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After working carefully with freelancers (and freelancing myself) for over a decade, there’s one factor almost all of us freelancers agree on:
You’ve actually obtained to rock your portfolio.
It’s a no brainer. Having a well-thought-out portfolio can result in insane quantities of latest purchasers, enjoyable collaborations, added consciousness about your companies, and different inventive alternatives.
Good freelancers concentrate on constructing a portfolio they will leverage to construct their enterprise.
Which is why I’m routinely shocked when a freelancer tells me their portfolio is “below development” or that it “wants an replace earlier than I ship it to any new potential purchasers.”
What? That’s insane.
After years of pulling my hair out, I spotted what’s inflicting the massive downside right here. I feel I’ve lastly discovered why so many people freelancers say we imagine within the significance of portfolios however we neglect them anyway.
Why is it?
As a result of most freelancers—sure, in all probability you too; I do know I used to—take into consideration portfolios fully flawed.
Your portfolio isn’t the place to indicate off your greatest work and even your most up-to-date work. Its job is to not develop your Instagram following or weblog readers.
No, the singular job of your portfolio ought to be to herald extra purchasers. And that’s precisely the place I may also help.
Why you shouldn’t skim this text
In case your portfolio already brings in a lot new enterprise each month that you just don’t know what to do, then you need to simply click on the again button proper now.
However if you happen to’re bored with your portfolio being an afterthought, a waste of time and energy, a tragic wasteland of no guests and positively no new enterprise, then keep tuned.
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For those who’re bored with looking down the very best freelance jobs solely to have potential purchasers check out your portfolio and mysteriously decline your pitch, hold studying.
This text is for you.
Beneath, I’ll share with you the fundamentals of constructing (or rebuilding) a portfolio that’s optimized to transform website guests into paying purchasers and raving followers.
The ways I’ll share are based mostly not solely on over 10 years working with freelancers in my neighborhood but in addition come from years working as knowledgeable salesman and marketer—changing tens of 1000’s of consumers for my employer or myself regularly.
I’ll share with you the highest errors I’ve seen after numerous freelance portfolio critiques so that you don’t fall into the identical frequent traps everybody else does.
Greater than something, I’ll assist you to assume extra like advertising and marketing professional—not the slimy, salesy, pushy type, however as somebody who is aware of precisely what your buyer desires after which builds a model that speaks with ardour about fixing your purchasers’ greatest issues.
I’ll present you easy methods to construct a portfolio that converts and easy methods to measure and monitor your conversions utilizing Honeybook.
After we’re finished, you’ll have every little thing you should construct an portfolio optimized for enormous shopper conversions.
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Right here we go!
Altering how you concentrate on your portfolio will change every little thing
Earlier than we dive too deep into the tactical steps you need to take when constructing or rebuilding your freelance portfolio, it’s a must to change how you concentrate on your portfolio within the first place.
As I discussed beforehand: your portfolio isn’t a spot to indicate off your biggest work. It’s not a spot to brag about your awards. It’s not even a spot to spotlight what your earlier purchasers have mentioned about you.
Certain all of these issues could be included—that’s not an issue.
Nevertheless it’s the way you embody them that makes all of the distinction.
Most freelancers make the big mistake of pondering their portfolio is all about them.
You exhibit your greatest work. You brag about your greatest work. You publish the very best testimonials about you.
Right here’s a little bit of a harsh newsflash although: Your portfolio is NOT about you.
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Your portfolio, in actuality, ought to have one job and one job solely: to deliver you new purchasers.
There are many different locations to indicate off, enhance your ego, and present your inventive course of (Instagram is improbable for this).
Each resolution you make as we stroll via the portfolio-optimization course of under ought to be prefaced with this query:
Does this enhance or lower the probability {that a} website customer will convert right into a paying shopper?
Solutions to questions on frequent portfolio errors (like including social media buttons—extra to come back on that) would possibly take you abruptly.
Discover I didn’t say you need to ask: Does this enhance the probability my shopper will assume I’m wonderful? Or Will this enhance my possibilities of getting extra weblog subscribers?
You have to be centered on only one factor: shopper conversions.
It’s not that together with testimonials, including social media buttons, beginning a weblog or that includes large photos of your greatest work are inherently dangerous.
However they’re not inherently good, both. Simply because each different inventive in your trade contains them of their portfolio, doesn’t imply you need to too. Maintain studying the article and I’ll clarify precisely why.
With that, let’s get into the precise ways of a high-converting portfolio website.
Begin with a minimal viable portfolio
To borrow a phrase from the world of startups, you need to intention to begin with a minimum-viable portfolio.
That’s to say: you need to try and construct a portfolio that requires a minimal quantity of labor whereas proving that, if you drive guests to it, it’s going to convert to new purchasers.
On the planet of expertise improvement, a minimal viable product is (MVP) is a product with simply sufficient options to fulfill early clients, and to supply suggestions for future product improvement.
On the planet of portfolios, a minimal viable portfolio (ahem…MVP) is a portfolio with simply sufficient content material to persuade early purchasers to rent you and to supply suggestions you should enhance your portfolio sooner or later.
The largest motive you need to attempt for an MVP is effectivity.
The very last thing you wish to do (and sadly SO many freelancers do that) is waste months of brainstorming, gathering initiatives, importing, making a website, tweaking every little thing….and tweaking it once more… all earlier than any potential purchasers have an opportunity to make use of it.
As a substitute, your aim ought to be to place up a easy but skilled website that goals to transform. Then, you’ll ship it to a pool of potential purchasers and see what occurs.
You’ll study way more by placing it out into the true world and gathering suggestions (each from particular person human beings and from information instruments like Google Analytics) than you ever will by creating for months on finish in a vacuum.
What does an MVP appear like realistically?
Okay. All this idea is ok for dinner dialog. However what about truly implementing this concept of a minimal viable portfolio in the true world?
Right here’s what it’d appear like for you:
Consolidated pages
As a substitute of constructing a big 10-page website full with a sturdy “about me” web page, “contact us” web page, “our companies” web page and all the opposite conventional pages, take into account beginning with only one web page.
Sure. Just one.
There are fairly just a few benefits to consolidating your MVP on to 1 web page.
For starters, it means lots much less work in your finish which implies you get a portfolio out into the world extra shortly and might begin bringing in potential purchasers sooner.
Extra importantly, it additionally means you possibly can management the journey your website guests take as soon as they land in your homepage. As a substitute of crossing your fingers and hoping a website customer reads your about web page, then opinions your initiatives, after which lastly clicks the contact web page, you possibly can management precisely what the shopper sees and in what order.
To shine off the total expertise, you possibly can embody a chatbox, cellphone quantity, or contact type on the very finish to cause them to a very powerful step: contacting you for rent.
Consolidated initiatives
Transferring from a multi-page portfolio to a one-page portfolio additionally means you’ll have to consolidate the variety of initiatives you embody in your website.
That is truly a very good factor.
In a minimal viable portfolio, you don’t want greater than 3-4 stable initiatives with sales-focused descriptions (extra on that under) as a way to convert a website customer right into a shopper.
Consolidating your work forces you to solely select (not the very best, keep in mind, however) essentially the most likely-to-convert initiatives in your archives.
If it doesn’t lend itself to convincing somebody to rent you, go away it out.
Use emotion to talk your shopper’s language
Having a minimal viable portfolio isn’t sufficient to persuade website guests to truly rent you, although.
You’ve obtained to make use of the suitable sorts of phrases in your portfolio website.
Bear in mind, this website isn’t about you. Keep away from writing sentences like “I take life-changing pictures.” As a substitute, use phrases that put a possible shopper comfortable and reply the query “is that this the suitable freelancer for me?”
Listed here are just a few examples:
Talking about you (dangerous):
- I design model logos which can be memorable and exquisite.
- I take footage that final a lifetime.
- I write articles that rank within the Google prime 10.
Talking your shopper’s language (good):
- Your clients already love you—they need to love your model too.
- Get pleasure from your once-in-a-lifetime day. Then keep in mind it ceaselessly with the proper pictures.
- Your clients are trying to find solutions you’ve. Rank the place they will discover you.
Discover how the second spherical of headlines has nearly nothing to do with the freelancer in query and every little thing to do with the shopper’s wants.
Within the phrases of Seth Godin, one of many biggest entrepreneurs of our time, “Individuals don’t purchase items and companies. They purchase relations, tales, and magic.”
Once you’re centered on promoting your companies (images, design, writing, and so forth.) it may be exhausting to zoom out and determine what tales or magic would possibly encourage a website customer to rent you.
However the extra you possibly can enchantment to a purchasers’ feelings, the higher probability you’ve of getting employed.
Contemplate just a few feelings your potential purchasers may be feeling and the corresponding emotion you possibly can enchantment to by delivering your freelancing companies.
What your shopper is feeling |
What you ought to be promoting |
|---|---|
| Overwhelm
Your shopper has too many issues to do and feels overwhelmed on the thought of doing extra. Insecurity Your shopper has an essential undertaking or occasion that wants knowledgeable contact. They’re uncertain in the event that they’re certified for the duty at hand. Stress Tight deadlines on an enormous undertaking imply your shopper is feeling actual strain to ship a high quality undertaking by a sure deadline. |
Reduction
Hiring you means one much less factor they’ll have to personally get finished or fear about. Confidence Hiring you means your shopper could be assured the undertaking will likely be accomplished on time and professionally. Pleasure Hiring you means your shopper can commerce a few of their nervousness brought on by strain for pleasure to see the undertaking come to fruition. |
You’ll be able to (and will) mimic the examples above to your personal state of affairs. Begin by figuring out the the most important ache factors your potential purchasers are feeling.
Subsequent, determine the corresponding constructive emotion (proper column above) they’d wish to have their damaging emotion (left column above) changed with.
It’s best to then use constructive feelings to direct the writing in your website.
To cite one other renown salesman of our time, Zig Ziglar: “Individuals don’t purchase for logical causes. They purchase for emotional causes.”
Your aim should grow to be to offer them the emotional reasoning they should rent you shortly.
After all, none of what we’ve mentioned to date is useful until you make it extraordinarily straightforward for purchasers to take motion in your website. Which is the place the ultimate part of this text is available in.
Make it extraordinarily straightforward for somebody to take the subsequent step
Okay. You’ve constructed your minimal viable portfolio. You’ve added in emotion-driven copy to entice website guests to rent you (or not less than study extra about your companies).
However you’ll nonetheless not see the sorts of outcomes you need until you’re employed exhausting to make it as straightforward as attainable for somebody to take the subsequent step towards hiring you.
As a way to do this, listed below are just a few solutions:
Take away all dead-ends
One of many greatest killers of conversion charges (the speed at which website guests flip into paying purchasers) might very effectively be the dreaded “dead-end”.
This typically occurs when you’ve photograph galleries or element pages in your portfolio that, whereas they do supply good particulars on every undertaking, they fail to maneuver your shopper to the subsequent step of their journey to changing into a paying buyer.
When a consumer finds themselves on the finish of a website journey, the probability they’ll click on the “again” button, shut the window, or simply get annoyed enhance exponentially.
To treatment that, keep in mind to first scale back your pages the place attainable. As a reminder, this helps you management the client journey a bit extra.
As well as, guarantee each single web page in your website has a transparent call-to-action guiding the consumer towards hiring you. This could be a hyperlink (or a number of hyperlinks) which may look one thing like this:
Like what you see? Click on right here to see how we are able to seize your excellent day.
Alternately, you would possibly select extra direct choices on some pages like a big “rent me” or “contact me” button.
No matter you select, be sure it’s clear, apparent, and straightforward to take motion on. Don’t make folks guess what would possibly occur in the event that they click on your hyperlink or button.
Take away all off-ramps
Along with eradicating all dead-ends out of your website, you need to take into account eradicating any off-ramps which may take a customer away out of your portfolio website.
And, sure, I imply ANY.
There are apparent off-ramps like banner advertisements or hyperlinks to research or articles.
I imagine the extra dangerous off-ramps are those which have grow to be so broadly used on portfolio websites across the internet, we don’t assume twice earlier than including them to our personal.
These embody social media icons, hyperlinks to shopper work, or hyperlinks to your individual weblog.
Bear in mind means again to the start of this text the place I inspired you to ask this query:
Does this enhance or lower the probability {that a} website customer will convert right into a paying shopper?
Whereas rising an Instagram following or beginning a weblog could be useful in rising your online business, it ought to NOT be the first aim of your portfolio website.
Why?
When was the final time you had been on Instagram for instance? Websites like Instagram, Fb, or Pinterest are extremely engineered to KEEP customers on their website.
When you’ve despatched a possible shopper again to Instagram (as an alternative of deeper into your portfolio website) you would possibly as effectively say goodbye to their enterprise. The chances that they’ll ever make it again are fairly slim.
I like to recommend you take away any exterior hyperlinks and change them with calls-to-action resulting in your contact web page, cellphone quantity, or chat field.
Don’t make folks marvel easy methods to contact you
The very last thing you need is for a possible shopper to be offered on hiring you solely to be annoyed with the shortage of ease in truly contacting you.
You would possibly assume that placing a “mailto:” hyperlink or just typing out your electronic mail handle or cellphone quantity is sufficient, however I like to recommend you are taking it a step additional.
Your aim ought to be for purchasers to contact you in lower than 30 seconds and a pair of clicks or much less.
Meaning if a website customer is on the homepage (or any web page, actually) they need to be capable to click on as soon as to your contact web page (if you happen to even have the pages separated out) after which yet one more time to ship their message.
Don’t make customers copy/paste your electronic mail handle into their electronic mail shopper, write a topic line, and click on ship.
It might not sound like lots of work, however constructing a profitable on-line portfolio means understanding how folks use the Web and, the reality is, individuals are lazy. They’re busy. They need issues handed to them.
For those who select to go along with a contact type, make it easy. Don’t use your contact type to “filter out dangerous purchasers” till you’re simply getting so many requests every day that you would be able to’t deal with it.
I like to recommend the next fields in your contact type:
Identify: Let the consumer select first, final, or full. What issues right here is getting them to submit the shape.
E mail handle: This one’s fairly simple. Don’t strive belongings you’ve seen like “your greatest electronic mail” or “your work electronic mail.” Let folks put no matter they need right here with out pondering an excessive amount of about it.
Message: Lastly, the message. You would possibly wish to add a few prompts to assist customers know what to jot down right here. If not, conserving it easy is ok too.
That’s it?
Yep. You don’t have to know their price range but. You don’t have to have them provide you with a topic line. You don’t have to know way more about them.
The aim is to provoke the dialog and get the individual’s contact data (greatest=their electronic mail) so you possibly can proceed in a dialogue and finally guide them as a shopper.
Bonus subject: The one further subject I’d suggest for later testing may be the “how did you hear about me?” subject, however I’d hold it optionally available so customers aren’t annoyed in the event that they don’t keep in mind. And if attainable, set it to “I don’t keep in mind.”
To simplify all of this, strive utilizing the Honeybook contact type builder which lets you customise the shape to your liking. From there, you possibly can embed the Honeybook contact type in your website it doesn’t matter what it’s constructed on.
The explanation I’m okay with including this bonus subject is as a result of it’s going to turn out to be useful throughout the remaining advice I’ll make under: testing and adjusting.
Check, get suggestions, and regulate
Bear in mind, the aim of your MVP (minimal viable portfolio) is to get it out their shortly, accumulate suggestions, and optimize it for enormous shopper conversions.
Listed here are just a few methods I like to recommend you take a look at your new portfolio website:
Qualitative testing with buddies, household, colleagues
Earlier than sending the brand new portfolio to any potential purchasers, your aim ought to be to take away any obtrusive errors or errors. This may be achieved utilizing buddies, household, colleagues, and even present purchasers who you belief.
Keep away from asking obscure, open-ended questions like “what do you consider my new portfolio?” although, since that received’t assist you to in any respect.
As a substitute, strive sitting them down at a pc and asking them to sort in your URL, go to the positioning and try to rent you.
Then watch.
Don’t speak. Don’t assist them. Watch over their shoulder and simply observe.
You’re more likely to see spots the place many individuals get confused, hung-up, misplaced, annoyed, or distracted. This offers you a pleasant listing of preliminary changes you can also make.
Quantitative testing with Google Analytics
Although the one-on-one testing with folks you belief could be extraordinarily insightful, getting extra guests to the positioning and watching the info on the back-end can supply a complete totally different grouping of realizations.
You would possibly wish to use a free instrument like Google Analytics to see the place website guests are coming from, which pages they go to first, which pages they go away from, and the paths they take via your website to finally contact you (or go away).
Lastly, if you happen to’re constructing a one-page portfolio website, it’s possible you’ll wish to take into account a heatmap instrument like HotJar, which can be free. HotJar will present you the way far down the web page customers usually scroll, the place they click on, and the way they use your website.
You’re by no means finished testing
For those who’re severe about getting extra purchasers out of your on-line portfolio, right here’s the truth of it: you’re by no means finished testing.
I as soon as had somebody inform me they made small changes each week to their portfolio and it solely elevated their conversion charges by round 1% every time.
However over the course of 6—12 months, you possibly can think about what an influence all of the testing and adjusting can have.
Growing your conversion price by even simply 25% (which is modest and fully attainable) means if much less effort and value to herald new purchasers with the very same instrument.
As you apply, study, examine and take a look at, you’ll get higher at it. You’ll begin to study what your purchasers are on the lookout for, the place they’re getting caught and easy methods to greatest assist them.
Taking motion is the one street to success
This text is over 3,500 phrases lengthy. For those who’ve made it this far, congratulations. You’re among the many few who’ve.
However studying three thousand phrases on a subject means nothing if you happen to don’t take motion. So, to recap, listed below are the actions I like to recommend you are taking within the coming months to optimize your portfolio website for enormous conversions:
- Retrain your mind to consider your portfolio as a gross sales instrument as an alternative of a flowery place to indicate off work.
- Create a minimal viable portfolio that meets the fundamental wants and avoids too many bells and whistles (for now).
- Converse your shopper’s language by figuring out feelings they’re feeling and how one can clear up their greatest ache factors.
- Make it extraordinarily straightforward for purchasers to rent you by addressing dead-ends, off-ramps, and distractions.
- Start testing your MVP as quickly as attainable (it doesn’t need to be excellent) and collect suggestions shortly utilizing actual human beings and software program like Honeybook.
Final of all, some phrases of encouragement. Most of the freelancers I speak to about portfolios declare they only don’t have the time or power (or they discover they’re too choosy about their very own model) to construct or rebuild their portfolio.
However you’ve obtained this.
Optimizing your portfolio could be one of the vital impactful issues you are able to do to your freelance enterprise.
I can’t wait to see what you provide you with.
This publish was initially revealed on the Honeybook weblog right here. It has been republished right here with permission from the copyright holder.
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