It’s time to rethink your portfolio.

It’s not often that we have the opportunity to hear what potential hires really think about our portfolio…or in my case, demos, which are a voice actor’s portfolio. Further, updating your portfolio to demonstrate your major body of work can be a big job. Just when you think you sound amazing, new trends emerge, you quickly look outdated, or worse, you realize what you put up isn’t expressed as professionally as you thought.

That happened to me today.

A producer I highly respect said he was eagerly promoting my voice services within his company, but that he wasn’t completely comfortable about sharing my demos because they didn’t represent my talent. (I’m paraphrasing, of course, and it’s quite possible he said something totally different, while I heard – “Your demos are kinda crappy. I can’t suggest your services.”)

I reviewed the demos I have up, which are actually not “demos”, but actual work that I’ve posted as examples within different categories. While I can see some major flaws, it is challenging to be subjective about our own work.

In my last blog post, When You Don’t Know What To Do, I provided you with a list of questions to set you well on your way to running a well-oiled machine. One of the major tasks is to look at your portfolio. Today, we’ll address it. Like any artist or freelancer, this is where we display our wares.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. How is your portfolio looking? Or alternatively…
2. How is your demo page looking and sounding?
3. Do your examples need updating?
4. Is there too much on the page?
5. Is the layout outdated?
6. Do the links function properly?
7. Is it time to delete anything?
8. Time to add more recent work?
9. Should you have a pro look at your page and provide feedback?
10. Should you pay to have it all revamped or do-it-yourself?

As freelancers and small business owners who try to “do it all”, we’re not that good at everything, quite frankly. There is something to be said about displaying the absolute best you have and making what you have look the absolute best.