Freelance 101: How to build your portfolio and get started
So, you’ve decided to become a freelancer. What’s the next step? Maybe you finished a coding bootcamp and want practical experience through freelancing; maybe you’re picking up some extra work on the side; or maybe you want to live your best life as a digital nomad.
So, how to begin? How do you go from wanting to become a freelancer to booking your first client?
The first question any client will ask (before the dreaded ‘how much will this cost?’) is about your portfolio. Your portfolio is the first introduction to who you are as a developer. It’s worth much more than a resume, because it actually shows that you can code, or at least put a site together.
Your portfolio, is above all, your signature. Are you a developer who loves minimal designs? Are bright colors your thing? Have you done with with F&B, non-profits, fashion brands? This is a chance to show off both your skill and your personality. For example, I have a pastel pink portfolio site, because I wanted to embrace my own aesthetic (and the Pantone 2016 color of the year).
4 Ways to Kick-Start Your Portfolio.
1. Make a personal site.
Yes, you may not have projects yet, but a personal site can be that first project. It’s the first introduction to who you are and your approach as a developer. Your first iteration can be a template, a simple HTML/CSS build, or something you put together with the JAM stack, but the bottom line is: you need a portfolio site. Just putting your own touch on the visual identity, the colors, the flow of the web page is enough to land a first client or two.
2. Find a friend who is good at photography and make them a site for free.
Your photographer and artist friends are your hidden weapons. The hard truth is that you can create a site that’s just a grid or a masonry gallery and people will associate the photographs on the site with your work. Simple, beautiful images with a simple, beautiful design are a great thing to add to your portfolio. Also, if you still have a wordpress blog circa 2009, it’s time to dust it up and create a custom design. I did that when I first put together a portfolio site and it was a placeholder item until I was able to replace it with a client site.
3. Code something simple or something ridiculous, just for fun.
You’ve got time and you could always use some practice. So why not make a one page website that does one useful thing and does it really well — like track whether it’s Chicken Tenders Day at Yale, or whether Jonah Hill is skinny or fat (current status: swole patrol). I just listened to an episode of Wes Bos’s Syntax podcast and he mentioned that to learn something and learn it well, you need to make projects whose content you actually enjoy. If you’re a home brewer—make a site related to that. If you’re a Yogi — create a studio locator in your neighborhood.
4. Take an online course and build on the final project
Last month, I finished a React for Beginners course, because well, I’m a React.js beginner and the course was centered around creating a “catch of the day” app. If you’re just starting out, these quick courses are a great way to dig deeper into a subject and the final projects are often visually impressive and can be elaborated on to create something unique. Sure, you’re still new to React, but now you can show off a marketable skill and a site to your portfolio.
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