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New freelancers are facing a problem: how do you draw customers when there is no portfolio to show? Or, if you're not in a creative field, how can you, as a contractor, make your CV stand out from the crowd?
Let's continue with the talented freelancer and the very relevant portfolio.
Putting their portfolio centre stage, essentially trading on their credibility, is typical for freelancers. And when the agreed standard appears to be building a web site around a portfolio, the missing past may seem as obvious as a lost limb.
And how do you attract clients if your job doesn't persuade them?
Photo by Ben Sweet and blog by Skillbox
Create your first portfolio today!
It is pretty straightforward. If you don't have a portfolio yet, don't claim to do so, don't even mention the word portfolio.Rather than talking about the work you have done, speak about the tasks you are going to do. Focus on the resources you deliver to clients – reflect on the fantastic advantages you provide, and how you're a better choice. Speak about what customers learn from working with you and how they profit from your approach.
You can win them over by talking positively about the great things you offer customers. And when they are asking about your experience, be honest. If you have any experience, please tell them about it.
At some point soon, though, starting to knock up a portfolio will benefit you.
A well put together online portfolio can win more work for you to promote your services, and set you apart from the competition. Highlighting the history of which you are proud is one way to foster trust with customers, allowing for that elusive connexion that is so hard to secure over the web.
If you're a web designer, a copywriter or even an expert on social media, you can highlight past achievements on one simple platform.
Here are some tips on what makes a great portfolio site;
- Presenting your work in the right way to ensuring that it leads to inquiries
- Allowing a form of communication to take place such as messaging boards
- Having a safe and secure payment gateway
Before you start, it's tempting to include every job you've done in your portfolio, as you want to show your flexibility and experience.
This can bore the viewer no matter how engaging the content. This also offers the prospective customer the opportunities to discover work that they don't like.
It's best to stick to 5-10 cases, making sure the ones you're most proud to endorse are these. For example, include pieces for which you have received outstanding reviews or awards, or work for high profile clients.
Not all of you need to be featured in your portfolio; it needs to lead the visitor to contact you for a job. If a customer is interested and wishes to see more, they send a message.
Let's face it; everybody needs to sound sophisticated. Choosing your job title is one of the fun things about being a freelancer!
You are no longer stuck with a corporate-mandated title, you can let your imagination flourish and name yourself Freelancer of the year. But at what point does a fancy job title stop making you sound exciting, and confuse your potential customers?
Social Media consultants in the area with misleading work titles are especially frequent perpetrators. Social media is such a modern and dynamic business (and there are so many snake oil salesmen at work), that using terms like "Holistic" means the curriculum vitae will end up in the bin more often than not.
Corporate job titles are boring and commonplace but essential in reality since they are strictly functional. You want to speak to the person responsible for marketing, find out who the Marketing Manager is. You can take advantage of this established structure – if you're going to add a bit of gravitas to your persona, call yourself "Manager," "Director of" or "Head of.'
For any number of reasons, your CV can be denied. The first thing a customer reads after your name will be your work title, so don't slip on the first hurdle.
If you are going to use a website to showcase your portfolio (and possibly should!) then you need to make sure that the right technology is in place. Web design is constantly changing, much like fashion, and the sleek, responsive design is what most people expect, but if you want to monitor how something looks, it can cause problems.
You can't be sure that your prospective customers will view your portfolio on an enormous glossy iMac screen, they may look at a phone or tablet. You may find that one platform that neatly displays your work but is it accessible to the average user? Choosing how to present your work is critical and can make the difference between loving or ignoring your work.
Now (thankfully!) the days of showy but essentially meaningless animated Flash intros are long gone. It won't even run on many smartphones or tablets nowadays, while Javascript is typically still okay as long as it isn't too complicated and prone to crashing. A simple CSS-based system is best, and you can add the frills once that's perfected.
Alternatively, you might look at some of the choices out there for web builders like Squarespace or Wix that have some beautiful portfolio site designs, or some of the WordPress themes that look great – it doesn't have to cost a lot or take too much of your time! Besides, using freelance websites like Skillbox to showcase your can save you lots of time and money.
The CV is still the primary means of applying for positions from freelancers, contractors and consultants.
Ask yourself, why are you making your CV and sending it out? Is it recording and sharing what you've done, allowing the user to make a decision there, right then, OR are you trying to get the person into a meeting?
If we say, the above – think about what you should or shouldn't include in that. What is the meeting going to get you? Place yourself in shoes for your friend.
Employers average between 30 to 120 seconds per resume. Let people find the knowledge they need as quickly as possible. Instantly allow the reader to realise just how good you are. Make that quantitative rather than qualitative.
If you are a freelancer, provide details about where you worked (Skillbox allows you to upload a PDF) and encourage people to contact your former employers. They probably won't, but that shows you trust.
Tailor your CV to the job description or industry for which you are looking. Print out the work ad and run through the primary skills and knowledge they want with a highlighter. Make sure you have all the skills you need and that the first page of your CV clearly shows this.
Ideally, a curriculum vitae should be just two lines. Its sole purpose is to get you an interview so always concentrate on "who will read this, and what do they know?"
Recruiters determine if your CV is worth reading to the end within six seconds, so make sure they know halfway through the first page that you have everything they need. A brilliant way to do this is to have a section on 'key skills' where you sum up your abilities.
If they are essential to the recruiter, it is also a good idea to list the professional skills at the top of page one. Don't get them to work finding your information! The company can use keyword software to check your CV before it's even read by a human.
If you post your curriculum vitae online or send it directly to a client, then save it as a PDF so that the formatting is not knocked out because they use a different type of Word than you do.
It takes an age to write a cover letter, and it is challenging to make yours any different from anyone else. We would recommend using bullets and that you be very particular about where you can support.
Remember to spellcheck, no matter how good the CV is, it goes to the bin when there are errors inside.
You have been warned!
Freelancing can be the world's most fabulous way to function, allowing you the independence and versatility to do what you love, while living life to the full.