Freelance Diary

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition…

• Posted by Mike on July 30th, 2008 filed in General Thoughts

A very interesting debate has sprung up on the fantastic FreelanceSwitch forums - should references to God (or indeed religion in general) be avoided when it comes to promoting your business, specifically your online portfolio.  The discussion sprung up from another topic where an individual had asked for his portfolio site to be review by forum members, and he received negative feedback from the fact that his “About Me” page included a sentance where he thanked God for blessing him with talents.

Some very intresting and perhaps controversial views have been put forward, and I highly encourage you to check the discussion out and weight in with your opinions either here or on the forum itself.

In my personal opinion, it comes down to business sense.  It’s irrefutable that the mere mention of religius beliefs could put off an element of the visitorship to your professional portfolio, and as such I think it doesn’t make good business sense to risk that in exchange for something that really doesn’t say anything at all about your skills or suitability to a clients needs.

If, however, you are specifically targetting and catering towards the religious market (in the US there seems to be a huge market for Church websites, and some of the best designs I’ve ever seen have been for religious organisations), then it makes good sense to discuss your beliefs, even beyond a single sentance.

I’m not a religious person, and if I were to see that line on someones portfolio, I’d probably roll my eyes and maybe even think less of that individuals suitability for whatever project I was considering - mainly because if they feel their religion is important enough to mention on their professional showcase then there is a chance it might crop up during discussions with that individual - and that is a conversational topic I rarely enjoy participating in.  However, if their work is of a high quality, I wouldn’t give too hoots whether they believe in God, praise him, thank him or dress up like him.  As mentioned, some of the best work I’ve seen has been for Church websites, and I wouldn’t think twice about hiring those designers - their religious beliefs wouldn’t factor into the decision at all (their pricing, however, is a different matter).

So, personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong with mentioning religion if it makes good business sense, in context, to do so - however if you just drop it in there for no good reason other than the fact you want to communicate your belief, then you need to be aware that some of your market might have an adverse reaction to that.