I just wondered, if using an online portfolio, with articles you've self-published online is acceptable, or does it have to be something you've had been paid for an gotten published by someone online? Say, you have a blog on a subject with some good articles, could you pick what you think are your best articles from that and use it as a portfolio? Just wondering, because I do have a lot of writings online, but nothing I've been paid for, except that one on AC. If you were looking for a blog writer, say, and this person had a very good blog, would that help you decide to hire them?
That's fine. When people hire you, they don't want to see that you have been paid, they want to know that you can write good quality material.
I'd look at the quality of the work and decide if it met or exceeded what I needed. It's not like being paid magically transforms the work into something special (like the princess kissing the frog). The most important thing is what you've done (free or otherwise) in the specific field. For instance, if I'm looking for a writer for my finance blog (or whatever) and you can't show plenty of work in this area, I move on. So, one tip would be to find one area (wide or narrow) and focus a majority of your time in it. For instance, you could specialize in investing as a whole or drill down into real estate investing or drill down into commercial real estate and so on.
When I advertise for writers, many smartly send me links to their blog as samples of their work. And I'm sure I've gotten several projects because I provided someone the link to my own blog. Remember, this is one of the main reasons to have a blog: to attract new business. And they absolutely work as business builders. At least they do if your content is quality and valuable -- and if you let (enough) people know you want to be contacted for business. Blogging is publishing, pure and simple. A blog is media, and whatever you put on one is media content -- the same concept and activity as with a newspaper, TV station or major website. Now there are well written blogs and there are poorly written blogs. This is where the rubber meets the road, as they say. Your writing has to be tight, the price right, and your service/personality easy to work with. This is all that matters. Why don't you put a link here to your blog? I'd like to see it!
Where the article is from really does not matter. One thing that will definitely help is to provide an article on the topic that they are looking for. Make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors in it, and that it is well-written. Also - make sure it is interesting, and mostly positive from start to finish. Personally, I do not recommend writing samples at their request. You don't have time for that. If you do, have them pay for it.
Thanks. I have several blogs. They are all linked to on my homepage (link in my sig) and the gardening blog is linked to in my sig as well.
As a client, the biggest criteria to select a writer should be whether you can provide work according to project requirements, and stick to deadlines. Everyone has to start somewhere, and good, original content on a blog shows that the writer has merit and should be tried out. I have a bunch of articles I have been credited and paid for, and it helps bring in future clients. But I had to work quite some time to be able to put such a page together. I am now getting better pay for quality work because of the niche I have specialized in. All the best for your work, and hope you land some good gigs soon!
Showing your unpaid work is a good start. Switch to a portfolio of paid work when you can. Paid work shows that you can meet a client's demands.
When I first started out, I showed spec work. So why not start with what you have? What else would you show? You have to start somewhere. However, I want you to give yourself a pep talk and pump yourself up so you don't sell yourself short. Writing is not easy.
People are looking to see the quality of your writing, not that you've been paid for it (in most cases). Continue linking to anything that has your by-line in my opinion!
Having a place for clients to review your work is a good idea. I know some writers that have blogs that they use to show portfolios on. Many started out with these blogs before they ever had anything that they had been paid for. So they showcased articles that were new and had not been sold yet. It works out as a small price to pay for the advertisement advantage of having samples to show prospective clients.