Free Web Advice: Can I Publish My Copywriting/Design Work on My Site?

Pre-P.S. Did I mention that I run a DIY Website Workshop? In 7 weeks, you could have a strategic, beautiful new website launched.

If you’re a regular around here, you already know that a couple months ago, I asked people to send me their most pressing web, design, code, and marketing questions and started answering them via video.

Today, I’m back with another of those videos. This time tackling the question: Can I share my copywriting/design work on my website?

Can I Share My Copywriting/Design Work on My Website?

Transcript: Hey everybody, this is Gigi Griffis of Gigigriffis.com and the DIY Website Workshop. As promised, I’ve been answering marketing and web questions and I’m going to tackle another in this video right now.

This question comes from Angela and she says “How do you best present samples of emails, sales pages, and things that were technically public but only to a list? I tend to send them in a sample document since they seem proprietary, but perhaps I’m being too cautious.”

So, as I understand it, Angela is a freelancer who wants to have a portfolio to show prospective clients her work without stepping on the toes of past clients who she has done the work for.

So, number one: it’s okay to share your work in a portfolio. Unless the client has specifically asked you not to and you’ve signed a contact to that effect, clients understand that you’re going to have a portfolio – that you’re going to have your site – that showcases your work.

And it’s really unlikely that any of their clients are going to come over and be like “Hey! Somebody in house didn’t write this?!?!” It’s not going to be a big deal to anyone, so it’s unlikely to ever be an issue.

So, if you want to present things in your portfolio, in general that’s a fine thing to do.

Now, if the client has specifically asked you not to or you’ve signed a contract to that effect, that’s a different story…but if the client hasn’t specifically said anything, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d showcase my best work prominently, because you do want to bring in clients not just from word of mouth, not just from back and forth emails and sending them portfolios, but from the website itself.

Now, in the case that the client has asked you not to share it publicly, you could create a PDF or a folder with screenshots of graphics and you could send those things to prospects individually. I do have one client like this – where I’m not allowed to disclose my work publicly. But the client doesn’t mind if I go to another prospective client with it. I just have to be more cautious and not put that up on my portfolio.

And if there’s a specific client you’re nervous about? You can always ask them. Say, “hey, I’d like to showcase you on my portfolio because you’re some of the best work I think I’ve done. I’m really proud of it. I’m really proud of what you guys are doing. Is that okay?”

And that’s how I’d frame it. Frame it in a positive light. And that’s going to help you to get that “Oh, yes! We’re you’re best work? Go us! We’d love to be showcased!”

So that’s what I’d say to that. If you haven’t specifically agreed not to, you’re free to showcase your work. If you have agreed not to or you’re nervous about a client, it’s all about taking care of people: you just have to make sure if you’re nervous about it, reach out to somebody. It’s probably not as big a deal as you think it is.

Hopefully that answers your question. Again, this is Gigi Griffis of the DIY Website Workshop. If you’re someone watching this video and you know you need a website and you’re hoping to get some help with that, I’ve just launched a program that will take you through seven weeks of content that will take you from strategy to launch of your website. You don’t need design skills. You don’t need code skills. I’ll walk you through all of it.