what type of stuff to write for portfolio

Okay.

You know what y'all want.

Yous want to be a freelance writer.

Yous've washed your research and you lot know this is the creative outlet you demand and assistance you quit your nine-5 job for skillful! But, now, you lot have no inkling what to do to go started.

Do you pitch first?

Do you first a blog?

With anything new, there will exist dissimilar ways to get to the same end goal. For me, I had admittedly no experience writing for businesses or beingness online.

Sure, I went to Facebook or Pinterest, but I did that for personal reasons, not to market something.

I didn't know what to do or how to do information technology once I realized I wanted to freelance write.

I made mistakes in the offset likewise and had to learn the hard style what tools I needed to start freelance writing.

But, I'm here telling y'all what you do need first. You need a writing portfolio.

This is a sample of your writing in the writing niche you desire to go paid for.

Oh, beloved. Did I open up up a can of worms when I talked about a writing niche????

Technically yous need to have a writing niche to write samples for your writing portfolio, but it'south not required.

A prospect typically won't hire y'all unless they have read your writing in the niche they require. You can click the paradigm below to view it better.

A recent enquiry let me know that they read my writing samples on my writing portfolio folio on my site. My samples told them that they liked my style and wanted to hire me this year.

Having a solid writing portfolio filled with your best writing can really brand or break you lot every bit a writer trying to brand this a business.

And so, let's swoop into all of this and encounter what the all-time way is to build your portfolio.

What is a Writing Portfolio?

A writing portfolio holds your best writing every bit a freelance writer. Your writing portfolio demonstrates your writing skill in your niche topic and shows off the places you lot have written for.

You tin can house your portfolio on your blog – the all-time identify – or on a portfolio site like Contently or LinkedIn.

Learn in this video about different portfolio sites for your writing portfolio

Does your writing portfolio accept to firm EVERY piece of writing you've always done?

No.

It should only have relevant, up-to-date content that showcases your best writing ability in the writing niche or niches you want to write for.

On my portfolio page I share writing samples for different topics I bask writing well-nigh – digital marketing, blogging, social media, WordPress and personal development.

A Writing Portfolio Example

In that location are many ways you can display your freelance writer portfolio equally I mentioned.

By far the best style to display your portfolio is a page on your writer website.

You tin can simply add links to your writing portfolio page or stylize it using a page builder or using WordPress's editor.

To me, this is the well-nigh professional way to brandish your writing portfolio to potential clients.

The Content to Use in Your Freelance Writing Portfolio

Then, exercise you but put web log posts in your writing portfolio?

No. You put the type of content you want to get paid for. This might mean sample emails, mock-ups of white papers, site content for an About page or a web log post.

I typically write web log content, and then my writing portfolio is fabricated upwards of blog content.

I also think this is the easiest type of content to create and to market for your business. You can country regular piece of work as a freelance weblog author.

Merely, should y'all merely draft upwards samples in Google dr. or is there a ameliorate way to build your portfolio? Yes!!

Creating a Writing Portfolio From Scratch

The all-time manner to create a writing sample for your writing portfolio is to guest post.

This means your post is published on someone else's blog. It can exist paid contributions, but mostly, it's a free opportunity for you to market place your concern in front of a make new targeted audition.

Guest posting besides gives you the 'street cred' as a professional freelance writer.

My first three writing samples were not really in my niche, nor were they at all related to each other.

The first was for A Nation of Moms. I wrote about gut health for toddlers. I thought natural health would be a good niche to get into. My second was for Social Media Today.

This post is in my writing portfolio currently because it has helped me break into the digital marketing niche – the niche I currently write in.

Finally, the third sample was for Psych Central on how to improve your mood. I was ecstatic for this sample as it was on a very prestigious platform, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to write about mental health.

Equally you tin see, not defining a niche didn't end me from writing about things I knew – natural health, mental wellness and social media (the concluding one I was learning at the time and wanted to write about information technology).

And so, how do you guest post to fill your writing portfolio from scratch?

1. Run a Google Search

The easiest is to run a Google search on the niche you want to write for + "write for us." Hither is an example of domestic dog blogs!

You can search for literally anything + write for u.s.a. to get guest blog opportunities.

ii. Read The Guest Blog's Guidelines

Every place you guest blog for your writing portfolio will accept a dissimilar set of guidelines to submit your postal service. Some may desire a Google doc while others want you lot to ship an attachment via e-mail.

At that place may be strict rules on what types of links to include, who you tin mention in your post and how to write your post and the length of the mail. Here are The Abundant's Artist's guidelines.

3. Create Your Guest Blog Pitch

Now comes the fun part – crafting your writing pitch based on the guidelines you only read!

Once more, different blogs desire different things. Some want 3-5 topic suggestions while others want an outline of one postal service idea.

Figure out what they want and come up with a nifty topic or list of topics.

Here is my pitch for A Nation of Moms:

I suggest you research how to arts and crafts a pitch for guest blogging. It's of import that your pitch comes off personal and sounds like you know the blogger'south content.

Just using a template for your guest pitch, won't work in landing whatever guest posts.

Instead, read the blog you want to guest postal service and learn about:

• How long their posts are
• The format for their posts
• Their popular high sharing topics
• Their headlines

This data tin help you stand up out in your pitch. The blog owner will know you did your research.

4. Write the Guest Mail

When y'all become accepted, it's time to write the guest post. One matter to note – don't pitch the SAME topic and outline to multiple guest blogs.

If yous pitch the steps to consume paleo to five health blogs and ii of them take your pitch, you can't write that mail service. And you can't swap another idea either.

Instead, call up of similar blog topics to pitch.

So, for the wellness instance, if y'all want to guest post on a health site, come up with several ideas that can be similar if you have a hard time coming up with weblog topics:

• 5 Steps to Get Your Family unit Eating Paleo
• Why Paleo Eating Isn't Only a Fad
• 25 Piece of cake Paleo Snacks to Take on The Run
• 5 Easy Ways You lot Tin can Start Eating Paleo

5. Craft Your Author Bio

One of the best reasons you want to build your writer portfolio using guest posts is you lot get an author bio.

Your author bio is the place to market your freelance writing business!

A good bio has these components: what y'all are offer, what blazon of content you provide, how to reach you and some kind of way to tell your personality.

My author bio has evolved over the years as I've grown as a freelance writer. Here is my most current author bio:

6. Submit Your Post And Expect

Subsequently you lot submit your post (via the way the blogger indicated in the invitee post guidelines) information technology's fourth dimension to expect. You volition probably get a response from the blog owner saying that they received it and give yous a timeline of when your post volition be published.

Other blogs may desire y'all to edit and revise your content before they publish your mail.

Once all of that is handled, you wait until your post is published.

During this time yous can pitch for more guest spots, piece of work on your author website and start pitching to job boards.

Every bit a new freelance writer, you gotta hustle every twenty-four hours. Figure out the tasks you need to do to get your business upwards and running!

7. Create Your Writing Portfolio

You lot hear back! They published your guest postal service and yous accept a link now!

That'due south great! Now y'all can create your writing portfolio.

Create a page in your WordPress site and proper noun it Writing Portfolio or writing samples. From there you lot can drop your link or stylize it with a page builder or with WordPress' editor.

Here's an example of using WordPress'south native architect Gutenberg, a page builder, to create a writing portfolio.

Now what?

8. Fill Your Writing Portfolio

You lot just have one writing portfolio detail.

Y'all need more!

My suggestion is to take at least 3 to start out with. I would choose writing topics that are somewhat like, unless you country unlike writing niches.

While guest posting is the best way to create a writing portfolio, another way is to create a Medium profile and submit your writing to publications on Medium.

Medium has thousands of publications that have submission sections. For these places, you don't need to pitch, simply sign up or send your typhoon link of your Medium post.

For example, here's my piece on Storius, a Medium publication.

9. Create Multiple Writing Portfolios

A trick I utilize to look like a highly credible writer is to exist everywhere online! Y'all can do that easily by having multiple writing portfolios online. I have several from Contently to Clearvoice to LinkedIn to Medium and more than!

Make sure to check out my video at the beginning of this mail to check out all the places y'all tin can accept a portfolio and go alee and make some writing portfolios!

Writing Portfolio Q/A

1. What is a Writing Portfolio Format?

Typically, your portfolio is a page online that shows multiple links or images for your writing samples.

There is no hard and fast rule for how your writing portfolio should await like, merely that you accept one or more than than 1 to show your writing expertise.

2. What is a Skilful Writing Portfolio Mix?

Information technology's up to you lot what type of writing samples you want in your writing portfolio. For me, I only take blog posts on my portfolio page. But for you, you might have mock up samples of a press release, white papers or emails.

List out your services on your writing portfolio then share links or examples of those services.

3. Is a Writing Portfolio a Resume?

No information technology is not. Your writing portfolio demonstrates your writing skill while a resume summarizes your educational feel, accomplishments and skills.

Yous tin, however, utilize your portfolio in place of a resume if a client asks for a writing resume and you don't have one to share.

4. What Should Not Be Included in a Writing Portfolio?

I would not put any writing samples that aren't in my niche, that are too short (since I write long-form content), or not the best type of writing I have online will not be shown on my portfolio.

It's Time to Create a Writing Portfolio

At that place y'all go!

A guide to building a writing portfolio from scratch. Don't feel that since yous are a beginner you tin't have a professional writing portfolio under your belt. It will take a bit of time, but you can definitely have one!

It'south your turn – have you lot started your freelance writing portfolio? Let me know in the comments!

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