I can’t stop thinking about this ideas of using your blog as your portfolio. I’ve run it by some folks – and the excitement and possibilities are building. One of my clients whom I’m consulting as she begins her work as a freelancer realized that with this idea she could save thousands of dollars, and weeks of site-build time, she could start tonight. And she will.
Here, so far, is the best part. As Gem mentioned, why wait until the project is done? Why not document the entire project, Case Study-like on your blog? If you go back to my post on case studies, you’ll see that one of the benefits of this platform is that you’re allowing people to see your process, what it will be like to work with you and how good you are on the job. It’s transparency at its best, right?
That said, you have to have the right attitude because this calls for a fair amount of reveal. You can’t really hide the little man behind the curtain.
To use your blog to display case studies, here’s what you need to do:
- Pick a project that is not top secret, of course.
- Clear it with the client. Make sure you explain to them that this is free publicity that will last forever.
- Choose a project that you feel uber-confident about. (you do want to look good here, afterall)
- If snafus or issues arise, use them to your advantage. We are all learning here, and part of your skill is being able to handle whatever comes along and make it work in light of the fact that things have a habit of getting messy.
- Depending on your industry, use print, audio, images, even video to capture the process.
- Engage your audience. Give them a voice, literally. If you have 3 taglines you’re choosing from, why not let the people help you decide. Use the internet as a testing ground – so many people do it wisely and to their benefit.
- Share your pride, enthusiasm and talent. Never under-estimate or under-promote your hard work or yourself.
Final piece for now (why do I have the feeling that I’ll have more to say on this topic?): I’m a WordPress girl. And Brian Clark over at Copyblogger, with his partner, Chris Pearson, have developed a stunning, productive, dare I say, brilliant WordPress theme called Thesis. Just one of the zillions of components it features? A customizable, rotating image box at the top of the page – the perfect showcase for your blog portfolio images, the perfect showcase. Don’t be surprised if my blog has a whole new look sometime soon. Click here to try Thesis for yourself.