4 Best Ways to Build an Impressive Freelance Writing Portfolio

But when you apply for writing gigs: 

• You send word docs to the clients via email.
• You copy and paste Google docs links.
• Or, you don’t even have any impressive samples to share with clients.

If this sounds relatable, I got you. Your portfolio is usually the second most important thing in securing you a job (the first being your cover letter) – you can’t go far without it.

I believe every freelance writer has a story to tell, and so does their portfolio. It’s how we share our valuable skills with the world and attract the ideal client. 

Whether you’re new to freelance writing or have been slogging in front of the keyboard for a few moons, I’m here to help you build a portfolio that stands out.

I wrote this post as a step-by-step guide for new freelance writers. But you’re welcome to pick any tip that sits well with your freelance writing career. 

4 Best Ways to Create Stellar Freelance Writing Portfolio

Ready to know the tips I wish I had known when I started as an SEO copywriter? Let’s dive deeper and make you a catch for the clients!

1. Start a Blog 

Being a client, I know that we hardly have time to look at attached word documents and scroll through lengthy drive folders. So, keep it precise. 

• Start a free WordPress blog 
• Become a Medium Writer 
• Make a well-designed writer’s website

Pick any of these options, select a few of your best pieces, and upload them as samples in your portfolio.

When potential clients are browsing through portfolios, they will see your samples, and also be able to visit your own website directly if they want.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any paid writing gigs yet; having samples that demonstrate the quality of your writing is key when trying to land freelance jobs.

And starting a blog will make your free articles live without requiring too much time upfront. Even if you take your blog down later (which isn’t necessary), it still helps you get started as a freelancer more quickly than if you had no portfolio.

2.Write Awesome Guest Posts

Its time to let the potential clients know you can write well on different niches and your previous work is already up. 

Here’s how it works:

Find Websites That Accept Guest Posts!

A simple Google search such as “websites that accept guest posts” or more specific searches such as “travel blogs accepting guest posts” should be your first step.

You can also search for other writers who have written for the type of website you’re looking for and contact them directly for advice.

Additionally, there are some sites, such as My Blog Guest, which provide lists of websites that are actively seeking writers and content.

Become an Author

Once you’ve found websites that accept guest posts, the next step is to reach out and become an author on those sites.

Do this by sending a polite email introducing yourself and explaining why you’d like to do guest posting for the site. 

Make sure you include links to any relevant writing samples or portfolios so that they can get an idea of your style and expertise as a writer.

Also, ask what topics they are looking for articles on so that you don’t waste time submitting something they won’t use.

Write Amazing Guest Post

Now comes the fun part—actually writing your post! When writing a guest post, always focus on quality over quantity—the better your post is, the more likely it will be accepted by the website and read by readers. 

Your post should contain accurate information relevant to their audience, provide value in some form (entertainment, education, etc.), utilize appropriate formatting, and follow any guidelines provided by the website (word count limits, etc.).

Once you’re finished with your article, submit it and wait for feedback from the editorial team before making any revisions.

I know doing guest posts for other sites for your new freelance writing business is tough. But it can help you:

• Put your best foot forward in creative writing. 
• Understand how websites’ editorial systems work. 
• Build connections in the industry. 
• Polish your content creation skills. 

And for new freelancers, these are the most important things if they have no clue how to build a freelance writing portfolio.

3.Your Socials Are Best Places to Showcase Your Freelance Writing Portfolio

When you get good at writing, make yourself a personal brand. Working in the shadows is good for the short term, but if you want a roadmap to succeed as a freelance writer, build your online presence. 

Rachel is a health freelance writer who wants to optimize her social media profiles, so they work as part of her portfolio.

She creates a LinkedIn profile, which she fills out with her education, experience, and interests.

She also adds a brief bio highlighting her writing skills and includes relevant links to her writing samples. 

Then, she creates Twitter and Instagram accounts where she posts interesting industry news or her best writing.

She also shares content from other industry writers and showcases her original pieces by tagging them with relevant hashtags. 

She also sets up a blog on WordPress (as I suggested earlier) where she posts longer-form articles and links back to them from all her social media accounts. 

This way, she has effectively used her social media profiles as mini portfolios highlighting her writing ability for potential clients and employers.

To make social media platforms a slice of your, use targeted keywords in each profile description so potential clients—or even recruiters—can find you.

Also, the content on your social profiles should be fresh and engaging, so people are more likely to follow (and eventually hire) you.

4.Create Your Freelance Writing Portfolio on a Portfolio Site

Out of your beginner freelance writing phase? Super cool. It’s time to make a solid online portfolio to showcase your relevant work samples.

The tips I shared above are for beginner freelance writers, but once you have written enough, put it all together as one swipe file. 

Doing so will:

• Let new clients quickly scroll through your work. 
• Give you an optimized freelance writer portfolio for mobile devices. 
• Help you categorize your portfolio examples and add separate pages to it. 
• Look more professional. 
• Give you a good design for portfolio building.

If you want all these benefits, here are the best portfolio sites to try.

Copyfol.io

Copyfoli.io offers a simple, straightforward way to create and manage an impressive portfolio of your writing projects.

When you sign up for Copyfoli.io, you can easily upload your writing samples, including articles, blog posts, essays, and more.

You can also include descriptions of each project to let the potential clients know what type of writing you specialize in. Plus, you can also upload published pieces or clips from previous projects.

Copyfoli.io also lets you customize the look and feel of your portfolio by choosing from several pre-made templates or creating one from scratch with their drag-and-drop editor. I love the “Letterpress” templates in Copyfol.io that make your content look nicely categorized. 

You can even add images or videos to enhance the visual appeal of your portfolio!

Once it’s completed and ready for viewing, simply share the link with potential clients or post it on job boards or social media sites like LinkedIn to get the visibility.

Copyfoli.io makes creating a freelance writing portfolio a breeze! With its user-friendly interface and intuitive tools, even new freelancers can put together a professional-looking portfolio in no time at all. 

Contently

I got to know about Contently after struggling with Google Drive links for a long time. But once I shifted my SEO and copywriting portfolio to Contently, things have been much better. 

Here’s how you can use Contently to create and manage your portfolio.

Signing Up

You can sign up with any email address or use a Google or LinkedIn account. Once registered, you will be prompted to add information about yourself, such as your name, a headshot, and a bio. Then you’ll be ready to start building your portfolio!

Adding Your Work

To do this, click the “Add Content” button at the top of your dashboard. You can then upload files such as Word documents, PDFs, images, videos, and more. You can also link external content from websites like YouTube or Vimeo, which will appear in your portfolio alongside your work.

Organizing Your Work

Once you’ve added all of your content, it’s time to organize it into sections to make it easily broseable.

Contently offers several different options for organizing your content, including projects (works organized by client), topics (content grouped by subject), tags (keywords used for organization), and collections (groups of content related by theme).

This allows you to create a neat and organized view of your freelance writing portfolio.

Customizing Your Look

Contently also lets you customize your portfolio in a specific way – so let your inner graphic designer out.

Choose your color scheme, the stacking you’d prefer for different work samples, and the contact information you’d like to add to it.

You can choose between several different themes or create a custom design from the “Design” tab in your dashboard. This way, you can make sure that your portfolio looks just right when prospective clients view it!

Creating Links

Finally, once everything is set up just how you want it, Contently lets you generate links so people can easily share and view your good portfolio on their website or social media accounts.

All you need to do is click on the “Link” icon in the upper-right corner of the page and copy and paste the resulting URL. Now anyone who wants to check out what kind of writing skillset you possess will have no trouble finding them!

Pressfolios 

Although popular with journalists, Pressfolios is another writing portfolio website that freelance writers need to know about. Here are some tips for making the most of Pressfolios and creating an impressive writing portfolio.

Pick The Right Theme

Pressfolios has several themes available for free or premium versions. Choose one that reflects who you are as a writer and shows off your work in the best light possible.

You want it to be professional but also creative and eye-catching enough to stand out from other portfolios.

Write A Captivating Bio Section

Make your bio section interesting, concise, and direct – it should get straight to the point about who you are and what types of services you offer as a freelance writer.

Don’t forget to include links to any social media profiles where potential clients can learn more about you!

Showcase Your Skills & Experience

Your portfolio should showcase samples of your work and any relevant skills or experience that sets you apart from other writers.

This could include additional training or certifications related to writing or other areas such as SEO or copywriting.

These qualifications must be highlighted on your portfolio so clients have no option but to choose you and not other candidates.

Add Testimonials & Reviews

If you have positive reviews or testimonials from past clients, don’t hesitate to add them to your portfolio page.

This helps you establish authority, nail that first impression and give your client an idea about what its like to work with you.

Here are few of my client testimonials on LinkedIn.

Update Regularly

You don’t want prospective clients visiting a stale website filled with outdated content – it won’t give them much confidence in choosing you as their freelancer!

So make sure that once everything is set up properly, you regularly update your freelance writing portfolio with new samples of work (or whatever might interest potential customers).

This will help keep visitors engaged and interested in what else may come next from you as well!

Dont Waste Time and Build Your Own Freelance Writing Portfolio!

As a freelance writer, I have shared personal tips and tricks to compile an effective portfolio in this blog! Write and post interesting articles to boost your reputation with potential clients.

Use Copyfol.io to store your articles and other projects, and take advantage of social media platforms to promote yourself.

By following the steps in this blog, You’ll have no confusion on how to build freelance writing portfolio that can open up doors of writing opportunities for you.

This is truly just the beginning of your journey as a freelance writer, so take advantage of these tools and show off your skills – you’ll be an asset in no time.

And yes, this is just the tip of the iceberg; I’ll be back with more amazing freelance writing tips and proven strategies.

Stay tuned and share this post with any writer looking to build their freelance portfolio.