This post is Part II of our 3 part journey into the wonderful world of how to write (or rewrite) your About Page. You can find Part I right here.
Savvy marketing geniuses will tell you your About Page shouldn’t really be about you. It should instead be about your clients’ needs and wants, your understanding of their situation and the rock-solid results you deliver.
But I disagree.
Your About Page is one of the few places where it really can be all about you. This is one of those few places where you get to share your story, your passion, your “why,” and what you believe about the work you do. And reveal the human behind the expert, so your clients can relate to you, trust you, and hopefully… like you.
See, your prospective clients actually want to know about you. Before they invest in your services, buy your products or even schedule a get-acquainted call, they want to know who they’re dealing with. Wouldn’t you?
And if they haven’t been personally referred by a friend, your About Page is their best bet when it comes to learning something about you. Not just what you do or how you do it, but you.
So, as we continue our journey into the wonderful world of writing About Pages (we started with Part 1 a few weeks ago), remember… your About Page gets to be about you.
Your About Page can be all about you if and only if the other pages on your site do a bang-up job of speaking directly to the wants, needs, hopes, dreams, fears and problems of your ideal client. Does your home page or work-with-me page clearly and concisely communicate your understanding of what your client’s dealing with right now as well as the results or outcomes you provide? If so, let your About Page be about you, your story, your inspiration and why you do the work you do.
One way to do this is with your Compelling Story, which we talked about last time.
But another way is with…
The Interwoven Thread
What if you don’t have a compelling, dramatic story of transformation, realization and personal triumph relative to your business? What if you started your business simply because you happen to be really good at what you do? Or you simply wanted the freedom of owning your own business?
You don’t have to have a compelling personal story to have a compelling About Page.
An alternative to the Compelling Story is what I call “the interwoven thread,” which is a recurring theme or passion that keeps popping up in your life. One that relates to the work you do now.
Let me give you an example.
I’m not a copywriting coach because I had a dramatic epiphany where I realized I was meant to help entrepreneurs create brilliant messages that get noticed, get clients and get the big bucks.
No. I became a copywriting coach because I had a knack for it. I’ve always been good with words and loved writing. So, people kept asking me to help them with their copy. And they loved the results. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell me that I was on to something here.
BUT… there was also a thread, a theme, that relates to my copywriting abilities. A thread that’s run through my life since I was 4 years old. That would be: my love of language, writing, words, and any kind of creative act that results in connection and communication. I can trace this thread throughout every phase of my life.
So, when I wrote my About Page (which I’m in the process of rewriting now), I used this interwoven thread as a way to tell the story of how I came to do the work I do, why I do it, what I love about it and why it rocks.
Do you have an interwoven thread that runs through your life story relative to your work or business? If so, you may want to use this thread as the theme of your About Page.
One way to approach the Interwoven Thread idea is to find the earliest moments in your life that relate to your present work and start there (as I did with my About Page). Or, can you identify any stand-out moment in your life that features your interwoven thread?
For instance, if you’re a professional organizer, can you remember a moment when you realized you had a special talent for organization that others didn’t? Was there a time when this talent saved the day or came in handy? Or maybe the people around you noticed your particular talent before you did.
Find a stand-out moment or memory and build from there. Don’t tell your entire life story. Just one stand-out moment that identifies the thread that’s connected to the work you do now.
Web designer Rachel Vane does this succinctly and powerfully on her About Page.
The Interview
When I used to read Oprah magazine, I always loved the section toward the back where Oprah would interview someone of note. Like a celebrity, world leader or controversial personality. It was a fun way to get to know more about the person without reading a long, text-heavy article.
The interview format is a great format for your About Page as well. And the cool thing is, you get to choose both the questions and your answers!
The Interview is like an FAQ page except the questions and answers you choose are more in depth so they can help your reader know more about you, your business and whether you’re the one to help them.
Here’s an example from Fabienne Fredrickson, the ninja marketer who turned me on to this way of writing an About Page.
The pros of this format are:
- Your reader can easily scan your questions and find the information he or she is looking for and leave the rest.
- The Q & A format breaks up the page so the copy doesn’t look too dense or overwhelming.
- It has a casual, conversational feel yet glimmers with professionalism.
- It’s pretty easy to write. Once you know what questions to include.
Plus, as I mentioned before, you get to choose both the questions and the answers, so you can express anything you want.
For example, hop over here and read the About Page for my friend and acupuncturist Teri Goetz. Check out her questions. Can you see how she chose questions that allowed her to communicate her approach, her beliefs, her passion, and her what, why, where and how, as well as who she is as a person? Pretty cool.
Well, so far, we’ve covered The Compelling Story and The Soup Pot. And today, the Interwoven Threat and The Interview.
Are you getting some good ideas on how to revamp and elevate your own About Page? Because I have one more technique to show you, and it’s my current favorite. I’ll share it with you in a couple of weeks… during the first week of 2016!
Meanwhile, why not share your current About Page below in the comments section? I’ll help you brainstorm specific ways to make it even more compelling.