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Freelance Client Management · Lesson 6 of 10

Creating a Portfolio Site

A portfolio website is the first thing to build before you go looking for clients.

1 Learn the concept

A portfolio website is the first thing to build before you go looking for clients. It lets prospects see what you can do and gives you a place to send people. A good portfolio is simple, fast and focused on results. This lesson explains what to include and how to set up a basic site using a website builder.

A wireframe of a portfolio site home page with numbered notesA SIMPLE PORTFOLIO SITE1Home, Work, About, Contact2One sentence on who you help andwhat you do3Three to five projects with ashort story each“4Testimonials or results5A clear way to contact you6Links and email
A portfolio needs only a few things done well.

2 See it in action

  • Include a short introduction, three to five projects and a clear way to contact you.
  • For each project, show the goal, what you did and the result.
  • Use real work, or label practice projects honestly.
  • Keep it simple: clear navigation beats fancy design.

Worked example

Writing a project story

Goal: help a local bakery get more weekday orders.

What I did: rewrote the product pages, set up a simple order form and posted three times a week.

Result: orders from the website increased over two months.

Add: a screenshot before and after, and one line from the client.

Check: every project follows the same three parts: goal, actions, result.

3 Study an example

Example scenario

A beginner builds a five-page site: home, about, work, services and contact. Each project has a short story, and the contact page has one simple form. Within a week she has her first inquiry.

4 Apply it and download

  1. Choose your three best projects.
  2. Write a short description for each.
  3. Set up your pages using the website launch checklist.

Worksheet Portfolio site page checklistOpen, print or save as PDF

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