Help on How to Create an eLearning Portfolio

Word Press would be a good place to build your portfolio.

Hey Dale

Five years of freelancing has taught me that you can be a generalist or you can be highly specialised in what you offer. You may even offer services which are a combo of the two, as you find work comes and goes. Personally, I started out being a generalist. But, every formula I ever used to identify what my hourly rate should be, confirmed that being a generalist wasn't going to allow me to support myself...and be competitive in the global marketplace. I had lots of work on, but I was still going broke and working way too many hours for the kind of lifestyle I wanted. 

After struggling in this way for about 8 mths, I decided to focus on services and products which are already budgeted for by the companies I work with. This was critical to my transition and has proven itself in that I have never had to look for work or wait for a company to budget funds for what I provide. I now produce 3 or 4 types of fairly specialized products (some of which use AP Studio). I have a very short client list (maybe 10 or 12 clients), which includes GE and Amazon. I turn away work all the time and have the luxury of occassionally firing clients, if they get too tough to handle. You can do that when what you offer is in demand.

Dale, expect your core service offering to change over time, as you find your niche. Be flexible. Don't be afraid to charge for your services either. I bill $100/hr for what I develop. My nearest competitor, for the kind of work I do, is $150/hr. What's kind of funny is that I've delevoped a good relationship with my nearest competitor. He now handles some of my overflow work at a reduced rate, when I'm on vacation, traveling, etc. Now, I'll drop my hourly rate to $75, if the project is either large (i.e. someone's sending me a lot of hours), the project calls for other non-specialized services, or I feel I had a learning curve on some tasks and they took me longer than I think they should've. Sometimes I'll even 'split rate' a project too, charging my full rate for the specialized services, $75 for other services, and even $30 if I'm just doing something like compressing files (meaning, I can continue to work on another workstation, while I'm keeping an eye on things). Note: I rarely discuss hourly rates with clients. Looking back, I estimate I don't land approx. 70% of the new client inquiries where I discuss hourly rates. Conversely, my guess is that I do land 70% of new clients, when I only mention the final cost of the project (no hourly rate). The bottom line is, compete on the merits of what you offer, not on your hourly rate. And, remember, you can always find a reason to charge a client less. It's much harder to raise your rates with an existing client.

When it comes to building a portfolio for prospective clients, my advice is to include examples of the sort of content you want to develop (not necessarily simply reflecting what you have developed). Be solution-oriented for your prospective clients…or use your portfolio as an opportunity to explain your services. For instance, if you're building AP content, have your AP examples explain the features and benefits the finished AP product offers. The client gets to see your skills at work and learn about the solution offered.

Anyway, I've been long-winded. Sorry. I hope some of it's useful.