This week, I discovered Authory, a new portfolio creation and management tool. I thought I’d give it a try and see whether or not it’s worth it.
Come with me on the journey!
I’ve recently written about how it’s better to have an ugly portfolio than nothing at all. I stand by that, but I’m at a point where I can look at ways to improve my own. So, when I heard about Authory, I figured I’d give it a go.
What is Authory?
Authory is an automated portfolio management tool. Here’s what it allows you to do:
- Bulk import all of your content from a single site
- Automatically add future work to the portfolio
- Track the performance of your existing content
- Create automated backups of your work
- Receive notifications whenever your content is published
That all seems very interesting, especially the automation element. Every now and then, I do have to manually update my website portfolio. It is a bit of a pain in the arse, to be honest.
But Authory claims to automatically scan whatever sites you tell it to, uploading whatever new work that features your byline. Sounds good!
Pricing and Free Trial
So, what does Authory cost? It’s priced at $144 per year, so $12 a month.
At first glance, to me at least, that feels a little too much. It costs nothing but time to update my existing portfolio, and I rarely have to add much to it. I work on it two or three times a year max.
If you’re happy with a basic portfolio, then, this tool may not be worth it. But if you want a more professional look and the perks that go with it, $12 a month doesn’t seem like a huge amount
Backups
I’m guessing the real value of this tool is the backups. On more than one occasion, I’ve checked my own portfolio and realised a client has deleted an article.
It does leave you wondering how long your site has been displaying broken links to prospective clients, making you look careless and lazy, through no fault of your own.
It would be nice to be able to keep copies of those non-existent pieces of work, as well as automatically stripping them from the site.
14 Days Free
I’m sceptical about the price, but I can see the benefits, so I’m giving it a try. Luckily, you get a 14 day free trial to test things out, so that’s exactly what I’m doing.
We immediately get off to a great start. I can easily register with my Google account, without needing to fill out any forms.
Better still, I’m taken straight to the portfolio creation tool, with no need to enter any payment details.
As you can see, I have the option of adding my payment details later to retail access. But at no point have be been bullied into adding them. I appreciate that.
Setting Up My Authory Portfolio
Okay, so how do you get started with Authory? I have to say, it’s incredibly simple.
The portfolio creation page is a WYSIWYG editor, where you just click on the elements you want to change. It’s really intuitive and it reminds me a bit of Canva in that regard.
My name and photograph were added automatically upon registration, as I linked my Google account.
I added the “Freelance iGaming Writer” subheading, then tapped the small blue + sign next to the search bar marked “Add Collection”. Here, you can add new sections to the portfolio.
As you can see from the image, I’ve decided to set up a new tab for each client. I wonder if it might be better to divide these into Casino, Poker and Sports Betting tabs, rather than individual clients, but we’ll see how it goes.
After creating the new section, you can click the “Add work samples to this collection” button to begin importing.
The process is ridiculously straightforward, to the point where a child can quickly figure it out.
Importing Content
As a writer, I’m obviously tapping “Articles” at this point. You can upload all kinds of file formats, or automatically import them if they’re already published online. That’s the feature I’m most interested in.
It turns out you only need to have one published link ready. After entering it into the relevant field and pressing “Continue”, it will publish that particular link, then spend the coming hours automatically scouring the site for other content featuring your byline.
I was warned that this could take up to 48 hours. My first two collections were ready within 24, but I’m still waiting on the rest, so that claim seems pretty accurate.
First Impressions of Authory
Well, I have to say, my first impressions of Authory are really good.
The editor is so simple that an idiot like me can use it. And the finished product looks decent, as you can see below.
However, I’m still wary of the price.
Is Authory Worth the Price?
I know that $12 isn’t a huge amount of money for someone like me, especially if you’re spending hours on your portfolio or website.
But, the way I see it… I might be doing this for the next ten years. If that’s the case, it’s not $144 at all. It’s $1,440.
And honestly, I don’t want to spend that on a portfolio. As I’ve already said before, anything at all – no matter how ugly or basic – will do.
Then, of course, you have the fact that $12 a month actually *is* a good chunk of money for some people.
Automation and Tracking
I guess it really comes down to how much you value the automatic updates and the backups that Authory offers.
Personally, I don’t care about the latter, as I always retain a copy of the original document anyway. So, even if the client deletes it, I can at least point to the original Google Doc, which is better than nothing.
I can definitely see the value in the automation though. Then you have the tracking, which I haven’t had time to investigate yet.
I’ll continue with the trial and report back once it’s finished importing all of my content.
Watch this space…