Week 3 Exploration: Digging Deeper With Diigo

The purpose of this article is to familiarize myself with creative ways to expand my knowledge of web design and all aspects involved with.

The first article I chose was How to promote yourself without looking like a jerk. My selection of this article was simply based off the title alone. Yet what I found inside the article was amazing as well. The three points I took away were actually three of the main facts the author highlighted in bold. They are as follows...

1. Understanding the true value of self promotion.
2. Focus on facts
3. Demonstrate your expertise with stories.

#1 addresses how to effectively convey what you do and your self worth in a very limited text so your colleagues and managers understand what you bring to a potential company. #2 talks about how you title yourself. For instance if you call yourself a "expert" on a potential subject you need to have proof on why you have acquired that title. #3 helped me understand that If I am to make a point or claim about my brand I need to have a relevant, fact driving story to back it up. All three of these facts will be very instrumental in building my skeleton as sort of a checklist when creating.

The second article I chose was My Portfolio Sucked, Yours Might Too. This article goes in to great detail about how to create a successful and impactful first impression on those who are viewing my portfolio. What I took away from the article is as follows

1. Impress the viewer within the first 10 seconds visually.
2. Do not use thumbnails
3. Make sure all contact information is easy to find and updated.

These three are pretty self explanatory. I really enjoyed how the author broke down the common mistakes by percentage numbers. I found it very interesting that 32% of all portfolios he viewed did not contain a phone number. When building my portfolio I will make sure to have a very accessible and up to date contact info.

The third article I found was 7 Questions for Determining Your Hourly Freelancing Rate. This article I thought was the most impactful for a very honest reason. As I am building my portfolio skeleton I am not only essentially auditioning for a potential corporate employer but also smaller scale direct employees. If my portfolio has information on how much my direct service would cost this could also lead to corporate employment understanding my wants in terms of annual salary. The three points I took away from the article are as follows

1. What kind of expenses do I have?
2. What are other freelancers in my field of expertise charging?
3. What am I comfortable charging?

In essence these three are essentially in the scope. I think if my portfolio contains these important questions it will give the viewer of my portfolio a good understanding of the professional expertise they can be expecting. 

After using the diigo site to find the three article as instructed, I was too also find an article on my own for consideration for further use. The article I found is titled 6 Steps to Creating a Knockout Online Portfolio. The main thing this article hits on is use eye catching images and always showcase work that is in line with what you want to do in the future. I think most portfolios tend to play it safe and after reading this article I will most certainly try to visually test the limits to keep the interest of potential viewers.