portfolio building

I’ve touched on this before, but these past few weeks i’ve been meaning to put together a portfolio section on the site. It’s important for a number of reasons;

  • it helps people get to know me
  • it shows off my work rate
  • it shows off my talents
  • it builds confidence if people ever deal with me
  • it acts as a motivator for me

Resume Overload
Creative Commons License photo credit: MichaelMarlatt

That last point is the most important to me. If i’m being honest, it’s what triggered off charitybypass.com, my involvement with irishgolfer.ie, the ‘coming soon but i haven’t actually started anything on it yet’ wifimapper.com and several other projects.

I’m determined to build up an online portfolio most people will get lost in. I don’t like the idea of selling myself… i don’t think someone should have to ‘prove’ themselves in interviews or on the spot tasks, i do agree that pressure situations are good for judging people’s charachter.

However someone’s work, over a very long period of time, i feel, speaks for itself. If i get a logo designed or look at a developer i don’t give a damn about what language they speak, how they come across in emails etc… i just look at their portfolio, look at feedback and base my decision on that alone.

I’m not really a logo designer, i’m not really a developer either so why create a portfolio if i’m not aiming it at ‘clients’? Well, for all the above reasons. Several people now have contacted me directly through this blog in relation to working on projects getting sites started. They’re not clients as such.. i just call them contacts.

So it’s pretty clear that people are looking through the blog, looking at all the posts and then making a decision to contact me if they like what they see. That’s actually a lot of work – there are over 1300 posts on this blog now. So for the reason above, plus the fact that i think it helps sum me and my work up better, i think an online portfolio is not ‘just another’ feature to add to the site, it’s an essential one if i’m to progress online and continue to gain contacts, friends and expand my portfolio.

I have most of the text complete for this new portfolio section… now i just have to add some classy images and figure out the best way to organize it and add it to the site. Should be up and running within a couple of weeks though.

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