#WednesdayWisdom: How content writers can build a strong portfolio?

Tips & Tricks that every content writer should know to build a strong portfolio

Not everybody can be a writer. Writing engaging stories, meeting deadlines and impressing the clients is not an easy job. The industry is booming, there are so many budding writers and content writers.  In that case, it becomes really important to sound unique and original. Running hands on the keyboard for 8 hours a day needs a lot of ideas, creativity, knowledge and passion.  But on the other hand, writing is one of the loving professions. In the era of the digital world, there is a lot of demand for content writers in the market. A lot of writers are required in various offices for different write-ups.  To get more work and to make good money, you need to work on your writing skills. Apart from it, one thing that needs special attention is your portfolio.

People who want to make a  career into content writing always think about how they can make a better portfolio to impress HRs or employers. Experienced people get confused about how much to put in the portfolio and freshers confuse on what to put in the portfolio.   Here is a complete guide to creating a strong portfolio

There are three basic reasons why writers want to create portfolios

1. To get more work: Freelance writers who have some extra time tend to earn more money.
2. To sell your work:   To show samples of your work to the editor/publisher/agent/brand in order to get attention.
3. To build an online presence:  This is where your personal brand kicks in.

We are going to give an in-depth guide to creating a strong portfolio for freshers and experienced both.

College Students

If you are a college student and want to become a content writer but don’t know how? Don’t worry we are here to solve your queries. There are many writing-professional who say, the more you write better you become. Hemant Rajaura, a journalist at Hindustan says,  “If you want to become a good writer, start writing one page every day. You can write anything. It can be related to any topic you like or everything you experienced the whole day. After a month, compare your writing from day one, you will see a massive change in your vocabulary and writing style.”  Like it is said practice makes a person perfect, it doesn’t matter if you are not getting appreciation at an early stage but trust us, spending more time will yield good results. After a period of time, you will notice the improvement.  Start a blog and write whatever you like so that you can keep an official record of your write-ups.

Freshers

Writers who have graduated and are looking for jobs need something to show employer   Your portfolio needs to represent what you or what your personal brand wants? For example- If you want to market yourself as a finance writer you can explain complicated ideas in an engaging, interesting and fun way. To do this, you need to include your best write-ups that reflect your unique voice which is also straightforward.

Don’t fall into a trap of showing anything and everything. Show the best work because it works

Experienced

One popular myth of creating a portfolio is that we need to include everything we have written so far.  No one has a month to go through hundreds of pages of your lengthy portfolio. The reality is very different than the myth; you got to put your best work of your recent work. We won’t suggest you put things which are more than 2 years older. Your portfolio needs to lean and focused. It should represent your speciality/field as a writer.

Note: Compile a simple spreadsheet of your published articles whether it is a document, article, listing, ebook or other major things. Do include the links, date, titles, publication, and other relevant information of your own personal records.

Read More – #Wednesday Wisdom: How Bigbasket became a big shot in India?

Here are the write-ups which can be included in your portfolio:

–          A published article/editorial on the website

–          A published article/editorial in the newspaper

–          A blog post you are most passionate about

–          A profile on interesting person or place

–          A write-up for a community club, group, campus publication

–          A short-form piece of breaking news

–          An essay dissecting a controversial issue

–          A press release, newswire or other promotional material

–          A long-form reporting piece

–          A researched paper

–          A personal essay

–          Multi-media storytelling

–          Some kind of collaborative writing

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