I am interested in starting to freelance in areas such as data entry, copywriting/editing or other types of things related to general business. I know that in some areas of freelancing, it is a good idea to have a portfolio available to show your abilities and creativities, but is it necessary for the types of fields I am looking to try to get into?

I have never created a portfolio and am not sure what I would need to include. Is it ok to include things like Business Letters to ficticious companies to show the type of impact you can create from your work?
What about Data Entry spreadsheets? I have been working on an online project for a website that will eventually create an interactive and searchable database. I have been in contact with the project manager and was told that it is ok to use some of my completed work as an example, is this ok to use? If so, is it permissable or adviseable to use it as an .xlr file or would it be better to do it as a .txt file?

Any help or advise would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Keep it very short and very simple. Then enter all your future projects into the portfolio. Don’t try to puff it up..