If you’re like many business owners, you secretly suspect your About Page sucks. You wonder if it’s too braggy…too frivolous…too something. You wonder if you’ve left out the most important qualities that make you special.
It’s scary. I totally get that. When I work with clients (including professional copywriters), we often start out eagerly on a website makeover. Everything seems to be moving smoothly… until we get to the About Page. Then everything comes to a halt.
In fact, people sometimes hire a copywriter just when they get to this point. They write sales letters for courses. They write their home page. They write a sizzling lead magnet. But write about themselves? No way.
So why do so many About Pages suck, which means nobody’s reading them?
Here are 5 common reasons your About Page isn’t doing its job. You might have heard these reasons in the form of “advice.” Forget it.
These mistakes not only send your hottest prospects away from your About Page. They make it harder to write. They feed on fear: they encourage you to do the things you hate most about writing your About Page.
Once you understand the reasons people aren’t reading your page, you free yourself to create an About Page that doesn’t suck. In fact, you’ll be proud to share your new page with the whole world.
Reason #1: Your About Page tells the world how great you are.
What to do instead: Begin by telling a story – but not necessarily your story. It’s important to make strong, meaningful connections with your audience. Use success stories, social proof, and testimonials to show how great you are. Show that you empathize by speaking to your audience’s fears, worries, and backstories.
Your audience begins to realize: “Yes…we can’t help noticing that she’s a rockstar.”
Reason #2: Your About Page story answers the question, “How did you get started?”
Answer the question: “Why are you so passionate about working for me?” You might answer this question with an origin story. Or you might answer with another story, showing how you worked with clients.
So you watched the sheriff take your family’s furniture away when you were six? You made a “Never again!” vow and now you teach people to manage their money, avoid credit cards and never, ever co-sign a loan for a stranger.
You’ve got the beginnings of a good origin story if you’re a money coach or financial planner.
But you don’t have to share, whether it’s relevant or not. If you’re a cardiologist, nobody cares if you’ve never had a heart attack.
Reason #3: Your About Page shows your mistakes and presents you as vulnerable.
Show how you achieved success. Instead of showing how tax season brings out all your money issues, show how you used to dread tax season but now you’ve learned how to manage your money. Even better: Tell us how you help clients reach an income where they’re writing big checks to the IRS.
Reason #4: You list your achievements without making them relevant to what you offer
Show your achievements as part of a “why I’m qualified” story. One client thought her Ivy League anthropology degree wasn’t relevant to her self-defense coaching business. In reality, her degree showed she was smart (so she’d relate to her well-educated high-end clients). And her major field, anthropology, teaches the importance of reading cues from the environment – an important skill for protecting yourself in an urban setting.
Reason #5: You tried to be funny.
Use humor on your About Page only if you’re positioning yourself as a comedian. Using humor comes at a cost. You sacrifice message clarity, which is more important than clever wordsmith tricks or even persuasiveness.
Whether you write your own page or hire a copywriter, your About Page probably has more personality than you realize. Nobody else can tell your stories — even if they’re not about all the times you struggled.
Want to create an About Page that generates leads – and makes you look good, too? Download this FREE 10-point Checklist For A Lead-Generating About Page.
Discover why your clients want you to brag – and how to build your personal brand by telling stories. http://mycopy.info/bragging101
Of course I agree that you should never sacrifice clarity for the sake of humor. Never sacrifice clarity, period. I also agree that an About Page should share your unique personality and voice, because those are the ones I always remember, and the people I do business with.