Freelance copywriters: this is how you show off your portfolio
5 SECOND SUMMARY
- Authory is a great way for freelancers to show off their content writing and copywriting portfolio.
- It’s easy to add new articles as they are published, so you can keep all your work in one place.
- Forwarding a professional portfolio link to potential clients is much better than a messy list of URLs in an email.
- It costs $8/month at the time of writing – a small price to pay for collating your entire body of work in one central repository.
Authory is hands down the easiest way to share your work with potential clients.
Around a month ago a Facebook ad caught my attention. It was spruiking an app called Authory, a portfolio management tool designed primarily for journalists to collate all their work in one place.
Now, this sounds great if you’re a journo that actually has a byline, but what about ghostwriters and content writers like myself? It would be awesome to collate – and more importantly, back up – all my work in one place.
Full disclosure: I’m an organisation freak and have everything I’ve ever written in a neat and tidy Google Docs filing system. But of course, the live, published articles on client sites are the ‘proof’ that I’m a legit content marketer with years of writing under my belt.
And yet, those live articles could be moved, taken down or changed at any moment by my clients.
How can I prove I’ve written on a wide variety of topics, over the course of quite a few years? Authory seemed like the ideal solution to hold on to what I’d written, regardless of the direction my clients might choose to take in the months and years to come.
Giving new clients an idea of your skills as a freelance copywriter
This is precisely the peace of mind that potential new clients need to feel when considering working with me.
I want them to see a large body of work (‘she’s not a fly-by-nighter, tick’), a wide variety of topics and sources (‘she’s adaptable and can write about all kinds of things, tick’) and links to the live articles (‘other businesses trust her, tick’).
Authory is the perfect solution because it ticks all these boxes for me, and for my potential clients! This week alone I’ve sent my Authory link to two contacts in the Superpath community, and one person that contacted me directly by email.
Ok, so what actually *is* Authory?
Built for users who want to follow their favourite journalists across scattered publications, Authory is an easy to use portfolio page builder that allows fans of your writing to stay informed when you publish new articles across disparate platforms. With an in-built newsletter function, you can publish new work and have your followers receive a notification directly, without having to follow an entire publication or news site.
That’s the journo workflow: how about for content marketers?
This platform really comes into its own for people like myself who primarily ghostwrite and rarely have their own byline. Laying claim to my own articles, no matter which generic user is listed on the clients blog (gotta love that ‘posted by marketing’ author!), allows me to retain some ownership after each piece has been passed on to the client.
Plus, if those clients take down or redirect the article at a later date, Authory automatically backs up a copy so it’s saved in its beautiful published form forever.
For my use case, I don’t have a need for the newsletter function at this point, but have been actively using my Authory link to show off my portfolio to others.
Before & after
Previously, when a potential client contacted me and asked to see a few samples of my work, I’d have no choice but to send them a few scrappy links in an email.
Now I’m able to direct them to a well-presented site that collates all my writing in one spot. I look more professional, more experienced, and can more easily justify my prices. I’ve even added my Authory link directly to my portfolio webpage here.
Pro tip: an awesome feature is being able to allocate articles to collections – for me, that includes construction, HVAC, landscaping and more. This means I can choose to send a collection link to a prospective client too, so they can see articles from their own industry, creating a much more relevant experience.
Why I love Authory as a copywriting portfolio
- It’s super easy and intuitive to use
- It gives you control over the important things without being too mired in detail
- It’s cheap ($8 per month – an incredibly small price to pay for the peace of mind of having your work saved for eternity)
- It gives behind-the-scenes content marketers ownership and credit for articles that are often published under a client’s name
- It makes me look organised, professional and experienced… which I am, but now I can actually prove it!
- Founder Eric is open and helpful, providing lots of personalised support
So, content marketers, get yourself on Authory and keep hold of all those articles you’ve carefully crafted for your clients! Get your invite here.
Yes, I’m writing this in exchange for a free annual subscription… but as you can gather I am over the moon with this app and would recommend it regardless!