I realized early on that it was important to have a portfolio- someplace online people could go to view my current work. I had my niche, which means I had a few projects I was ready to show off. That coupled with somethings I was doing for school, and I was golden.

The thing to remember about your portfolio is that, for all intents and purposes, it’s better than your resume. Someone looking to hire a freelancer doesn’t care about what school you went (or go) to, your GPA, or your volunteer work. They want to know what you can produce and your portfolio will show them that. So first thing’s first: build one. And if you need a little guidance…

Keep It Simple

You want the user to have a pleasant experience; after all, the way your portfolio is designed reflects on you (especially if you designed it!). Make sure everything is presented in a nice, orderly fashion. You don’t want your portfolio to have a learning curve because you’ll be wasting a potential client’s time. And time is money.

Keep It Informative

Don’t just have a bunch of screen shots or images. Have a description- if you’re a photographer, why did you shoot from that angle? If you’re a graphic designer, why that color scheme for the logo? If you’re a web developer- PLEASE- include links to live sites. Quick sidebar: If you’re a web developer, nothing explains your website better than the website, so link to it. They say a picture’s worth 1000 words, guess how much the whole site is worth. And if the site is down or no longer in service, maybe it’s time to swap it out. Which brings me to my next point:

Keep it Current

Your skills are changing, your clients are changing, the landscape upon which you work is changing, so why should your portfolio stay the same? If a project is more than a couple of years old, it’s time to swap it out. I try to update mine every couple of months, around the times I’m launching new client work or projects.

Keep It Pithy

Finally, limit your portfolio to X projects. You might like all 85 websites you’ve done, but a potential client is probably only going to look at a few before making a decision. I have 8 on mine and won’t go past 10. Use your discretion. If you’re a photographer, you will probably have several photos per project, so organize them into shoots or sessions.

If you want ideas, my portfolio can be found here. If you are proud of yours, link it up in the comments!

Tags: links, portfolio, samples, tips, tools | Posted in Advice |