By W Allen
1. If you visit your local office supplies store or an art supply shop you can find a standard balck portfolio case for around $20 to $30 dollars. You will find them in varios sizes but you don't need a large one. A medium sized one should be sufficient.
2.You will need to purchzse additional portfolio starter pages so you won't run out. The portfolio starter pages are protective plastic that goes over your work and over a black page. It's always a good idea to have extra pages on hand because you never know when you may want to quickly add an additional page.
3. Always include your resume as the very first page of your portfilio. It's true that you will be sending your resume first to potential clients or employers but you still want to include it on your first page. There may be many prospects aside from yourself who are vying for the position so you want to make sure that they know who you are when they see your portfolio.
4. This is very important---> Make sure you pick out your very best work for your portfolio!!! If you don't have many samples to show you can use text on paper as a writing sample.
Choose the work that best shows your copywriting talent, even if it is simple text on a piece of paper.
If you don't have samples then don't worry. There are many times when copywriters have a great project they've finished but the project is still in production and hasn't gone to print so they don't have the finished product to show off. That's ok. If this is the case then simply use the copy. If the person hiring you has any sense at all they won't be looking at the design (they're not hiring you for that!) they will be reading the copy to see if it flows, if it sells.
This is also true for beginning copywriters. The beginning freelance copywriter who has no samples at all to showcase can create SPEC ADS. A SPEC AD is an ad that you create on your own. You can take an ad for a major company you see in a magazine or a newspaper and rewrite it using your own style, label it a SPEC AD, and those who are looking over your portfolio will know that you are showcasing your abilities.
5. In your portfolio create divider sections to divide your work into the proper categories. Let's say that you have brochure copy, print ads, newsletter copy, and a radio script. You would want to create divider sections to make your work stand out and not seem jumbled and unorganized.
For this example you would want to create a divider page with a heading for Brochures, one for Newsletter copy, one for Print Ads, and finally one for Radio Script.
And always remember when working on anything from your portfolio to your website, copywriting is a very creative field so do not be afraid to get creative with your own marketing.
Try something interesting. Create a collage from pictures cut out of magazines. Anything to differentiate your work from others. You want your work to stand out and your want your creativity and talent to shine through. This will greatly increase your chances of landing good clients.
6. Don't be afraid to inlcude your text ads in your portfolio. You can dress up these ads and make them every bit as appealing as a full-color ad.
If you have a page of text and it's not in it's final post production form simply entitle the top of the page "In Production". If you have written a SPEC AD you would want to write at the top of the page "SPEC AD."
Just remember when putting together your portfolio or any other form of self marketing - potential clients or employers are reading your material to evaluate your ability to write. They are not hiring you as a graphic designer so the design of your work is irrelevant. Don't waste too much time trying to create copy that looks finalized. Just make sure the copy you do have is your best work. Work that you are proud of and shows how you can really sell a product.
Even veteran copywriters include plain text copy in their portfolio. It's the writing that counts in copywriting.
Always use professional quality paper to dress up your plain text ads. This is the same paper you would use to put a resume on.
If you really want your text ad to stand out buy a decorative background paper and offset the two by about an inch. A little extra effort can go a long way!
7. Make sure you don't glue your brochure down to the portfolio page and then stash it behind the protective plastic. Cut into the portfolio page so that the potential client or employer who is looking at your portfolio can have easy access to your copy. This means you may have a brochure flap sticking out of the protective plastic but your prospect can easily see your work.
Your work is protected by your portfolio pages. That is what the portfolio is designed to do. The last thing you want is a potential client trying to take a closer look so they start trying to feel the protective plastic back to get their hands on your copy.
8. Always try to adapt your portfolio's pages to a client or employer's specific needs. If you know in advance that the company you're submitting your portfolio too exclusively handles direct mail then you should include in your portfolio as many direct mail samples as you can. An assortment of many different types of copy won't be as effective as a specifically targeted group of your best copy aimed at whatever your prospet company mainly creates.
Your offline portfolio should be constantly changing to meet the needs of those prospects you are trying to work for.
9. Ok. Now you're in the employer's or potential client's office because he or she looked at your resume and called you in for an interview. Don't get too excited at this point. You could be just one of many, many other copywriter's vying for the same job. Make sure to put some extra copies of your resume into the back flap of your portfolio case. This is handy in case your potential client or employer has lost yours or would like an extra copy.
10. Remember this...
No matter what compliment a potential employer or client gives you about your resume - never leave it with them. EVER! Even if they promise with all their hart that nothing bad will happen to it. The reason you don't ever, ever want to leave your portfolio behind is that once your portfolio is out of your hands, you have no idea how it's going to be handled. They can easily be damaged, lost, or used as a coffee cup coaster.
The best way to handle a situation if a potential client loves your portfolio and wants to keep it is to say that you are available for a second appointment. You can also say that it would be a sinch to fax your samples over to them as soon as you get home. This way everyone gets what they want.
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