{"id":20501,"date":"2018-12-10T14:37:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T19:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=20501"},"modified":"2018-12-10T14:37:49","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T19:37:49","slug":"video-portfolio-freelance-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/video-portfolio-freelance-business\/","title":{"rendered":"All Freelancers Need a Video Portfolio, Even You"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you’re a freelancer, your portfolio is one of your most important marketing tools<\/a>. A good portfolio demonstrates your skill and expertise in your field, provides social proof<\/a> by highlighting the clients you’ve worked with, and helps you get found online by prospective clients. <\/span><\/p>\n

To get the most <\/span>marketing mileage from your portfolio<\/span>, you need to make it as easy as possible for your prospects to see it. These days, that means creating a video version of your online or print portfolio.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you really need a video version of your portfolio? If you work in a visual industry-architecture, design, entertainment, or any of the performing or fine arts, then the answer is a definite yes. <\/span><\/p>\n

But freelancers in any industry can benefit from a video presentation of their work. Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"create<\/a><\/p>\n

Is a Basic Online Portfolio No Longer Enough?<\/h2>\n

If your site traffic, inquiries, or conversions are flat or dropping, a video portfolio may help correct the problem, especially if your competitors have video portfolios or if your target clients are <\/span>millennials, the age group that watches the most online videos<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even if your traffic and conversions are in good shape and your competitors don’t have videos (yet), you may want to start producing a video portfolio now anyway, because video is not going away, especially on social media. By 2021, Cisco projects that<\/span> 80% of all web traffic will be video<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because video is the medium many people prefer, it’s a good idea to give your prospects the option to watch rather than read or click through a gallery, especially because it’s so much easier to watch videos on a phone than it is to navigate through links and slides. <\/span><\/p>\n

If your work is complex or nuanced, video can be a great way to show and tell, through narration or captions (<\/span>most Facebook users watch videos with the sound muted<\/span><\/a>), so prospects understand everything that goes into your work. <\/span><\/p>\n

Adding a video portfolio may also help your site perform better in search results, especially if your portfolio is text-heavy (for instance, if you’re a writer or researcher). Google was already factoring video into search rankings before <\/span>this month’s integration of Lens into searches <\/span><\/a>to find and deliver more visual results.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Convert Your Freelance Portfolio Into Video<\/h2>\n

There are many ways to create your video portfolio, based on the portfolio materials you already have, your time, and your budget. <\/span><\/p>\n

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1. Still images plus background music<\/h3>\n

You can repurpose high-resolution still images of your work to create a slide-show style video. This is how the architecture school faculty at the KMITL college in Thailand produced their <\/span>architectural project portfolio:<\/span><\/p>\n