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I’ve been helping freelancers find work for the past 9 months and in that time I’ve realized something.
We do portfolios wrong. Most potential clients just want to see if you can handle their upcoming project. They don’t trust you yet, so your portfolio (along with the rest of your website) is one way to prove you know what you’re doing. That’s why most portfolios are focused on past work. “You want to see my experience, well here, look what I made!” |
The problem with most portfolios
Constant redesigns
This approach meant that you, like most freelancers, have to agonize over your portfolio for weeks. In fact, you’re probably always eager to add projects to it.
This can quickly turn into complete redesigns every time you have something to add. Which can quickly turn into burning-out. You envision your portfolio landing you great clients but the actual results tell a different story.
Counter-productive goals and strategy
Alone, your website doesn’t make any sense. People outside of your industry have a hard time finding out what it is you even do. Do I code? Design? Write copy? Apparently, big screenshots of your work with no explanation suck at explaining your role on a project.
Your dribbble and github profiles are prominently displayed across all pages, because hey that’s what people do right?
These links not only send potential clients away from your page, they also send them to websites where they can browse through thousands of other amazing designers and developers. Probably not your best idea.
Because you have no strategy behind your portfolio, other than “highlighting your skills,” you spent 99% of my time tinkering with the work. The way in which you present and sell your service is a complete after thought.
It’s no wonder that after pouring weeks of hard work into your portfolio, you’re rarely satisfied and the website underperforms.
Missing key information
For a client, price is one of the key things they are looking for when they come to your website. More times than not, a client has a budget before they contact you. Ignoring this serves no purpose.
There’s actually many more factors involved when determining a budget. The dollars allocated for a task are just one part of it.
For example, a friend recently pulled the plug on a web design project he commissioned because it went over budget. The funny part is the price never changed. When the project began, the timeline estimate was a few weeks. This project completed in a few weeks was a worthy investment.
Almost four months later, the project was still unfinished and no longer a worthy investment. Yet, the price hadn’t changed. It was simply an increase in time.
Addressing a potential client’s budget (and your value) is something you should do. Directly.
Lack of empathy for client
Not showing a price is only serving your needs, not those of a client. Ignoring the needs of a client is something that you should never do. These mistakes happen by not putting yourself in the client’s shoes.
We’ve all had bad clients but take a moment to consider their side of the deal. It might surprise you that it’s not as awesome as you think: At the start, they’re forced to buy this vague thing you call a “service.”
Your proposal slaps a mysterious price tag on them of somewhere between a first-class plane ticket and a small home, with seemingly no reason for arriving at this number. Your website or portfolio hasn’t hinted at this number in anyway and yet it arrives unannounced at time of checkout.
Imagine if you couldn’t see the price of Amazon items until you were checking out?
Imagine if items on Amazon came with a 6–24 month delivery, and absolutely zero guarantee that it would work in any way. That would suck.
A new approach to portfolios
A lot of successful freelancers and consultancies have switched to something else. If you’re not paying attention to this change, you may soon be left behind.
Instead of just showing off past work, these consultants have focused on turning their service offering into a story and using past work only to support that story.
This new type of portfolio improves the clarity of what is being offered and why it’s valuable. Instead of a portfolio, their website’s look more like a store or product page. There’s a clear buy button (or next step) and prominent pricing.
Their portfolio becomes a product that’s for sale for people who want something similar.
They use customized forms, mailing-list auto responders, and systematized documents that cut down hand-holding and instead on deliver more value.
They seem to realize that their website will never get a ton of traffic, so they focus instead on catering to the small group of people that actually visit their website. They spend weeks studying their customer and writing copy that will paint a picture of what working together will look like.
They’ve put themselves in their clients shoes and don’t shy away from pricing. They simply charge what they are worth and what they’re comfortable with.
What these all have in common
They focus on the client’s needs. They don’t focus on themselves. Not one even displays a typical freelancer portfolio.
This approach meant that you, like most freelancers, have to agonize over your portfolio for weeks. In fact, you’re probably always eager to add projects to it.
This can quickly turn into complete redesigns every time you have something to add. Which can quickly turn into burning-out. You envision your portfolio landing you great clients but the actual results tell a different story.
Counter-productive goals and strategy
Alone, your website doesn’t make any sense. People outside of your industry have a hard time finding out what it is you even do. Do I code? Design? Write copy? Apparently, big screenshots of your work with no explanation suck at explaining your role on a project.
Your dribbble and github profiles are prominently displayed across all pages, because hey that’s what people do right?
These links not only send potential clients away from your page, they also send them to websites where they can browse through thousands of other amazing designers and developers. Probably not your best idea.
Because you have no strategy behind your portfolio, other than “highlighting your skills,” you spent 99% of my time tinkering with the work. The way in which you present and sell your service is a complete after thought.
It’s no wonder that after pouring weeks of hard work into your portfolio, you’re rarely satisfied and the website underperforms.
Missing key information
For a client, price is one of the key things they are looking for when they come to your website. More times than not, a client has a budget before they contact you. Ignoring this serves no purpose.
There’s actually many more factors involved when determining a budget. The dollars allocated for a task are just one part of it.
For example, a friend recently pulled the plug on a web design project he commissioned because it went over budget. The funny part is the price never changed. When the project began, the timeline estimate was a few weeks. This project completed in a few weeks was a worthy investment.
Almost four months later, the project was still unfinished and no longer a worthy investment. Yet, the price hadn’t changed. It was simply an increase in time.
Addressing a potential client’s budget (and your value) is something you should do. Directly.
Lack of empathy for client
Not showing a price is only serving your needs, not those of a client. Ignoring the needs of a client is something that you should never do. These mistakes happen by not putting yourself in the client’s shoes.
We’ve all had bad clients but take a moment to consider their side of the deal. It might surprise you that it’s not as awesome as you think: At the start, they’re forced to buy this vague thing you call a “service.”
Your proposal slaps a mysterious price tag on them of somewhere between a first-class plane ticket and a small home, with seemingly no reason for arriving at this number. Your website or portfolio hasn’t hinted at this number in anyway and yet it arrives unannounced at time of checkout.
Imagine if you couldn’t see the price of Amazon items until you were checking out?
Imagine if items on Amazon came with a 6–24 month delivery, and absolutely zero guarantee that it would work in any way. That would suck.
A new approach to portfolios
A lot of successful freelancers and consultancies have switched to something else. If you’re not paying attention to this change, you may soon be left behind.
Instead of just showing off past work, these consultants have focused on turning their service offering into a story and using past work only to support that story.
This new type of portfolio improves the clarity of what is being offered and why it’s valuable. Instead of a portfolio, their website’s look more like a store or product page. There’s a clear buy button (or next step) and prominent pricing.
Their portfolio becomes a product that’s for sale for people who want something similar.
They use customized forms, mailing-list auto responders, and systematized documents that cut down hand-holding and instead on deliver more value.
They seem to realize that their website will never get a ton of traffic, so they focus instead on catering to the small group of people that actually visit their website. They spend weeks studying their customer and writing copy that will paint a picture of what working together will look like.
They’ve put themselves in their clients shoes and don’t shy away from pricing. They simply charge what they are worth and what they’re comfortable with.
What these all have in common
They focus on the client’s needs. They don’t focus on themselves. Not one even displays a typical freelancer portfolio.
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