of your to-do record.
When you’ve actually began to construct out your portfolio, a paid subscription for a web site like Authory or Medium generally is a beneficial funding by way of serving to you land higher alternatives and join with different shoppers and trade professionals.
Do you could have a favourite platform for sharing your on-line writing portfolio, or are you aware of any good self-publishing websites we’ve ignored? Tell us within the feedback!