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There are many ways to improve your portfolio's performance. Growth investors for example will always advise keeping the faith with a consistent long-term performer. Indeed, anybody who bought Capita (LSE: CPI) or Sage (LSE: SGE) a decade ago would have done very well no matter how many other turkeys they picked. But for the majority of people who'll never find 'the next Capita', avoiding big losers is just as effective. Take my eleven selections highlighted this year within the Fool's Value Investor newsletter. Looking at the newsletter's scorecard (dated 1 December), nine are currently showing a profit and the average overall gain is 8.4% (including declared dividends). For the record, the average return from the FTSE All-Share index (with dividends reinvested) over the equivalent period is 6.4%. But the 'portfolio' performance of my selections could have been much better. Gains of 40%-plus from lighting group FW Thorpe (LSE: TFW) and pub firm Yates have been offset by Ultraframe (LSE: UTF), which I advised Value Investor readers to dump when the shares had racked up a whopping 58% loss. Notably, if you exclude the conservatory roofing disaster, the average return from my remaining ten picks comes in at 15.1% -- nearly double the overall performance. Success with shares then comes not only from picking winners, but also from making sure dogs are ejected from a portfolio in a timely manner. Businesses rarely solve operational or financial problems overnight, while shareholders are often drip-fed the bad news over months or even years -- doing the share price no favours in the meantime. My mistake was to select Ultraframe immediately after it had warned on profits in March. In hindsight, I should have sat on the sidelines instead to see if the company would deteriorate further (sadly, it did). Value Investor readers can rest assured though; if any of my other picks start hinting of trouble, I'll know what to do. More: Honest Reporting From A Tipsheet | Why Stock Picking Is A Loser's Game Maynard tips a share every month for the Value Investor newsletter. To enjoy a free no-obligation trial of the newsletter, including access to past editions, click here.