One of my best online writing samples has apparently ceased to exist. In this economy, it's not really a surprise that some websites and businesses would close up shop. How are you handling this issue? Are you referring potential clients to Archive.org (when possible), sending snapshots/screenshots of previous work or simply emailing a selection of the individual pieces?
My writing samples are in PDF and I post them on my website. Prospects can then look at them if they want to see my writing style. I'll also be putting up my client list, plus link to their sites, if applicable (BTW, thanks for reminding me to update my site already ). If a client already closed up shop, I guess you would have to just put their name on your client list without a link, if they're really a big client, or you could just replace them with a site that's still up and running.
I make sure to have a mix of print samples that can be scanned or that were PDF'd so I can host them at my own site, work with large companies so I don't have to worry about them going out of business, and my own websites so I don't have to worry if the smaller sites I link to disappear.
If you still have the client's contact information somewhere, you could ask them to revert rights back to you so you can publish the samples on your site if they won't be using them anymore (similar to how book rights often revert back to an author when a publisher lets it go out of print). I did that with my old About.com articles. I got the then-editor to agree to release the rights to my work when I left (they made the exception for some then, but I don't know if they still will), and I put them on one of my blogs when they were removed from About. In my portfolio they're marked as being originally published by them. I think diversity's the key. The more clients that are represented in your portfolio, the less of a chance you'll have that problem on a large scale. I'll echo Cedric though. Thanks for the reminder to update our sites. I have a testimonial and some new portfolio pieces I wanted to get put up this week.
I have PDFs as well (designs and writing) and take screen shots too. Having rights to display these things in a portfolio setting (printed or online) is a must for me doing a project. If I had a site in my portfolio, it's be a screen shot most likely and I might link to them (as long as I had time to check the link now and then to insure my work was there). And if they went out of business or changed it all, I'd just dump the link and keep everything else.
Thanks Jenn for the idea about rights. I suspect the one client has closed her site because someone offered her a full-time position she couldn't refuse. She had agreed for me to forward prospects to her site but not to advertise on my site - she specialized in marketing and PR and was afraid it would dilute her brand if it was well-known her own site was written by someone else. I will be spending some time today grabbing screenshots of other work and other portfolio maintenance. Diversity is exactly why this is such a big hit for me. Those of you with PDFs on your website, what are you doing to prevent Google from indexing them? Seems Google and Yahoo are somewhat ignoring NOINDEX directives with the excuse of providing a "better user experience".
I have this problem too - my 'live' portfolio is depressingly small. I've lost a lot of links due to sites closing down, wrote (and been paid for) some print pieces that then never got published, and done a lot of ghost writing which I don't get credit for. I get around it by using screenshots, as others have said, and by asking for references from people I do web copy / corporate work for. So far, most people have been happy to look at a couple of portfolio pieces and then read references. The portfolio proves that you can write, the references prove that you can deliver that writing on spec, and on time.
One thing you could do is to take good screen shots of your work and compile them into a PDF. Another idea is to password protect the file. Tell visitors what it is so they can download and view.
I think if you are good enough and made the right connections, you shouldn't have a problem finding work. As for you portfolio, just phone up the people and ask you can showcase the work you did for them. Most people could care less.
I bolded the part that's important. You can be the best writer, designer, whatever in the world and have trouble finding work. I've seen writers & designers who weren't that good at what they claimed to do slammed with gigs nonstop. It's all about marketing yourself and networking. Do those two well and you'll set yourself up nicely.
NLMedia, this isn't about finding work; this is about providing live, online writing samples to potential clients. You are assuming that everything a writer does is publicly published, is not confidential and can be shared with a prospective client. The prospect asked for a specific type of example and the missing site fit that request perfectly. Additionally, depending on their business, not all clients want it publicly known that they did not write their own materials. Several of my clients allow me to share the fact that I wrote their sites with prospective clients but do not want me to make that information freely available to the world as it could negatively impact their own business. Password protecting the PDFs is a great idea. That will allow me to honor the wishes of former clients as well as capture materials that may change or disappear completely.