Over the past few months, we’ve noticed a lot of portfolios created on Wix.  We’ve seen some remarkable work!  Since there are so many portfolios created every day, we’d like to share some tips to help you build the best site possible.  Here’s a list of the five most important assets to have on your professional portfolio.

1. Creative Work Examples

Lead your site with creative work examples.  You want this to be the main attraction.  Make sure that every item in your portfolio is a completed piece.  If you have a large body of work, you may want to select your best 8 to 12 pieces to display.

Make sure to include the details about each piece including client’s name, start date, complete date, project objectives and materials used.  If you are showcasing a website, make sure you include an active link.

2. Client History

To maximize your credibility, showcase a list of the clients you’ve worked with in the past.  Highlight the most recognizable ones.  If a client has given you a positive recommendation, ask for their permission and quote them on your site.

3. Services and Work Rates

Potential clients should be well aware of the services you offer.  Make sure they are presented in a clear and concise fashion.  If you offer several different services, group them together by category.

Be careful!  Listing work rates can either work for or against you.  If your business has fixed rates for creative services, it will be important to list them openly.  Otherwise, if your rates change on a project basis, take the opportunity to direct potential clients to contact you for a discussion on budget and scope.

4. Company Info

Here’s a chance to tell your story.  Keep it brief and exciting.  Proudly showcase the awards and accomplishments you’ve received throughout your career.  Display the professional organizations that you belong to.  This may also be a great place to post a resume for download.

Don’t forget to include your logo and/or portrait.

5. Contact Form

Your contact form should be a place where clients can contact you directly.  You may want to include other contact information including your business phone number and address.  Feel free to provide links to the rest of your web-universe including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

For more information about developing your portfolio, visit the Wix Learning Portal or visit these fantastic examples on Wix:

Fresh from the Studio: Featuring Mira German’s Original Photography

Our studio is a name to reckon when it comes to finding new photographers and giving them platform to show their talent to the world.  Their latest find is too good not to share with everybody!

Meet Mira German, a bank clerk during the day and a relentless, passionate photographer in her spare time. Mira’s website is currently under construction but you can get a peek to some of her work here and many of her photos will be available to download from the Editor starting today.

Mira German’s Photography:

Hi Mira and welcome. We’re truly happy to have you here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

- MG – Sure. I was born and raised in the former USSR, where I worked as professional photographer. I dabbed into almost any sort of photography you can imagine: actors and models, landscapes, artwork, doing gigs for publishing homes, I was truly out there, working as a busy bee up until 1989.

What happened in 1989?

- MG – Well, I decided to make Aliyah (immigrate) to Israel and that kind of turned the tables for me. I remember a conversation I had with a family relative, Lev Borodulin, a celebrated Russian photographer who had immigrated to Israel in the 70’s. I asked him how could I best go about establishing myself as a photographer in Israel, and I’ll never forget his reply: “go work at a bank” (laughing).

And you did.

- MG – Yes, I did. But I never stopped taking photos. I still pretty much live my life behind a lense. I have a friend from a local photography club, Shuki Sela, with whom I make adventure photo expeditions in Israel and overseas. Many of the photos I contributed to Wix are outputs of our joint travels. We spend most of our trips arguing and bickering about light and and angle but end up being happy with our outcomes.

What do you like taking pictures of most?

- MG – Fog is a real obsession with me. Which is funny, since Israel isn’t exactly a natural habitat for fog lovers. I have to travel to get my fog. I’ll never forget my first: I shot some incredible fog photos in upstate New York in 2005 and I haven’t been the same woman since. Fog simply fascinates me.

What are you up to today?

- MG – I’ve been recently in touch with Rechovot’s – my hometown – city hall and we’re putting together a photography workshop for underprivileged kids. My general world view is that a camera is a far more engaging and convincing tool of self-expression than a gun.

What do you dream of at night?

- MG – I dream of opening a photography academy here in Israel. We have photography schools here they don’t really provide budding artists with a platform and an opportunity to display their work. My vision is for an academy where talented photographers who aren’t supported by massive PR can still present their work and get the exposure they crave.

Thanks for being with us today. We wish you the best of luck and hope to see more of your work soon.

- MG – Thank you for uploading my photos to Wix. It makes me proud to know they’re out there, I can’t think of a better way to share with and reach out to people.

Inspired by the Siberian hamsters we just got for the studio, these are just some of the pet site’s made with Wix of late.

Please show us your pet & pet related sites in the comments below!!

And feel free to watch our hamsters:

After many long days and nights we’ve released NEW features into the Wix Editor!!!

Areas, contact forms skins & color customization, easier to use manage and expand, roll over and roll out mouse state behaviors, add your twitter feeds…All designed to make creating Flash websites and other web content simpler, faster and even more powerful!

And there’s more features  coming soon! eCommerce shopping cart, upload/download documents, comments… Find it all out more in our latest release notes.

Release notes also available in:  Italiano – Francais – Espanol

P.S. You’ll also find how tos and tips for using the new features  (and old ones) in our newly evolved Wixpedia Help Center

Austin, Texas – The HOW Design Conference came to a close today.  Attendees reconvened for the last workshops and the closing keynote: Mark Randall, “Design Ignites Change”.  We now look toward the future with the lessons learned this week; motivated, energized and full of new ideas.

As designers, we must find the order in chaos.  We must visually express abstract ideas in a clear and compelling fashion.  We must produce cutting edge work without losing sight of our intended audience.  We must take risks, push the limits, and test our personal boundaries.  We must keep the ideas we love, learn from the experience of others, and stay mindful of parts to repair.  At the end of the day, one final product is displayed to the world.  Make it the best it can be.

Wix.com has been proud to attend the HOW Design Conference this year.  In the weeks to come, we will be showcasing the many talented attendees on our HOW Conference Wix Collective.  Stay tuned!

It’s Day 2 of the HOW Design Conference in Austin, Texas.  The afternoon temperature has dropped to a “cool” 101 degrees.  The energy is still alive and well.  Today, the classroom sessions began, featuring hour-long seminars on topics such as creativity, business, technology, and of course, design.

It’s a lot of information to digest and to avoid overload, we split our days between topics.  Today we attended seminars on business, marketing, and freelance careers.  Tomorrow we will explore creative trends and design theory.

A key takeaway today was learning ways to increase productivity by streamlining work flow.  Clearly, experience increases performance rate, yet new technologies level the playing field by providing tools and techniques that yield professional results. Refer to the old adage “time is money” and you’ll see why it pays to invest in services that can give you a competitive edge.

Wix.com is proud to offer solutions that make building a website faster and more efficient.

And now out for some Austin, Texas blues!

Models and those who enjoy staring at them will probably love our new Web Design category, which is devoted to help models and actors flaunt their natural talents with ease.

A hot website is the new heroin chic. If you want to succeed in the biz, you need a good site to help you stand out. It’s true for every business, but even more so when what you’re selling is your looks.

After observing the Wix sites under the new category, I wanted to sketch some basic tips for creating modeling/acting sites.

The most important part is, of course, the image gallery. Make sure you choose the best type of gallery to fit your style. For instance, classic black and white photos will probably look better with a Photo Album gallery, while funkier pics go very well with a Slider gallery.

Since the photos are the essence, it’s best to keep the rest of the site’s content quite clear and simple. Flashy texts and animations can distract the visitor’s eye from what matters most.

For faster loading of the images, it’s best to work with regular site pages, not with Mini Pages. It will also work faster if you divide the photos between separate pages, and not upload all of them to one page.

I’ve gathered some cool examples of steaming modeling sites. You can find more in the Explore page (under Website). Check these out:

And if you want to create your own modeling or acting site, I recommend these two flash templates. You can find them in the Create page (the first is under Website->Personal and the second under MySpace->MySpace Layout):

I love that we’re able to feature what you’re making with Wix!

Last week I came across a wonderful not for profit using Wix to make their Flash site via twitter and I thought it was a good time to celebrate the great work being done for the world by featuring some non-profit sites made with Wix:

Hope these inspire you all!

P.S. Want to make your own site? Just hit Wix and create your own Flash website…

It’s Dr. Suess‘ birthday today and to celebrate I thought I’d showcase some of the writers, illustrators and artists using Wix to show off their works.

Keep up the beautiful Flash website/portfolio creations!

PS thanks to the DaveMcClure on twitter for the Dr. Seuss reminder! You can follow us on twitter here: www.twitter.com/wix

Just a little post to say we love you!
(Happy Valentine’s day for Saturday)

P.S. It’s easy to add some Valentine’s love like this to your Wix creations!
You’ll find a range of fully editable comments in the Create section: MySpace > Comments.

And the Wix editor is loaded with Valentine-esque animations and clipart! (Search for words like “heart” and “valentine” in the clipart/animation galleries ;))…drag and drop into your creation, save and you’re done.