Your About Page
Your website or blog needs an About page. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.
If you want to do business online (and make money at it), you’re going to have to give people the opportunity to know, like and trust you.
And most folks are accustomed now to finding out about you and your business through the About page.
Where to start: Dig up your answer to Question 4 of the Website Starter Recipe. Look specifically at the parts where you talk about how you’re different.
(If you didn’t do the assignment, it’s time to do it now.)
Assignment: Use your answer to Question 4 as a base to build on. Then, think about how you would answer these questions:
- What’s your background? Why are you qualified (or not) to do the thing you’re doing?
- Why are you passionate about what you’re doing?
- What would you like to see change about your industry? And how are you helping to make that happen?
- What’s your backstory? What particular path(s) did you take to get to this point?
- What do you when you’re not doing the thing you’re doing? (This gives people a larger vision of who you are as a human being)
You get the idea.
A couple of questions I often get:
Q: Should I write this in 1st person? Or 3rd person?
A: If your business is just you, write it in 1st person. It makes absolutely no sense to try to be something you’re not. Be authentic. Don’t try to sound larger than you are. When you hire your first virtual assistant, you have my permission to switch to 3rd person, if you absolutely must.
Q: How long should my About page be?
A: As long as it needs to be. If you can get away with 500 words, do it. But if your story needs a larger space, take it. You can break up the copy with sub-headings and bullets — or even sub-pages — if necessary.
Some final tips:
- Keep in mind who your ideal client is as you write this. Your About Page isn’t so much about you, as it is about them. Why are they here? What are they looking for? Acknowledge those points first before you launch into your bio.
- Are you using any industry-specific terms (i.e. jargon) that might be unfamiliar? Not everyone will know what that acronym means.
- Use plain English at about the 8th grade reading level. Keep your sentences short. And write as if you are speaking directly to one person (yep, your ideal client).
If you feel like you could use some help with this particular lesson, let’s talk. All you need to do is email me and let me know what challenges you’re having. I’ll get back to you right away and we’ll take it from there!