Your portfolio is the bridge to potential clients built by your own creativeness & personality. You might ask: What should I do so others can see I’m creative & original? Well, initially you should start with an About Me page which highlights your brand, make you stand out of a crowd.
There are lots of thing you can put in an About Me page:
- A self-portrait so people can get a closer step of knowing who the “Real” you are. A picture of you personalizes your site and provides you a chance to express your free mind. You can take the below creative picture for example:
Normally people use a headshot picture of themselves in About Me page, but Bjarni makes others impressed with his over headshot picture.
- Aspect of your work/your professional skills: this is a vital content about you and it helps visitors know if they find the right person having right skills for their request. Your job is a designer, a developer, a photographer? Say it out loud. Don’t forget to add your personality too. For instance, your sense of humor, like Janis – a web designer in the picture below:
- Your status: putting a catching-attention line about your current status with a short CTA (call-to-action) button such as Contact me now will effectively encourage potential clients to shoot you a message. Knowing that you’re available right now and being motivated to connect with you, the possibility to draw promising clients is pushed up much higher.
- Social Media Pages: Social pages are important for an online business. They are your chance to expand your audience within social community.
That’s all for an About Me page on your portfolio website. Keep in mind that don’t pour in too much information so visitors can quickly glimpse at your page and still be impressed enough to remember who you are. Make careful choice of colors, visual effects, images & your page’s presentation so that all information and illustration are well-connected. They must be synchronized and supported each other.
2. Let your work shine
When an About page tells your visitors directly who you are and what you do, your portfolio section will tell your ability via your practical works. Visitors review your previous work and take this as the most important factor to decide to hire you or not.
There are some rules in creating a killer portfolio.
Let your works speak for you but choose the best to say the best. You must create a strong portfolio. Choose among your previous projects the best ones to present, for example, showing a design you completed for a big company or a big client. Don’t list everything you’ve ever done in your portfolio. It’s not necessary, and there’re surely some works that are not as perfect as others – which may turn down your visitors.
Diego Blanco has worked for many famous clients. And in his portfolio, he presented one of his work with celebrity Avril Lavigne (design for her Black Star perfume)
Flexible display. Statistics by Google showed that 67% of users are more likely to purchase a product or service from a mobile-friendly site. Therefore, consider the option of making your portfolio site mobile-friendly. You can reach larger audience with advantage of having a responsive site. Plus, try to present the projects you’ve finished which are also responsive if you have any.
Additionally, use high quality images for introducing your previous work. Remember to link thumbnails to a full-size preview of your design so your portfolio doesn’t make visitors’ eyes pop out. It also helps to display your full potential.
Testimonials. Got some compliments from your previous clients? Why not install a plugin for Feedback and display them on your site? Nothing is more convincing to your potential clients that you actually did great work than your previous client’s comments. Save a place on your site to display them as one of your strong credits.
3. Review your portfolio before publishing
After putting all your effort to your portfolio site, I know you just want to show it off right away. Everything is so perfect, right? But slow down a little and check carefully for whole site for grammar/spelling mistakes (it’s a pain to see typing mistake in such a good site – your site will receive a huge minus). Your site can be even better when you ask someone – maybe your friends, your colleagues – to see your site. They can give you their evaluation such as your call-to-actions catch their attention or not, or they have difficulty displaying your images… Comments from the outsiders are extremely precious because sometimes there’re holes you may not notice from your point of view.
Done reviewing, what is next? Congratulations! You are ready to say Hello to the world now.
Wish you great success with your passionate job.
*Do you have your portfolio site? What makes it stand out of the designer’s ocean? Let’s discuss and share with us your feedback by commenting below!
