Do you have an online portfolio? Can we see it? Bring it up from the dredges of your signature! I'm in the process of rebuilding mine (moving parts of jessicawhyte.com to a more impersonal, copywriting/content-focused site), so yes, I'm hunting for inspiration, but it's always nice to see what everyone is doing too. Note: I tried searching the forum to see if a thread like this already existed, but "portfolio" is a popular search term and it was a lot to sift through, so my apologies if this is a repeated topic.
You know, I can understand the fact that you're looking for inspiration; but I seriously doubt that any professional copywriters will be willing to post their portfolios here for you (or anyone else) to glean from. A professional's portfolio is meant for one purpose and one purpose only - to give prospective clients an idea of the type of work one has done, and to show the quality of that work. Your portfolio should include nothing but your absolute best samples, in an easy to review format for your prospective clients. I would caution any professional writer to NOT post their portfolio here, as many unscrupulous "writers" would simply copy from yours to make their own look better. I'm not at all saying that's what you're trying to do, Power Writer; but I would still hope that writers would think twice before posting their best work on a public forum.
Sorry, I should have been clearer. I didn't mean the private portfolio you only send out to prospective clients. I meant if you have an online, public website - eg: the stuff that you would link to in a signature and that you're already actively advertising to the public. Hence the "online" part and the signature and sites' reference.
Wow, I was thinking about this too--because while I know I need to put up an online portfolio, I am not sure exactly how to start (after the domain name and hosting package are bought). So, I would also really appreciate anybody who is willing to put up a link to their online and public portfolio. I, too, need some inspiration.
Well most of what I have up would be hard to steal since it's clearly documented in annuals, trade articles and and other periodicals that have me listed as copywriter. Possible certainly, but easy to find out if the stealer is really the writer. They'd be easily found out if they chose to steal my stuff. I think coolcopy was referring to articles, which are far easier to swipe. I have some press releases up there but they'd be hard to swipe, too, unless you happened to be writing one for a hospital who has just performed a closed-chest open heart bypass surgery with the da vinci. Here's my client list page. From there you can choose print portfolio or whatever you want to see. Client List with links to samples. Let me know if you think I have one line too many of logos. Feedback from clients is that they like it, though and I guess that's what's important.
I don't put much of my stuff online as my site. It's more of a "what I've done lately" and it just lists some companies. If there's a client request, and I'm interested in working with them, I'll send along whatever they need. But then again, I'm not a "client-only" person, so that affects what I do a lot. You can just hit Google and type in stuff, such as "whatever portfolio" and you'll get lots of examples to look at.
Thanks webgal - also, I don't think there are too many logos, they're fantastic! So few people actually read a page anymore that it's a great idea to catch the eye of someone who's just "scanning." Marketjunction - I've tried the google thing and there are definitely a lot of bad writer's sites out there . What about customer testimonials? Do you think that's worth doing and including a link to the client's site? Or would it seem contrived?
The quality of the writer has little to do with the quality of the portfolio presentation. There are lots of good writers that can't visual present properly. I'd argue that some of the best writers in a field tend to have some of the worst presentations. Why? Because they are well-known and their name will speak for itself. As to testimonials, it can be a good thing. It's up to you really. If you want to see a bland portfolio from a solid writer, go here: http://www.bly.com/newsite/Pages/portfolio.php It's a no frills, business listing portfolio. And you'll notice that he has a separate page for testimonials (bland listing style again).
Hey, a long time ago I read one of his books (Write More, Sell More). Speaking of Bly (a little off-topic here), has anyone read his Online Copywriter's Handbook? Is it any good? Worth the expense? Should I just browse through it at the library?
He's got a ton of books. As to being worth it, that depends on your experience. Honestly, I've yet to find a book by one of these guys that's "heavy" with info. You usually get some info, a lot of fluff and war stories. The book is almost 5 years old, so there's bound to be out-of-date stuff there. But you "may" find a nugget or two. If it's at the library or bookstore, I'd just go thumb through it to see if you need more than 5 minutes with it. Again, you're experience will determine this. Going off-off-topic, one problem I have with lots of these books is they spend too much time saying "look at me, look at me" and next to no time giving the reader concrete examples. It's one thing for someone to simply regurgitate "benefits over features." It's another to break it down academically by clearly showing all the parts and by proving enough detail and examples so that the reader can apply it to any situation. I'll stop now before I really get on a roll.
We may need a whole new forum for this one! I agree completely on the war story front, it's exhausting. I also find many of those stock books to be so formulaic. You're flipping through and you realize that they just took a book written for "technical writers," did a find and replace switching "business" for "technical," slapped a new title on it (How to Grow Your Business Writing Business) and called it a day. Style guides seem too structured and dry while these "Power Writer" books don't offer any real sustenance. In short, I think someone needs to start writing a book.....
A lot of writing is "formula writing". I hate and cannot even force myself into a formula. And a lot of those ebooks are war stories. When I wrote an electronic product I made it an eTutorial. I figure nobody's going to learn squat unless there are examples that illustrate what you are talking about. Otherwise, what's the point? And that Bly page may be dry but I bet you it hauls in some serious searches. The text doesn't even have a div around it. Thanks for the logo feedback. Finding time to update your own site can be really hard.
I just had to say *WoW* Webgal. You have one impressive portfolio. I could only hope to someday be 1/2 as successful as you are.
I am sorry this is a bit off the thread but i also want to build by online portfolio but am unable to shortlist my work because it is pointless to show everything whatever i have done. I feel if i show everything the client might miss my best sample. But by minimizing the list i don't want my client to feel i am not that experienced. So I am getting confused in what to include in my portfolio and what to exclude in it. Anyones suggestion will be a help thanx Another question which i missed asking that if i developed a complete website for a client which was outsourced to me by a friend can i include it in my profile or will it be unethical. please advice
You have to narrow down what you show. Period. You can add a note that they can request samples of a specific kind. Show your best work and that which illustrates your range. I've been doing this over 20 years and I can't possibly show everything. As for the profile. Are you asking if you can put this on your own website or are you asking if you can put a signature on theirs? I don't think it would be a problem for you to list the job on your own website. I assume your friend sort of does the project management and outsourced certain parts to get the job done. But you might want to ask your friend. If you mean add a signature to their website, a number of people do this. I have not but am thinking that I am missing an opportunity by not adding a very small link with my info. Designed and written by so and so.
TOO LATE! If you think writing books are "war stories" and "fluff" try reading educational theory books. If I have to listen to one more ex-teacher talk about his single year in the classroom and all the warm and fuzzy things he learned and that I should be doing, I might, well, have to write one of my own. LOL My portfolio is listed through my website. It's sufficient for my needs although it's desperately in need of updating. (Which was very obvious when I visited it just now.) I agree with WebGal that you need to list only enough samples to give a clear impression of what you are capable of and your range. You can always offer more specific samples to particular clients. Rebecca
But for some writers it's hard to create a portfolio when the articles are ghostwritten. In that case, aren't you breaking your contract if you present a ghostwritten article as part of the portfolio? I have that problem and in that case, I let the client know up front that the sample I am sending is ghostwritten, a portion of the article and a link where they can read it in full. I don't know if that's a problem anyone has (listing ghostwriting projects) and I would be interested in knowing how you overcame it.
Until you find some byline projects, you can always write and submit a few articles to sites such as ezinearticles or associated content... Or use your own blog or website articles as samples.