Use Your Blog As Your Portfolio

With advancing pressure across industries worldwide, there's never a better time to utilise the ease of blogs to showcase your and your work. Not only is it easy to use, the use of blogs is so fluid that you can tailor your site to exactly what you need. 

Using a blog as your portfolio is also extremely beneficial for your own learning and developing your skill set that can "wow" potential employees or clients.

Don't worry - you don't need to go and spend a fortune on fancy blogs and designed templates, with lots of zig zag widgets and plugins. In fact, you can simply create or develop your own personal blog. Even if blogs may seem a little unprofessional at times, with a little TLC, some patient and dedicated time, there's no reason why it can't be professional.

So we've come up with the huge benefits of using a blog as your portfolio, and how to do it! 

Your blog portfolio can focus on growth and showcase

We're all familiar with the classic portfolio template; a resume, or a CV. These are designed to showcase your best work, they gather your best ideas and display them for potential employers or clients. But what if you had the room on a CV to explain a particular piece of work, writing, a photo or design? If you had room on your CV, would you? That's exactly why blogs are beneficial for use as your portfolio. They give you room to grow your work, hence the growth part! 

In fact the standard layout of any blogging platform, be it Blogger or Wordpress, orders your posts in chronological order, giving your viewers the chance to go back in time and physically see improvements, developing ideas and your new skills implemented.

Plus, labelling and categorising posts on blogging platforms allows you to show both your growth and your showcase in one site. Blogs are versatile enough so that you have many options and ways to share and display your ideas. 

Your blog gives room for "traditional" literacy...

Adding to the above, having a blog as your portfolio allows you room to not only showcase your great ideas, but offers you the chance to communicate those great ideas. And in this day and age, we need the ability to do both. Plus, practice makes perfect; the more you right about your work or your ideas, the better you become at doing them. The more photos you take for your portfolio blog, the better you may become... And back to point one, you can show your audience your growth! Think of it as storytelling, you're creating your own personalised portfolio. 

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...It also gives room for other "literacies"!

There are so many different ways to share your voice nowadays, but using a blog as your portfolio gives you room to make use of every single one of them, thus providing different opportunities to share your voice. 

Using a blog as your portfolio will always be hugely beneficial, because no matter what new medium or method of sharing or social media is created that you may want to use, you will also be able to embed that into your blog some. 

Consequently, your blog allows you to write, take photographs, make a video, a podcast, a link-up, a slideshare or presentation all at the same time, in one place that is organised. No matter what you do choose to use, it allows you to find your strengths and how you feel best communicating your ideas and work to your readers. 

You can do 'behind the scenes'...

Just released a fantastic video about animal rights, or a podcast about fashion on your blog? Great! Now use your blog some more and release a fun 'behind the scenes' post and give your readers extra insight as to what you do and how you do it. It's additional content for your site, and everyone loves some more details about a topic they enjoy reading. It gives added value to your original piece of work, too.

...Or you could 'explain the making of'?

If you wish to do the above, but keep it purely professional, why not create a 'the making of' post? This will, as above, give added value to your original piece of work. Showcase the steps in creating your masterpiece for all to see. For example, if you've just released your own album, short film or animation, you can share with your readers the technology and specifications you used, any applications that you used and even the turnaround. 

You never know, you might help someone else learn a thing or too, and as a result your voice will become a respected one in your industry.

Your blog can help you develop an audience
Every time you share a post on a blog, understandably, you attract more and more people to come and look at it. It might not be thousands of people, but even if it's just a handful, it's still meaningful. 

Your audience can be grown with the help of social media sites, email subscriptions or RSS feeds. If you're going to take the time to create your portfolio, it's important to create a way in which people will come and see it. 

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Your blog can help you develop your own voice

Writing about what you do will not only help you to share your thoughts, your ideas and your work, but it will also help you to dive deeper into your industry, your speciality and the world of what you want to learn about. 

By establishing your own voice, again, it will help you to potentially become a respected voice in your industry. Or you may offer a unique angle, which potential employers may find attractive. 

You can use your blog's comments as testimonials

It's simple... Give your readers or your clients the opportunity to write amazing things about you and your work. Of course, comments are best when moderated so make sure you check what's being posted.