I used to publish a portfolio of copywriting work on my website. At the time it seemed like an obvious thing to do. Most copywriters seem to have a ‘portfolio’ of some description, where you can browse past projects they’ve worked on.
Let me tell you, publishing a portfolio is a complete waste of time. What happens in reality is this:
- Believing he (or she) is buying from a menu of options, an unwitting prospect will download your portfolio.
- He or she will read 10% of the portfolio, at most.
- When pressed for an opinion, he or she will respond: “well, it wasn’t quite the voice we were looking for. Sorry.”
In my head, I’m like: #$@&%*!
Newsflash: of course it wasn’t in the voice you were looking for. It wasn’t your project! It wasn’t your audience, your voice or your words.
When I’m writing for a client, most of the words come from the client. Anything you ever say to me can and probably will end up in an email! My role really is more of a word assembler, or narrative engineer.
You need a narrative engineer on your team who deeply understands your business, and the value you provide.
