26 January 2009 | Freelancing Tips | Guest Blogger

At oDesk, as in the real world, it’s hard to get hired without experience – and hard to get experience without getting hired. The best solution at oDesk is to use your portfolio to show off your skills.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t own the work we’ve done. In the forum discussions, you’ll find people lamenting that the work they’ve done is confidential, and can’t be used in the portfolio. I know just what they mean: I write for hire, and much of what I’ve written is out there with someone else’s name on it. Whether it’s the blog owner who likes to let it be assumed that the CEO of the company writes his own blog, or the web developer who rightly gets credit for the website she paid me to write, I can’t show my stuff.

The way around this obstacle is to create something new. Even if you can use your work-for-hire, you may still want to create something new to show your talents in ways your commissioned projects don’t. There are two very easy ways to get your work online where you can show it off to prospective buyers:

1. Give it away. There are lots of people out there who will be happy to publish your good-quality work. I wrote a lesson plan for Valentine’s Day which was just posted at HotChalk, a PR6 domain for teachers. It also went out at the top of their email newsletter, which goes to thousands of teachers. They’ve given me an odd headline, as you can see in the screenshot, but I can live with that.

I do a lot of blogging for the educational market, so this is a good showcase for my skills. It’s also a good showcase for my linkbuilding – the client whose link I placed there is happy about that quality link and the newsletter, you can bet. I have links to other websites in the post as well, and if none of them were my clients, I’d still have evidence that I can place quality links.  I’ve done guest blogs at SEOMoz.org, one of the most respected SEO forums. This is evidence of my skill at writing and at SEO.

Web designers can submit sites in exactly the same way that writers can submit articles. In addition to the places linked here, you can easily find sites that will accept free content by searching with the terms “submit article” or “submit site.” The higher the PageRank the better, so submit to the most respected sites you can, but don’t hesitate if you’re a beginner – everyone can find a good match somewhere.

2. Grow your own. If you’d rather have more control over your content, or you don’t want to wait for the submission process, you can create your own website for free. Make a free blog if you’re a writer, at Blogger, Wordpress, Weebly, or any of the many other platforms. If you’re a designer, use ZeroCatch or Bravenet to show off your skills. A word to the wise – when I look at designers’ work, I always look at their code. Just as writers should always proofread their work before publishing it, designers should make sure their stuff looks good under the hood as well as on the screen.

Don’t make buyers take your word for your skills.  Show off your products, so they can choose you with confidence.

Rebecca Haden is a freelance copywriter on oDesk.  If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, email stories@odesk.com.