My Portfolio Site is now Re-branded! (with Personal Branding Tips)

Happy Valentines day, everyone! Love is in the air…aaaaah!

Today, I have planned this day for both EJ and I. We will be staying home and we will be having a “fix the nursery” date tonight. We both decided to stay in and fix Zeeka’s room. I’m so excited to show you our finished “product”.

Anyway, this post is not about fixing Zeeka’s nursery but about celebrating because I have crossed out another number in my Life List. I actually announced it already in facebook yesterday. I got to cross out number 63 in my life list.

“63. Have a really nice portfolio site. Rebrand GingerArboleda.com.”

Since January, Patricia from FancyGirlDesigns.com and I have been working towards creating an awesome portfolio site for moi. Although since December 2012, I have already been thinking of what I wanted shown in my site. I’m a firm believer in personal branding. Everything that you do or say or communicate (via actions, clothes, etc.) should be in line with how you want others to “brand” you, especially if you have a business. We know that we all hate to be branded, but the fact is, people do and they associate YOU with your business.

A communication channel where you can strengthen your personal brand is through a portfolio site. A good portfolio site that I have seen is obviously, one of my idol’s: MarieForleo.com Her site was actually my inspiration for GingerArboleda.com. I wanted it to be professional and yet still fun and interesting. Another one that I love is KimberlyWilson.com=. I loved that her site was dainty and cute, but still very simple and well thought out.

For those thinking of creating their own portfolio site for themselves, here are some tips that I would like to share with you:

Tip #1: Have your main audience in mind when you create your portfolio site.

Know how they would react to reading and visiting your site. As you can see, my site is really geared towards females, because I know, a lot of my clients or potential clients would be females who want to become entrepreneurs or to moms who want to attend workshops or even to women yuppies who want to have their make up done.

Always keep your market in mind when creating your portfolio site. It will help you decide on the text, design, colors, etc. that you will use.

Tip #2: Keep the user interface simple.
Please, please please do not complicate your site. The simpler the things are in each page, the better. A page does not have to have complicated buttons, sliders, etc. Think of each page before you finalize the design. Think of how your potential client would navigate through your site. Will he/she be able to find what he/she is looking for without any hassle? I decided to keep just one layer of tabs to keep things simple.

Tip #3: Wow them with content.
Make sure that your content is clear and make sure that the visitor understands what services are you offering. Use language that they can relate to. Make all your messages clear and it also helps to be conversational and engaging. It’s good to place the price of the services that you offer if the service is a standard service. If it’s a customized service, then place a contact me page where the potential client can contact you and ask for a quotation.

Tip #4: Wow them with pictures
Pictures are very important, especially if you are offering a product or service that can be appreciated visually (ex. tangible product, make up services, styling, etc.) Place pictures of your best work. Make sure that pictures are high resolution pictures, to give your potential clients a clear picture of your work.

Tip #5: Have in mind that you still need to market your services even with a great portfolio.
Guys, even with a great portfolio, you still have to go out into the world and market your portfolio. It is not an ‘end’ but a tool for getting more clients and answering more ‘needs’ of your market. Having a great portfolio is a good start, but you have to work at marketing your services and products.

Hope you enjoyed my tips for personal branding today and creating a portfolio. Hope you can check out my portfolio at GingerArboleda.com.

Again, happy valentines day! 🙂

Love you all!