A step-by-step workbook for building your portfolio from scratch — including how to research your ideal client, plan and schedule your pieces, and publish them online.
The Portfolio Process
Starting your portfolio can be daunting. But don't worry, we'll take it step-by-step – together.
We'll make a plan and a schedule so that you don't have to do it all in one sitting. Plan to spend about 1-2 hours per week for the next 3-6 weeks working on your portfolio.
Here's a high-level checklist of how we'll tackle your portfolio:
1️⃣ Step 1: Research
2️⃣ Step 2: Plan
3️⃣ Step 3: Write
4️⃣ Step 4: Publish
1️⃣ Research
Let's learn how to write for the specific services you want to offer. This is something that you'll be doing for the rest of your career in some way.
So we'll go over how to learn – that way, you'll be able to learn any type of writing in the future. Budget about 4 hours for this, but know that you'll probably do some form of this again in the future.
There’s a whole chapter of learning resources in the Freelance Resource Library & you can go back and watch replays of our Pop Club Workshops in the Workshop Replays folder to learn the services you picked out in the services workbook.
Then, we'll get to know your ideal client so that you can create a portfolio that speaks directly to them. This section of the workbook will take you about 2-4 hours.
Find Examples
The best way to start learning how to write is from examples! When I first started, I looked to the people and companies that were already doing what I wanted to do and copied it. Then, I put my own spin on it.
🆓 Free resources
Creators on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Youtube, Google, etc. have great free resources you can use. Try Copy Posse, Val Geisler, Hubspot, Coschedule, Really Good Emails, Power Writing, and Ahrefs.
🤩 Role Models
Check out what your ideal clients are already doing! Read their blog, sign up for their email list, or look at the copywriting already on their website or app.
🥳 Pop Club!
Join Pop Club to get access to our workshop replays, the freelance resource library (with all our services how-to’s), and our chat where you can see other members’ portfolios!
Ideal Client Research
Bring up the Find Your Niche workbook and take a look at what you wrote in the Follow The Money section.
Pick just 1 idea from that page and find a real brand, company, or organization in that space that you might want to write for.
Here, I'll go over what to research. On the next page, you'll fill in a worksheet while you research.
🍦 What do they offer?
What products or services do they offer? How do they market the offerings (what channels are they using and how is their copy written)? What types of writing would they need?
🦉 Who is their offer for?
This essentially boils down to "Who is their target audience?" Try to create a character that would buy from them – get specific and don't worry about excluding some aspect of their offerings in this avatar.
💥 What do you notice about their brand?
What vibes are you getting from their brand? What do you notice about the style of writing on their website? What words do they use over and over to describe their target audience, their company, and their product?
Ideal Client Research
Bring up the Find Your Niche workbook and take a look at what you wrote in the Follow The Money worksheet.
Pick just 1 idea from that page and find a real brand, company, or organization in that space that you might want to write for.
What do they offer?
Who buys their offers?
What do you notice about their brand?
2️⃣ Plan
Now that you know who you're writing for, it's time to make a plan for your portfolio.
In this chapter we're going to:
Your First Client
Okay, so they're fictitious – who cares?! Let's make up a fake client that you can center your portfolio around. Act like this is your first real client! Get excited about it!! Basically, just take a real potential client you might want to work for and answer these questions based on them.
Describe your “first client”:
Who is their target audience?
Describe one person that this "client" would want to market to:
Your Services
In the Services Workbook, you should have chosen 1-3 services you want to offer. Make sure you know which services you plan to offer before moving on.
Schedule It
Putting your portfolio work on your schedule will help you make sure you get it done. List the services you want to offer and how long you think it will take you to complete a portfolio piece for that service.
You need to write a minimum of 2 pieces per service to complete your portfolio.
Use the boxes below to plan your portfolio pieces. Use one page for each piece. If you plan on offering more than 1 service, do this process for each service.
Use the boxes below to plan your portfolio pieces. Use one page for each piece. If you plan on offering more than 1 service, do this process for each service.
Use the boxes below to plan your portfolio pieces. Use one page for each piece. If you plan on offering more than 1 service, do this process for each service.
Use the boxes below to plan your portfolio pieces. Use one page for each piece. If you plan on offering more than 1 service, do this process for each service.
3️⃣ Write
It's time to write your portfolio pieces! Head to Google Docs and get started!
You can find step-by-step guides, templates, examples, and much more for SEO content writing, SEO strategy, email copywriting, website copywriting and other common freelance digital marketing services in the Freelance Resource Library – join Pop Club to get access.
Follow your schedule, write 1/4 or 1/2 of a portfolio piece per day until the piece is done!
4️⃣ Publish
Now, lets publish your portfolio online so you can share it with your potential clients! Here’s how:
- Choose what platform you want to publish your portfolio on.
- Choose how to format your pieces.
- Edit so they're ready for potential clients to see!
- Publish them on your new portfolio site!
Freelance Portfolio Platforms
There are SO MANY ways you can publish your portfolio online there are free ones, affordable ones, and expensive ones. Here are a few options.
Free Portfolio Options
My FAVORITE free portfolio platform is this one you’re on right now – Notion! You can easily build a portfolio in Notion and publish it as a site.
Here are some other options (my top picks are in blue!):
- Canva (theres a template for this inside the FRL too!)
- Google Sites (free if you buy a domain name through Google! - have really good SEO too)
- Clippings.me
- Contently
- LinkedIn (as articles)
- Medium (this is a great way to get attention too!)
- Journo
- Clippings.me
- Carrd
- Contra
- Wordpress (the free version)
- ReadyMag
Affordable Portfolio Options
- Google Sites (free if you buy a domain name through Google! - have really good SEO too)
- The Writer's Residence
- Copyfolio
- Authory
- Journo
- Squarespace
- Showit
Formatting your portfolio
There are 3 ways you can format your portfolio pieces. The way you choose to format your portfolio will depend on the type of service you choose to offer.
1️⃣ Straight Up
You can publish your portfolio pieces straight up! Just the copy (and maybe a free stock photo or Canva graphic).
- blog posts
- social media copy
- email newsletters
2️⃣ Case Study
A case study allows you to show who you wrote the copy for, why you chose to write it the way you did, and how it came out. Often, case studies include mock ups too.
- website copywriting
- email copywriting
- product descriptions
- social media copy
- UX writing
3️⃣ Mock Up
If you chose a copywriting services like product descriptions, website copy, UX copy, or email copy, you can pop them into a website, app, or email template (on a free trial) to make them look pretty.
- website copywriting
- email copywriting
- product descriptions
- social media copy
- UX writing
Portfolio Publishing Checklist
Before you publish your work on the portfolio platform of your choosing, make sure it's polished and ready to go.
Even if you've already edited, edit one more time to ensure there are no errors.
Once you get it into the platform, check the formatting so it looks right. Every platform looks a bit different.
Edit your piece for grammar, tone, and style. I like to use Grammarly for this! You can also pop it into Hemingway Editor for clarity.
Select a format and pop your work into a template. Supplement with stock photos or graphics. Make it look nice but don't spend too much time on this.
If you're using mock ups, you can take screenshots of the full page using Go Full Page to add them as PNGs to your portfolio. Then, publish your work on your desired platform!
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