A portfolio site for freelance work, from one sentence

What a portfolio needs to win work

A client reads a portfolio to answer one question: is this person right for my job. Your work shows the skill. Your words show the fit.

So the page should say who you work with, what a project with you looks like, and the next step. A strong portfolio is narrow. It speaks to one kind of client and makes that client feel seen.

Describing your craft in one line

Start with your name and your craft. Add the kind of work you want more of, and where you work. Finish with the one way you want people to reach you.

In our example, Nadia Okafor is a made-up wedding photographer in Austin. Her sentence names small weddings. So the draft speaks to couples who want a small day. It also gives an email for booking a call, which becomes the main button on the page.

If you have a style, name it. Words like warm, candid, moody or bright shape the colours and the tone of the text.

Your work goes in after the draft

The draft has none of your real photos, designs or writing. It holds places for them, with labelled sample text where your facts are missing.

Choose six to ten pieces you would happily repeat. Cut anything that no longer matches the work you want. A client judges you by your weakest piece, so fewer and better wins.

Mistakes that lose freelance clients

A list of every skill you have makes you look like everyone else. Pick the two or three that bring your best jobs.

Hiding how you work makes clients nervous. Say how a project starts, how long it takes, and what they get at the end.

Burying your email on a separate page costs replies. Put it on the first screen and again at the bottom. Ask for changes in plain words, like "move the contact button higher", until it reads right.

Write about the client, not just yourself

Clients care less about your gear or your degree than about their own day, brand or launch. Write each project as a short story about them.

Say what they needed, what you made, and what changed after. Three lines per piece is plenty. Use first names only if the client agreed.

Add one plain line about price, such as where most projects start, if you are happy to share it. Clients who cannot afford you then skip the call, and the ones who write are ready.

Keep the about part short and warm. One photo of you and four lines beat a long life story.