This page is everywhere. It’s a tab on every blog. It’s on Facebook. It’s the page most website visitors want to see after the Home page.
And everybody hates to write it. It’s … your About Page.
This page is absolutely critical because
Your clients know they are working with a person – not buying a product. So they’ll often turn to this page before making a decision to talk to you, even for a get-acquainted call.
Clients often are afraid of hiring someone who will be incompetent and/or difficult to work with. You need to establish that you’re qualified as well as easy to get along with.
You often connect with clients by sharing some “safe” personal information. For example, if you’ve attended University of Florida, be sure to say that you’re a ‘Gator.” You’ll be surprised how many people will be Gators, know someone who’s a Gator, or just recognize the name.
Even with all these reasons, many business owners tell me they DREAD sitting down to write about themselves.
The truth is …
you are helping your clients when you brag about yourself. Your clients want to brag about you! When my book first came out (a long time ago) one of my clients said, “I was so proud to see your book in the bookstore! I turned to my friend and said, ‘That’s my coach!'”
your clients make more informed decisions when they know more about you. They may decide that you are not the best resource they had hoped to work with. That’s fine: you have now saved yourself a lot of grief.
you are more likely to attract targeted clients who resonate with your working style when you have a strong About page. Clients will be drawn to you as a kindred spirit.
Of course, you might be too busy to write this page. I get it. If you don’t write copy every day, it takes longer. Plus it’s harder to write about yourself.
And now you can download your 10-point Cheat Sheet To Get More Leads From Your About Page.
I’ve also created a short program specifically for people who hate to talk about themselves. Bragging 101: Build your personal brand by telling stories. Click here to learn more.
Hi Cathy,
I received a lovely email from Sue Anne Dunlevie who told me about you so I thought I would come on over and see what you’re all about. Been kind of under the weather or I would have been here a bit sooner.
I think for most people this is the hardest page to write. Back when I first started my blog my page was much more personal. I was taught at that time to tell my readers who I am, what I’m all about, how I can help them and why they should listen to me. I think the first few years it was a much visited page.
Then things just slacked off so I had joined a really high profile marketer’s course and she taught, along with another guest she had that was also VERY high profile too, and they told us to tame them down because people just want to know how you can help them. So I rewrote it and the traffic really hasn’t changed much as far as visits.
I did just get a new opt-in today through that page so I was happy to see that number roll in but then again, it’s not visited a lot anymore. I think that’s mainly because people meet me through my posts and then we continue emailing so the getting to know you usually comes from that I believe.
Either way I’d love to see that number increase so maybe in the near future it will pick up again.
Thanks for sharing this with us and I hope you’ve been having a wonderful week. Take care and I’ll be sure to share your posts with my friends. I’m sure they’d enjoy reading this one as well.
~Adrienne
Thanks, Adrienne! I’m so honored you stopped by!
I had the same experience when I started working online. Mentors encouraged me to share. My first site (which is still up) was about careers, and I learned the hard way that sharing innocently can backfire! And now we rarely see that kind of sharing.
I think you’re right: people spend more time getting to know you through your posts when they want to opt-in. When they’re serious about hiring you for a service, they often go right to the About page. I’ve had people hire me for things they found on my About page that had nothing to do with my business!
And thanks again for stopping by and sharing. So glad we made the connection!
Hi Cathy,
You caught me off-guard on this! I was just starting to think about creating a post on “About me” or “About us” page, but now that you’ve done it, you’ve made my work simpler. You’ve nailed it and thanks for letting the blogosphere know about this.
Just got another idea on a page no one talks about, hope I get it right for one of my next posts.
Have a nice time.
Enock, Thank you! I always enjoy talking about About Pages. Thanks for stopping by with such a nice comment!
Cathy
Hi, Cathy,
This is my first visit to your blog, and I’m glad I came.
I waited and waited to put up a proper About page, but finally just stopped worrying and bit the bullet a few weeks later – that was over 4-1/2 years ago!
It is a highly visited page on my blog, but not the highest. I do check out About pages when I visit other sites and enjoy getting to know the blog owner.
Thanks for sharing the information, I enjoyed it.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Carol Amato
Thanks so much, Carol! I’m so pleased you stopped by. A lot of people like to visit About pages and now they’re doing
double duty, because websites are smaller.
I looked up your About Page and sure enough, there’s a connection: Lewistown, PA, is midway between Philly and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. So you’ve probably been here and now you’re living far away from our snowy winters!
Thanks again for stopping by! And you have a great weekend also.
Cathy