Paper portfolios are becoming obsolete. The easiest and fastest way to send clients and editors a portfolio of your best work is via email, or on a CD-R, using PDF files. That is, using the ubiquitous Adobe Acrobat format, which runs on any computer platform. PDF allows you to format your portfolios precisely the way you want them. You can include scanned newspaper clippings, scanned brochures, Microsoft Word documents, photos, and images.
Handy as PDF files are however, creating your PDFs has been a challenge because Adobe Acrobat is expensive software if you only need to create one PDF a week. Bargain software to the rescue.
Check out:
PDF995 — Free software that allows you to create PDF documents as easily as hitting the "print" key from within any application.
PDF ONLINE — A free online service to create PDFs.
Electronic portfolios are a wonderful marketing tool. One tip: never send anyone a PDF attachment without asking them first. It's much better to burn your e-portfolios onto CD-Rs and slip them into the postal mail. Of course, you can also deliver them in person --- take a couple of CDs with you, to use as a leave-behind after a meeting.