Presentation by Louellen S. Coker about creating professional portfolios at the October 8-9, 2010 Professional Conference on Communication in Nashville held by the Middle Tennessee Community of the Society for Technical Communication.

1. Professional Presence
Real Projects = Real Results
Louellen S. Coker
Founder, Chief Content Coach
Content Solutions

2. Goals of your presence
• Intrigue
• Call to Action
• Showcase
• Get a Gig

3. Define your brand
• Who are you?
• What qualifications and experience do
you have?
• Do you seem trustworthy and reliable?
• Are you looking for work?
• Can I see some examples of previous
work?

4. Forms of portfolios
• Hard copy
• Archive
• Presentation
• Sample
• Elevator
• Coffee Shop

5. Choose your platform

6. Best practices
• Keep it simple
• Keep it organized
• Keep it succinct
• Keep it optimized
• Keep it targeted
• Keep it consistent

7. Tools
• Software for capturing/creating pieces
• Open source
• Office products
• Adobe Suite products
• Jing (www.jingproject.com)
• Wireframing/Organization tools
• Mindmeister for mind-mapping (www.mindmeister.com)
• Jumpstart for wireframing (www.jumpstart.com)
• Toodledo for project management (www.toodledo.com)
• Basecamp for project management
(www.basecamphq.com)

8. Tools, cont.
• Online services
• www.elance.com
• www.qfolio.com
• www.wordpress.org

9. Case Study: .pdf

10. Case Study: HTML & .pdf

11. Case Study: Joomla! Site

12. Case Study: Social Media

13. Choose Your Projects
• Know thy goal
• Know thy audience
• Know thy work
• Know thy capabilities

14. What projects to
include?
• Pieces that speak for themselves
• Pieces that translate across platforms
• Pieces that show skills
• Pieces that show interpersonal skills
• Piece that is the product of a difficult
situation

15. Case Study: Content
Solutions

16. Self analysis
• Goal: to showcase Content Solutions’
skills and capabilities in a way that
resonates with businesses that need
and appreciate our expertise
• Audience: anyone who needs writing,
design, or web services, concentrating
on small-medium size businesses

17. Self analysis
• Work: Leverage proprietary and work
done for existing clients
• Capabilities: CMS plugins (both Joomla!
and Wordpress), social media
limitations, software, samples,
bandwidth, budget

18. Leverage proprietary
information
• GET PERMISSION
• Limit to outward facing information
• Redact if necessary
• Collect as you go

19. Leverage proprietary information

20. Leverage your work
• Select pieces that are relevant to varied
audiences
• Reflect about process
• Blog in deeper detail about process
• Show level of professionalism

21. Put your best foot forward when
presenting your projects
• Optimize your files
• Print = CMYK 300 dpi (.tif, .psd, .eps)
• Web = RGB 72 dpi (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif)
• Error FREE
• Professional
• Relevant
• Appropriate

22. Leverage your work

23. Pull it all together
• Determine your presentation venues
• Organize your works in a logical
manner
• Compile your artifacts in a consistent
manner

24. Protect intellectual property
• Watermark
• Limit scope
• Low resolution
• Remove “copy & paste” ability
• Put your footprint in the metadata
• Copyright

25. Protect yourself
• NEVER leave your portfolio behind
• Make copies of portions of the artifacts in
your presentation portfolio
• Organize your artifacts in a less expensive
presentation folder
• Consider including a thumb drive with soft
copies of included and/or larger works
• Maintain consistency when possible

26. Rinse, Lather, Repeat!

27. Questions?
Louellen S. Coker
Website: www.yourcontentsolutions.com
Blogs: www.yourcontentnotes.com | www.yourcontentportfolio.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/contentsolutions
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/louellencoker
Twitter: @ContentNotes

28. Louellen S. Coker
Website: www.yourcontentsolutions.com
Blogs: www.yourcontentnotes.com | www.yourcontentportfolio.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/contentsolutions
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/louellencoker
Twitter: @ContentNotes

29. Blogroll
• www.freelanceswitch.com
• www.yourcontentnotes.com
• www.yourcontentportfolio.com
• www.stc-dfw.org

30. References
• Barrett, H. Electronicportfolios.org -
http://www.electronicportfolios.org/
distance/index.html

31. Works consulted
• Reece, G. & Keeton, L. (2004). Digital
Portfolios: How to Market Your Skills!
Proceedings of the 51st Annual
Conference of the Society for Technical
Communication.
• University of Washington, Educational
Partnerships & Learning Technologies/
Catalyst Project - http://
catalyst.washington.edu/home.html

32. Works consulted
• Ball State University Career Center,
http://www.bsu.edu/students/careers/
documents/portfoli/.
• Baron, Cynthia L. (2004). Designing a
Digital Portfolio. New Riders: Boston.
• Campbell, Dorothy M, et. al. (1997).
How to Develop a Professional Portfolio.
Allyn and Bacon: Boston, MD.

33. Works consulted
• Counseling & Career Coaching. The George Brown
Toronto City College. (2005) Creating a
Professional Portfolio. http://www.gbrownc.on.ca/
saffairs/stusucc/portfolio.html.
• Educational Partnerships & Learning Technologies/
•
Catalyst Project. http://catalyst.washington.edu/
•
home.html.
• Portfolios, Advice and Resources, http://
www.coroflot.com/public/portfolio_tips.asp.
University of Washington.