How important is a freelance portfolio anyway?

And what should *always* be included?

Author

Diana Kelly Levey
June 25, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

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I get this question all the time online from my audience, in emails, and from freelance coaching clients. It’s some version of:

Do I need a website for my freelance business?

Yes.

Does it have to be expensive, fancy, and look like you hired professionals to do it?

No.

I once met a woman who was laid off from her job, and she told me she wanted to become a freelancer, but she was STUCK trying to figure out her business name for the website.

So, she didn’t put up anything. And since she didn’t have a website live, she felt weird sending freelance article pitches, so she wasn’t doing that either.

She wasn’t working as a freelancer. She wasn’t working at all because the fear kept her stagnant.

Decision fatigue led to feelings of overwhelm, so she did nothing.

She had no money coming in and was running out of her severance money.

I told her to get something up.

Clients wouldn’t care about the name of her website, her cute logo, or her tagline.

They want to see her work. They want to see testimonials or brands they know, or some example of writing so they know what they can expect if they hire this freelancer.

Get something up. It doesn’t have to be 10 pages. I suggest at a minimum the following:

A Landing page. It should say your name, include a photo of you, what you do for clients and include how to contact you.

A Contact Me page. Or some form or place where the client can find out how to get in touch with you to hire you. (One of my website pet peeves is when someone doesn’t tell you how to get in contact with them.)

A Portfolio. This could include a few samples. It should include your BEST samples but it could also simply include any samples you’ve written. Ideally, you’re featuring the type of work you’d like to get hired for. Don’t show a bunch of copywriting samples of ads if you’re trying to land magazine writing clients.

Which brings me to: If you don’t have samples, create them. I know I wrote that in a way that sounds easier than it is but you need to show potential clients SOMETHING.

Would you go to a new hairstylist before a wedding who just launched their new business and doesn’t have client reviews or any photos or examples of what they’ve done in the past?

No. You wouldn’t. (Or if you did, I commend you for being a brave soul.)

Last thing I’ll leave you with. Don’t get hung up on this.

The title of your website.

Your brand colors.

The fact that you don’t have professional photos done.

Yes, those factors are important — and you need a website name but it can be YOUR name — but don’t let these decisions keep you frozen.

Get something up. Have a friend give you feedback. Hit publish.

 I’ll walk you through how to create a freelance writer portfolio website, push it live in a few hours AND send that first pitch.

Read more about why you need a website and what to include in it. 👇

Thank you for reading.

Diana

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