Creating Your Website: Your About Page & Biography Blurbs

We’re going to start with creating the About Page, because if I’m being honest it’s the most difficult page on the site to write. No one wants to talk about themselves all day, and it can be difficult to word things the way you want to in order to convey to your prospective clients that you’re the person they want to work with.

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It’s so much easier for someone else to tell us, “Hey, you’re really awesome at doing _______.”

Even if the other person doesn’t write the whole biography or about page for you, they can help you put together some talking points that you might want to include. It gives you a good starting ground to work from, then you can just add a little bit of extra framing to it without having to think of the details.

When you come to VA Helper you’ll see a variation the biography blurb that I most frequently use around the web:

I barely wrote any of that myself. A friend helped me write it. The funny thing is that I wound up with more of my personality in the bio by having someone else write it, because I wasn’t over-thinking it.

Another option is to hire a copywriter to write your about page for you. If you’re really struggling with writing your about page you can hire a copywriter, but it’s going to expensive and they’re going to want at least a high level view of things from you, so you’ll still want to have a friend or colleague help you put together that list of points.

Of course, the third option is to write your about page and biography blurbs yourself, which is free and not as difficult as it sounds. Though, I still recommend having a friend or colleague help you with those talking points because it makes everything so much easier in the end.

What Actually Goes on the About Page?

While it sounds like it’s all about you, it’s also very much about the client. Yes, you want to cover why you’re qualified and let them get to know you a bit, but you also want to clearly show what you can do to help them. Tell them what they gain by working with you, the benefits to them, not necessarily the details of what you provide.

You should include factual information and objectives, but it should also be personality driven. People should get a sense of who you are, what you stand for, and hopefully for a sense of your personality. The main goal we have for this page is for your potential clients to feel like they know you a little bit, because people do business with other people, not with websites or servers or fancy graduate degrees that hang on the wall.

Your About Page helps convey the “know, like, and trust” aspect of business and gets the ball rolling for a relationship to be built.

Some quick thoughts to get you started…

• Talk about the results you get for your clients.
• Talk about your credentials and what qualifies you to do what you do for clients.
• Include an overall goal or brief mission statement.
• Try to write in a personal, free flowing way.
• Absolutely avoid writing in corporate language or technical jargon.
• Include a video message if you’re comfortable on camera.

Let Others Do the Talking

If you’re feeling unsure what to say or how to best show off your skills, this is a really good place to sprinkle in some client testimonials and social proof.

Include a Photo to Say Hello and Connect

Use your photo on your website to demonstrate credibility and give a sense of “real” to your website. Think of it as your virtual handshake when you meet a prospective client for the first time. Marketing researchers have long known that showing a face builds trust and credibility.

If you have professionally done photos, use those. If not, you can use any forward facing photos that you have available to use.

Don’t be afraid to use fun photographs! Your photos don’t have to boring standard solid color backgrounds. In fact, I strongly believe that using “real” photos is much more effective than a stiff boring headshot any day of the week.

Use the Same Photo on Social Media and Add a Gravatar

Whatever photo you choose to use for your about, you can also use for your social media profiles, like Twitter and Facebook, for consistency and so that people will recognize you.

I also like to add the photo to Gravatar. WordPress sites will pull the Gravatar image into your biography if you want, and it will also show up as the image when you leave comments on other blogs and websites across the web when you use the email address associated with that Gravatar image. You can also have multiple image & email address combinations in Gravatar, so if you want to use different photos for other websites you can add those in there too.

Let’s Look at Some Awesome About Page Examples

Krystal Clark Creative showcases a fun photo on the about page, a great representation of the creative side of business, while still showing off skills and strengths. Testimonial highlights and links to learn more about specific services are below the fold for added impact.

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Tara Gentile’s About page has a few sections, showing off both fun and business. She’s inviting people to learn more, capturing leads, sharing testimonials, and even includes a contact form right on the about page so people can reach out immediately without clicking to another page.

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Leanne & Company Online Business Management includes both personal and business information for a well-rounded about page that leaves you feeling like you just met for a cup of coffee and a chat.

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Valerie Joy Deveza has an about that makes great use of white space and explains how working together with her you can reach your goals with social media and beyond. Below the fold includes bullet points about benefits to the client and testimonials from others.

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Nela Dunato has a beautiful about page that shows off her personality and her smarts. Since she offers visual branding and creatives, her about page and website are also a representation of what she can offer a client. A combination of business benefits, good storytelling, interesting photographs, and there’s even a lead capture at the bottom of the page offering a handy free guide book.

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Natalie Fuller has a video at the top of her about page to literally say hello to new visitors and prospective clients. If you’re comfortable being on camera, this is an awesome way to reach out and make that virtual handshake. Below the video she has everything you would expect on an about page, a personal introduction, an overview of skills and services she offers, and how she can help her clients.

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Tishia Saves Time has a simple about page that’s simple, beautiful, and straight to the point while still being personal enough that it’s relaxed and conversational. There’s a great free opt-in offer on the side for a report to help guide people who might be new to hiring a virtual assistant on the ways that Tishia can save them time and money in the long term by working together to reach business goals.

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Digital Business Managers about page is a bit different, because it’s a team of virtual assistants providing services. I wanted to include this type of example as well, because teamwork makes everything better and it may be something that you’re considering. Using black and white photos gives the page consistency and lets everyone’s talent and bio shine on their own without being distracted or feeling cluttered.

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Now that you have a bit of inspiration and some ideas for creating your own about page, it’s time to get back to work.

Homework and Action Steps for this Section:

• Create Your About Page
• Create a shorter version to use as a bio blurb around the web
• Add a photograph
• Leave a comment below to share your page with us!

Recommended Resources:

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