How you can optimize your portfolio for enormous consumer conversions

After working intently with freelancers (and freelancing myself) for over a decade, there’s one factor almost all of us freelancers agree on:

You’ve actually obtained to rock your portfolio.

It’s a no brainer. Having a well-thought-out portfolio can result in insane quantities of recent shoppers, enjoyable collaborations, added consciousness about your companies, and different artistic alternatives.

Good freelancers deal with constructing a portfolio they will leverage to construct their enterprise.

Which is why I’m routinely shocked when a freelancer tells me their portfolio is “beneath development” or that it “wants an replace earlier than I ship it to any new potential shoppers.”

What? That’s insane.

After years of pulling my hair out, I noticed what’s inflicting the large drawback right here. I feel I’ve lastly discovered why so many people freelancers say we imagine within the significance of portfolios however we neglect them anyway.

Why is it?

As a result of most freelancers—sure, most likely you too; I do know I used to—take into consideration portfolios fully improper.

Your portfolio isn’t the place to indicate off your finest work and even your most up-to-date work. Its job is to not develop your Instagram following or weblog readers.

No, the singular job of your portfolio must be to herald extra shoppers. And that’s precisely the place I will help.

Why you shouldn’t skim this text

In case your portfolio already brings in a lot new enterprise each month that you just don’t know what to do, then you need to simply click on the again button proper now.

However when you’re uninterested in your portfolio being an afterthought, a waste of effort and time, a tragic wasteland of no guests and definitely no new enterprise, then keep tuned.

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Should you’re uninterested in looking down the most effective freelance jobs solely to have potential shoppers check out your portfolio and mysteriously decline your pitch, hold studying.

This text is for you.

Under, I’ll share with you the fundamentals of constructing (or rebuilding) a portfolio that’s optimized to transform website guests into paying shoppers and raving followers.

The techniques I’ll share are primarily based not solely on over 10 years working with freelancers in my group but additionally come from years working as an expert salesman and marketer—changing tens of 1000’s of shoppers for my employer or myself regularly.

I’ll share with you the highest errors I’ve seen after numerous freelance portfolio critiques so that you don’t fall into the identical widespread traps everybody else does.

Greater than something, I’ll enable you suppose extra like advertising professional—not the slimy, salesy, pushy variety, however as somebody who is aware of precisely what your buyer desires after which builds a model that speaks with ardour about fixing your shoppers’ greatest issues.

I’ll present you the best way to construct a portfolio that converts and the best way to measure and monitor your conversions utilizing Honeybook.

Once we’re executed, you’ll have every thing it’s essential to construct an portfolio optimized for enormous consumer conversions.

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Right here we go!

Altering how you consider your portfolio will change every thing

Earlier than we dive too deep into the tactical steps you need to take when constructing or rebuilding your freelance portfolio, you need to change how you consider your portfolio within the first place.

As I discussed beforehand: your portfolio is not a spot to indicate off your biggest work. It’s not a spot to brag about your awards. It’s not even a spot to focus on what your earlier shoppers have stated about you.

Positive all of these issues can be included—that’s not an issue.

Nevertheless it’s how you embrace them that makes all of the distinction.

Most freelancers make the large mistake of considering their portfolio is all about them.

You exhibit your finest work. You brag about your finest work. You submit the most effective testimonials about you.

Right here’s a little bit of a harsh newsflash although: Your portfolio is NOT about you.

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Your portfolio, in actuality, ought to have one job and one job solely: to carry you new shoppers.

There are many different locations to indicate off, increase your ego, and present your artistic course of (Instagram is implausible for this).

Each choice you make as we stroll via the portfolio-optimization course of beneath must be prefaced with this query:

Does this improve or lower the chance {that a} website customer will convert right into a paying consumer?

Solutions to questions on widespread portfolio errors (like including social media buttons—extra to return on that) would possibly take you without warning.

Discover I didn’t say you need to ask: Does this improve the chance my consumer will suppose I’m wonderful? Or Will this enhance my possibilities of getting extra weblog subscribers?

You have to be centered on only one factor: consumer conversions.

It’s not that together with testimonials, including social media buttons, beginning a weblog or that includes large pictures of your finest work are inherently unhealthy.

However they’re not inherently good, both. Simply because each different artistic in your trade contains them of their portfolio, doesn’t imply you need to too. Preserve studying the article and I’ll clarify precisely why.

With that, let’s get into the precise techniques of a high-converting portfolio website.

Begin with a minimal viable portfolio

To borrow a phrase from the world of startups, you need to intention to start out with a minimum-viable portfolio.

That’s to say: you need to try and construct a portfolio that requires a minimal quantity of labor whereas proving that, whenever you drive guests to it, it should convert to new shoppers.

On this planet of expertise improvement, a minimal viable product is (MVP) is a product with simply sufficient options to fulfill early prospects, and to supply suggestions for future product improvement.

On this planet of portfolios, a minimal viable portfolio (ahem…MVP) is a portfolio with simply sufficient content material to persuade early shoppers to rent you and to supply suggestions it’s essential to enhance your portfolio sooner or later.

The most important motive you need to try for an MVP is effectivity.

The very last thing you need to do (and sadly SO many freelancers do that) is waste months of brainstorming, accumulating initiatives, importing, creating an internet site, tweaking every thing….and tweaking it once more… all earlier than any potential shoppers have an opportunity to make use of it.

As a substitute, your objective must be to place up a easy but skilled website that goals to transform. Then, you’ll ship it to a pool of potential shoppers and see what occurs.

You’ll be taught much more by placing it out into the true world and gathering suggestions (each from particular person human beings and from information instruments like Google Analytics) than you ever will by creating for months on finish in a vacuum.

What does an MVP appear to be realistically?

Okay. All this concept is ok for dinner dialog. However what about really implementing this concept of a minimal viable portfolio in the true world?

Right here’s what it would appear to be for you:

Consolidated pages

As a substitute of constructing a big 10-page web site full with a sturdy “about me” web page, “contact us” web page, “our companies” web page and all the opposite conventional pages, take into account beginning with only one web page.

Sure. Just one.

There are fairly just a few benefits to consolidating your MVP on to at least one web page.

For starters, it means rather a lot much less work in your finish which suggests you get a portfolio out into the world extra rapidly and might begin bringing in potential shoppers sooner.

Extra importantly, it additionally means you may management the journey your website guests take as soon as they land in your homepage. As a substitute of crossing your fingers and hoping a website customer reads your about web page, then evaluations your initiatives, after which lastly clicks the contact web page, you may management precisely what the consumer sees and in what order.

To shine off the complete expertise, you may embrace a chatbox, telephone quantity, or contact type on the very finish to make them an important step: contacting you for rent.

Consolidated initiatives

Transferring from a multi-page portfolio to a one-page portfolio additionally means you’ll must consolidate the variety of initiatives you embrace in your website.

That is really an excellent factor.

In a minimal viable portfolio, you don’t want greater than 3-4 strong initiatives with sales-focused descriptions (extra on that beneath) with the intention to convert a website customer right into a consumer.

Consolidating your work forces you to solely select (not the finest, keep in mind, however) probably the most likely-to-convert initiatives in your archives.

If it doesn’t lend itself to convincing somebody to rent you, depart it out.

Use emotion to talk your consumer’s language

Having a minimal viable portfolio isn’t sufficient to persuade website guests to truly rent you, although.

You’ve obtained to make use of the proper sorts of phrases in your portfolio website.

Bear in mind, this website isn’t about you. Keep away from writing sentences like “I take life-changing images.” As a substitute, use phrases that put a possible consumer comfy and reply the query “is that this the proper freelancer for me?”

Listed here are just a few examples:

Talking about you (unhealthy):

1. I design model logos which are memorable and delightful.
2. I take footage that final a lifetime.
3. I write articles that rank within the Google prime 10.

Talking your consumer’s language (good):

1. Your prospects already love you—they need to love your model too.
2. Take pleasure in your once-in-a-lifetime day. Then keep in mind it without end with the proper images.
3. Your prospects are trying to find solutions you’ve gotten. Rank the place they will discover you.

Discover how the second spherical of headlines has nearly nothing to do with the freelancer in query and every thing to do with the consumer’s wants.

Within the phrases of Seth Godin, one of many biggest entrepreneurs of our time, “Folks don’t purchase items and companies. They purchase relations, tales, and magic.”

Once you’re centered on promoting your companies (pictures, design, writing, and so on.) it may be onerous to zoom out and establish what tales or magic would possibly inspire a website customer to rent you.

However the extra you may attraction to a shoppers’ feelings, the higher likelihood you’ve gotten of getting employed.

Think about just a few feelings your potential shoppers is perhaps feeling and the corresponding emotion you may attraction to by delivering your freelancing companies.

You’ll be able to (and may) mimic the examples above to your personal state of affairs. Begin by figuring out the the most important ache factors your potential shoppers are feeling.

Subsequent, establish the corresponding constructive emotion (proper column above) they’d wish to have their unfavourable emotion (left column above) changed with.

You must then use constructive feelings to direct the writing in your web site.

To cite one other renown salesman of our time, Zig Ziglar: “Folks don’t purchase for logical causes. They purchase for emotional causes.”

Your objective should change into to offer them the emotional reasoning they should rent you rapidly.

In fact, none of what we’ve mentioned to date is useful until you make it extraordinarily simple for shoppers to take motion in your website. Which is the place the ultimate part of this text is available in.

Make it extraordinarily simple for somebody to take the following step

Okay. You’ve constructed your minimal viable portfolio. You’ve added in emotion-driven copy to entice website guests to rent you (or not less than be taught extra about your companies).

However you’ll nonetheless not see the sorts of outcomes you need until you’re employed onerous to make it as simple as potential for somebody to take the following step towards hiring you.

So as to try this, listed below are just a few ideas:

Take away all dead-ends

One of many greatest killers of conversion charges (the speed at which website guests flip into paying shoppers) could very effectively be the dreaded “dead-end”.

This typically occurs when you’ve gotten photograph galleries or element pages in your portfolio that, whereas they do provide good particulars on every venture, they fail to maneuver your consumer to the following step of their journey to turning into a paying buyer.

When a consumer finds themselves on the finish of a website journey, the chance they’ll click on the “again” button, shut the window, or simply get annoyed improve exponentially.

To treatment that, keep in mind to first scale back your pages the place potential. As a reminder, this helps you management the client journey a bit extra.

As well as, guarantee each single web page in your website has a transparent call-to-action guiding the consumer towards hiring you. This could be a hyperlink (or a number of hyperlinks) which may look one thing like this:

Like what you see? Click on right here to see how we are able to seize your good day.

Alternately, you would possibly select extra direct choices on some pages like a big “rent me” or “contact me” button.

No matter you select, ensure it’s clear, apparent, and simple to take motion on. Don’t make individuals guess what would possibly occur in the event that they click on your hyperlink or button.

Take away all off-ramps

Along with eradicating all dead-ends out of your website, you need to take into account eradicating any off-ramps which may take a customer away out of your portfolio website.

And, sure, I imply ANY.

There are apparent off-ramps like banner advertisements or hyperlinks to research or articles.

I imagine the extra dangerous off-ramps are those which have change into so broadly used on portfolio websites across the net, we don’t suppose twice earlier than including them to our personal.

These embrace social media icons, hyperlinks to consumer work, or hyperlinks to your personal weblog.

Bear in mind approach again to the start of this text the place I inspired you to ask this query:

Does this improve or lower the chance {that a} website customer will convert right into a paying consumer?

Whereas rising an Instagram following or beginning a weblog will be useful in rising your enterprise, it ought to NOT be the first objective of your portfolio website.

Why?

When was the final time you had been on Instagram for instance? Websites like Instagram, Fb, or Pinterest are extremely engineered to KEEP customers on their website.

When you’ve despatched a possible consumer again to Instagram (as a substitute of deeper into your portfolio website) you would possibly as effectively say goodbye to their enterprise. The chances that they’ll ever make it again are fairly slim.

I like to recommend you take away any exterior hyperlinks and change them with calls-to-action resulting in your contact web page, telephone quantity, or chat field.

Don’t make individuals surprise the best way to contact you

The very last thing you need is for a possible consumer to be bought on hiring you solely to be annoyed with the dearth of ease in really contacting you.

You would possibly suppose that placing a “mailto:” hyperlink or just typing out your electronic mail tackle or telephone quantity is sufficient, however I like to recommend you’re taking it a step additional.

Your objective must be for shoppers to contact you in lower than 30 seconds and a pair of clicks or much less.

Meaning if a website customer is on the homepage (or any web page, actually) they need to be capable of click on as soon as to your contact web page (when you even have the pages separated out) after which yet one more time to ship their message.

Don’t make customers copy/paste your electronic mail tackle into their electronic mail consumer, write a topic line, and click on ship.

It might not sound like a whole lot of work, however constructing a profitable on-line portfolio means understanding how individuals use the Web and, the reality is, individuals are lazy. They’re busy. They need issues handed to them.

Should you select to go together with a contact type, make it easy. Don’t use your contact type to “filter out unhealthy shoppers” till you’re simply getting so many requests every day you can’t deal with it.

I like to recommend the next fields in your contact type:

Title: Let the consumer select first, final, or full. What issues right here is getting them to submit the shape.

E-mail tackle: This one’s fairly simple. Don’t strive belongings you’ve seen like “your finest electronic mail” or “your work electronic mail.” Let individuals put no matter they need right here with out considering an excessive amount of about it.

Message: Lastly, the message. You would possibly need to add a few prompts to assist customers know what to put in writing right here. If not, protecting it easy is ok too.

That’s it?

Yep. You don’t must know their finances but. You don’t must have them provide you with a topic line. You don’t must know far more about them.

The objective is to provoke the dialog and get the particular person’s contact data (finest=their electronic mail) so you may proceed in a dialogue and in the end e-book them as a consumer.

Bonus discipline: The one further discipline I’d advocate for later testing is perhaps the “how did you hear about me?” discipline, however I’d hold it optionally available so customers aren’t annoyed in the event that they don’t keep in mind. And if potential, set it to “I don’t keep in mind.”

To simplify all of this, strive utilizing the Honeybook contact type builder which lets you customise the shape to your liking. From there, you may embed the Honeybook contact type in your website it doesn’t matter what it’s constructed on.

The rationale I’m okay with including this bonus discipline is as a result of it should turn out to be useful throughout the ultimate suggestion I’ll make beneath: testing and adjusting.

Check, get suggestions, and regulate

Bear in mind, the objective of your MVP (minimal viable portfolio) is to get it out their rapidly, accumulate suggestions, and optimize it for enormous consumer conversions.

Listed here are just a few methods I like to recommend you check your new portfolio website:

Qualitative testing with mates, household, colleagues

Earlier than sending the brand new portfolio to any potential shoppers, your objective must be to take away any obtrusive errors or errors. This may be achieved utilizing mates, household, colleagues, and even present shoppers who you belief.

Keep away from asking obscure, open-ended questions like “what do you consider my new portfolio?” although, since that received’t enable you in any respect.

As a substitute, strive sitting them down at a pc and asking them to kind in your URL, go to the location and try to rent you.

Then watch.

Don’t discuss. Don’t assist them. Watch over their shoulder and simply observe.

You’re more likely to see spots the place many individuals get confused, hung-up, misplaced, annoyed, or distracted. This will provide you with a pleasant record of preliminary changes you may make.

Quantitative testing with Google Analytics

Although the one-on-one testing with individuals you belief will be extraordinarily insightful, getting extra guests to the location and watching the info on the back-end can provide a complete totally different grouping of realizations.

You would possibly need to use a free instrument like Google Analytics to see the place website guests are coming from, which pages they go to first, which pages they depart from, and the paths they take via your website to in the end contact you (or depart).

Lastly, when you’re constructing a one-page portfolio website, chances are you’ll need to take into account a heatmap instrument like HotJar, which can also be free. HotJar will present you ways far down the web page customers usually scroll, the place they click on, and the way they use your website.

You’re by no means executed testing

Should you’re severe about getting extra shoppers out of your on-line portfolio, right here’s the truth of it: you’re by no means executed testing.

I as soon as had somebody inform me they made small changes each week to their portfolio and it solely elevated their conversion charges by round 1% every time.

However over the course of 6—12 months, you may think about what an influence all of the testing and adjusting can have.

Growing your conversion fee by even simply 25% (which is modest and fully attainable) means if much less effort and price to herald new shoppers with the very same instrument.

As you apply, be taught, examine and check, you’ll get higher at it. You’ll begin to be taught what your shoppers are in search of, the place they’re getting caught and the best way to finest assist them.

Taking motion is the one highway to success

This text is over 3,500 phrases lengthy. Should you’ve made it this far, congratulations. You’re among the many few who’ve.

However studying three thousand phrases on a subject means nothing when you don’t take motion. So, to recap, listed below are the actions I like to recommend you’re taking within the coming months to optimize your portfolio website for enormous conversions:

• Retrain your mind to consider your portfolio as a gross sales instrument as a substitute of a elaborate place to indicate off work.
• Create a minimal viable portfolio that meets the essential wants and avoids too many bells and whistles (for now).
• Communicate your consumer’s language by figuring out feelings they’re feeling and how one can remedy their greatest ache factors.
• Make it extraordinarily simple for shoppers to rent you by addressing dead-ends, off-ramps, and distractions.
• Start testing your MVP as quickly as potential (it doesn’t must be good) and collect suggestions rapidly utilizing actual human beings and software program like Honeybook.

Final of all, some phrases of encouragement. Most of the freelancers I discuss to about portfolios declare they only don’t have the time or power (or they discover they’re too choosy about their very own model) to construct or rebuild their portfolio.

However you’ve obtained this.

Optimizing your portfolio will be one of the vital impactful issues you are able to do to your freelance enterprise.

I can’t wait to see what you provide you with.

This submit was initially printed on the Honeybook weblog right here. It has been republished right here with permission from the copyright holder.

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