5 Tips on How to Create an Effective Online Portfolio

Came across a You Tube video a tablet demo where The  Wonderfactory collaborated with Times Inc on how best to use this piece of gadget called the SI Tablet. (love this product).  What got me interested is the way they presented  and how they expressed what they feel makes them excel in their field.  Simple, concise and straight to the point.

5 things we do exceptionally well (excerpt from Wonderfactory)

In the paragraphs below you’ll read about many of our services. If you’re short on time, just know that, with all due respect and humility, we do five things better than anyone.

1. Manage humongous, complicated site launches

If you face one, you know how stressful it is. Before we opened The Wonderfactory, we handled the relaunch of America Online, probably the largest site redesign and launch in the history of the Internet. Since then we’ve done WebMD.com, MarthaStewart.com, Newsweek.com, NationalGeographic.com, TheWashingtonPost.com, and TheHuffingtonPost.com. Relax. We’re not saying they’re easy, but they’re definitely not as difficult as most companies make them out to be.

2. Killer Design

You no longer have to look like Yahoo or Amazon to be successful on the Web. If you depend on design to differentiate yourself from the masses of other brands out there, we are the shop for you. Just check out our portfolio. If you don’t like what you see, stop reading here.

3. Create addictive brand experiences

Your average visitor probably stops by a couple of times each month and views a couple of pages per visit. You want them back at least once a day, and you want them immersed in ten or fifteen pages. Good. So do we.

4. Invent new advertising models and sources of revenue

We worked on the first banner that ever appeared on the Web, and it had a 44% click through rate. It’s been all down hill since then. Banners eat it. You know it, we know it, and most importantly, consumers know it. You can do better. Let us help.

5. Laugh – We get paid to think of things that have never been done. If that’s not fun, what is?

The above copy is a good way of writing your about page. The best way for you to get noticed with so many online portfolio is to make sure you:
1.  Do Good work – by doing good exceptional work that you can showcase and truly be proud of,  people will not only be interested in knowing more about you, but you will have the benefit of word of mouth advertising or recommendation.  Most people now value recommendations, more than just the ad they read or watch.

2.  Make it Simple and Concise – Time may sometimes be the problem of so many people who go online to check information.  If your material doesn’t capture your audience, then you loose them.  Or if your material will take so long for a person to understand, again you might end up having them check out another site with the same service that you offer.

3.   Include Case Studies – Make them know you understand them –  By citing examples on how your company has solved or came through a difficult situation and please include statistics, how the campaign was received, etc.  Here consumers will further understand what you do and that you are one of the best companies to help them.

4.  Give your Portfolio a Human side – Include a short bio of who you and those working with you.  This gives the consumer a quick look at each individual achievements and expertise.

5.  Killer design – Again, you want to capture the audience, having a killer design will definitely give your  online portfolio a well deserved 2nd look  by our ever busy consumers.  Clutter is one major barrier in the online world.  Be unique, compelling, but make sure as well that you balance your content with your design.

Hope the tips will help you when creating your online portfolio.

Just to illustrate point #1 here is a collaboration between The Wonderfactory and Time, Inc. is an excellent example of how tablets will enable the creation of innovative, addictive experiences by publishers, media companies, and advertisers. The video now has 246,879 views (time of post) and was released only last Dec 2.

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