Gary Vaynerchuk: Make a Work Sample Someone Can Inspect

The Lesson

You are preparing a small portfolio, but you do not have a client project you can share. You can still make an honest sample. The useful question is what a reader could inspect, rather than how impressive you can make the description sound.

In his article on starting to create content, Gary Vaynerchuk recommends documenting work you are already doing and learning from feedback instead of waiting for a polished public identity. His official site provides further context for his writing and business work. Here, apply the idea of documenting actual work to a small, private sample you can inspect.

A portfolio sample can show a small problem, a finished artifact and a decision made along the way. The artifact lets a reader inspect something beyond your own assessment. If you say you make instructions easier to follow, show a set of instructions and a usable revision. If you say you organize files, show an invented starting set and the organized version.

Make the sample’s origin visible. A self-initiated demonstration is different from paid client work. A fictional organization is different from a real customer. Labeling these facts helps someone understand what the sample does and does not show.

Document a decision, not every moment of the session. A screenshot of an editing tool does not by itself explain why the result is useful. A short note can identify a confusing instruction, show your revision and explain what you checked. Choose an example you can explain without borrowing a client’s private materials.

The sample also needs a limit. Perhaps you tested instructions at a desk but have not observed someone following them in a busy room. Perhaps you wrote a clear file key but have not tested a large archive. Those boundaries help a reader ask the right next question. They are not reasons to pretend the work never happened.

You can keep this first sample private. Documentation does not require posting continuously, buying a tool or publishing unfinished personal information. First make something inspectable; decide later whether and where sharing it is appropriate.

Reflection

• What task could I demonstrate using only material I create myself?
• Which part of the result could another person inspect directly?
• What decision would be useful to explain alongside the artifact?
• What would this sample leave untested?

Practice

Original SelfGrowthVideos exercise. This sample-making task is an editorial application, not Vaynerchuk’s portfolio template or an endorsement.

Create a fictional instruction sheet for a volunteer table. Start with this deliberately unclear draft:

“Put them over there. Give people the sheet after they finish. If something is missing, ask somebody.”

Define the invented situation before editing: visitors collect a blank activity sheet from the left tray, complete it at a separate desk and place it in the right tray. If the left tray is empty, the volunteer asks the event coordinator for more blank sheets. No names or personal details are collected.

Now prepare a revised instruction sheet that a volunteer could use. Keep the original, your revision and a short decision note together. Explain one specific change, such as replacing an ambiguous location with the name of a tray. Avoid adding rules that the fictional brief did not supply.

Walk through two cases at a desk: both trays are ready; then the left tray is empty. Check whether the instructions identify the next action in each case. If an action remains unclear, revise the sheet and retain the previous version so the change can be inspected.

Package the sample with a plain label: “Self-initiated fictional instruction-editing demonstration.” Include the brief, the before-and-after artifact, one decision note and one limitation. For example: “Desk walkthrough completed; not tested with real visitors.”

Inspect the package as if you had never seen the task. Can you tell what changed without hearing a sales pitch? Could the package accidentally imply that a real organization hired you? Remove that ambiguity before using it in a portfolio.

Review

Separate the quality of the artifact from the presentation around it. Did your revision resolve the ambiguity? Does the decision note point to an actual change? Is your limitation specific enough to guide a later test?

Choose one next adjustment: simplify the sheet, explain the change more clearly or conduct a voluntary reader test. Keep the sample private until you are satisfied with its accuracy and any sharing permissions. A work sample demonstrates this task; it does not establish customer demand or promise future work.

Go Deeper

Explore Gary Vaynerchuk’s existing profile and Starting & Managing the Work. For a separate exercise about describing your role accurately, see David Goggins: Describe Your Project Contribution Accurately. For product copy, try Seth Godin: Write a Product Description Someone Can Use to Decide. Continue with the Business Launchpad first-customer module.