Get Your Portfolio Up

If you're on the road to building your freelancing business, and you're answer to the question "Can I see your portfolio?" is any one of the following, you have a problem:

• Ya, I worked on it in one of my classes but don't have it finished yet.
• Yes, I have it on a CD, but its not online.
• Yes, but its not ready yet.
• No
  

You need to realize that your portfolio is the most important touch point to the outside world. When potential clients consider working with you, their initial impression is going to depend almost entirely on what they see in your portfolio.

"Well I don't have one, yet", you say? Not a problem. This is your first homework assignment. And there's good news, there are tons of people out there just waiting to take advantage... ahum... help you. Now, you don't want to work with just anyone who will work with you, and you're in luck because you have a rare moment in your career and business life to be picky! Pick whoever you want to work with and realize that although they are helping you build your portfolio, you are really helping them! Also, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to get at least some minimal pay while building your portfolio. But, unless you absolutely can't afford it, I highly recommend that you pick some high-end, nice sites to work on, because even if you're not paid up front, the value of having nice portfolio pieces will pay off in the long run.

Since I started working freelance gigs, I completely stopped providing resumes even when people asked me. I took it as a sign, that they as a client weren't very well informed about how to find a good developer, so I wouldn't even humor them by providing one of my older versions. And really, as you are working freelance and building your business, you need to get beyond the resume mindset, and realize that your reputation should go beyond that.

Now, once you get your portfolio up and running, that's great! However, you need to continue to update it periodically over time. Don't let it get rusty, and probably at least once a year you want to do a nice overhaul on it. I can't emphasize enough how much a nice portfolio will pay dividends by helping you bring in more business down the line. You can also tie it into a newsletter to further increase your reach.