Do you need a freelance portfolio site?

I sat on a panel tonight at a personal branding event at the University of Washington. One of my suggestions was that creative freelancers — writers, designers, illustrators, photographers and the like — set up an online portfolio as soon as possible. 

You even don’t need your own website to create an online portfolio. A number of free or nominally priced prefabbed portfolio sites make creating your own digital portfolio a cinch. Here are a few I’ve found. If anyone knows of any others, feel free to add them in the comments.

For writers and media professionals: mediabistro, ebyline, contently, pressfolios

For designers, illustrators, photographers and other visual artists: behance, carbonmade, cargocollective, etsy

For those who need a landing page to tie together all their online projects: about.me

I’d also be curious to hear what kind of freelance job leads people are getting from these prefabbed portfolio sites. I’ve had my portfolio on mediabistro for the past couple of years and it’s paid for itself many times over. Yes, some inquiries from potential clients and editors don’t pan out (usually because their budget is too small for my taste). And yes, I may not get a nibble from an interested editor for months. But this month alone, my portfolio page yielded a four-figure assignment for a women’s magazine I’d never written for and another contact at a high-profile newsstand magazine that I hope to write for in the coming months.

How about you? What portfolio sites do you use and what kind of leads are you getting from them?

4 comments August 21st, 2012

How to hurt your freelance rep on social media

You know those days when you’re so overwhelmed by the 19 pressing tasks on your to-do list that the only logical course of action is to spend an hour posting squeal-worthy kitten videos on Facebook? If the client you just asked for a deadline extension is your Facebook friend, so do they. Ditto for the colleague you said you were too busy to lunch with. If you’re going to play the “I’m sooooo crazybusy!” card, you’d best not get caught goofing off on social media an hour later.

I wrote about this on ABCNews.com this past week, listing four ways freelancers, telecommuters, and employees trash their reputation on social media. Read the piece here, and tell me what you think in the comments below. Have you committed any of these cardinal sins of social media? Have you seen other freelancers messing up their professional rep on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites? Do tell.

[ABC News: Four Ways You're Hurting Your Rep on Social Media]

2 comments August 19th, 2012