I’m a writer. I write every day for corporate brands and blogs, but when it comes to writing about myself I often run out of words.

This is exactly what happened when I was updating my freelancer portfolio website yesterday. On Wanderful World, I feel as free as a bird to write whatever the heck I want. But there… there I have to be smart, professional, and showcase my skills without blabbering on for too long.

There I have to make myself stand out from the crowd. Encourage someone to take a chance on me. Make a potential client see that I’m the pefect writer for them.

And, whilst in my head I know my skills, I know why a brand should hire me, and I know I can do my job well, I found it uncharacteristically difficult to put this down in writing.

Ironic, huh?

I’ve written so many “about” and “services” pages for brands, but when it comes to the brand I know the best in the world I seize up. Does this happen to you? After posting about my experience on Facebook and Instagram, I realised that I’m not the only one who suffers with the inability to write about themselves and their services.

But whilst I was trying to figure out how I could please this type of client or that type of brand with my words, I had a tiny bit of an epiphany and it changed the way I thought about my freelancer portfolio site.

It meant I deleted pretty much all the content from my freelancer portfolio website and started again from scratch with one thing on my mind.

That thing? My ideal client.

Make Your Freelancer Portfolio Website Speak to Your Ideal Client

Forget this type of client or that type of brand. Think about your dream client, whether it’s a huge tour operator, a popular publication, or a blog you admire. Now forget everything else.

If you’re anything like me you’re a massive people pleaser. I want people to like me, but this often works to our detriment, especially when it comes to selling ourselves and finding our niche. Being a people pleaser is like having your fingers in all the pies, being a jack of all trades but an expert in none. It’s rarely a good thing.

As soon as you hone down your scope and your potential audience you start to become the go-to person in that diagonal. The smaller your circle becomes, the more you will attract the right clients.

My old freelancer portfolio website was a bit of a mess. It was all over the shop. I wanted to include everyone because I thought it would mean I would get more work. Surely if I’m open to a wider reach of clients I’ll have more opportunities, right?

Wrong.

Think about it this way. Say you’re hypothetically looking for a writer to make your blog awesome, would you hire someone who has clippings in every niche and no definitive skill set, or would you hire someone who has tonnes of case studies in your niche (or the niche you want to become a part of) and has worked predominantly with clients just like you?

Easy decision, right?

Then why is it so hard to apply this to our own work and our own freelancer portfolio website?

Firstly, I think it’s because we’re scared. We don’t want to alienate any clients because, you know, how do we even know who our ideal client is until they come a’knocking?

The truth is, we don’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start moulding our services to fit them before they even arrive. It’s like we’re baking their favourite cake in anticipation. Yes, it might be a disgusting Turkish delight flavoured cake (is that even a thing) that no one else would touch with a barge pole, but for them? For them it’s the holy grail. We want them to feel welcome and that we care enough to know what their favourite cake is.

Okay, okay, so I need to design my site for one client? How do I do that?

Start With the Basics

Make it easily navigable. The biggest problem I have with a lot of sites is that they bury the important information way down in the depths of nowhere. You want clients to be able to easily find your name, your previous work, and a place to contact you (seriously, you’d be amazed at how many a freelancer portfolio website doesn’t have a contact page).

Think about it from your client’s perspective – what will they want to know? There is a specific purchase route that many customers (or client) takes. They want to know:

• What you offer
• Why they should pick you
• How they can get in touch

The worst thing you can do is make them have to go digging for this information. Serve it up to them on a plate. Like the Turkish delight cake.

Spend Time Brainstorming Your Ideal Client

I’m sure you have a vague idea of your favourite client in your head. I know I sure do. But vague isn’t enough when it comes to your freelancer portfolio website. You need to get specific and you need to get specific fast.

Take some time to write down everything you can think of about your ideal client. What are their goals for their business? What’s their message? Who is their ideal audience? Why do they need your services? Can you imagine your conversations with them? Try to, and then emanate this style on your site.

When you’ve got a razor-sharp idea of your client start giving them what they want. I mean, you know them better than they do right? That’s EXCATLY why they’ll hire you. You want to show that you have the same values as them, similar ideas, and a connected vision for the future.

It’s like you were made to be together (little did they know you’ve been baking cakes for them whilst they weren’t looking).

Keep Things Consistent

Everything you write on your freelancer portfolio website should reflect everything you’ve learnt about your ideal client. The tone of voice should match theirs and your words should speak to them as if they were written especially for them (ahem…. They were, right?).

Creating a freelancer portfolio website isn’t the easiest thing in the world. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s up there with one of the hardest parts of creating a business. Especially when writing is your business.

If you can manage to hone down your vision and keep a mental image of your ideal client in mind whilst working on your site, I guarantee you’ll have a much better chance of capturing them in the end – because that’s what you want isn’t it? To work with your ideal client?

I’d LOVE to see your freelancer portfolio website, so please feel free to leave a link to it in the comments below. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you think about my new site!