For entrepreneurs, the elevator pitch is everything. Your digital elevator pitch is your online bio, whether it’s your social media profile or website tagline. What do you do to be sure your online bio captures the essence of your brand?
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1. Include a Call to Action
“The biggest mistake that I see entrepreneurs make online, whether it’s social media or a website, is not including a call to action with the relevant contact info. If a call to action with contact details are missing, then that person is missing out on potential leads.”
Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Creative Development Agency, LLC
2. Focus on the Main Benefits of Your Business
“The challenge of an online bio is that you have to compress as much relevant information as possible into a small space. I emphasize the main services and benefits that my company offers with a few details about my own background. I adjust it based on the platform. Some sites give you more space to elaborate than others.”
Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
3. Share Your Mission Statement
“Whenever possible, I will use the bio to remind myself, employees and potential customers of our mission statement. Once you have a good mission, let people know about it so they can feel like they are a part of something bigger.”
4. Keep It Simple and Audience-Focused
“As with all writing, a bio should be written for the reader and not the writer. Consider who you’re writing for and what they would like to know about you — a little life history, your accomplishments, why they should trust you and whether your values align with theirs. Focus on your reader, cover all the bases and keep it short.”
Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.
5. Be Personable
“The biggest thing that will make you stand out from the crowd is to let your personality shine through in your online bio. Don’t talk in the third person. Show people you’re a real human with a real personality. Your personality is what’s going to set you apart and allow the reader to really find who it is you are and what you’re passionate about.”
Clint Haynes, NextGen Wealth
6. Cross-Promote Your Other Profiles
“People today are active on many social media sites. You want to make it easy to find you wherever you’re active, such as your website, Facebook, LinkedIn and wherever else you have a presence. So when filling out your profiles, always be sure to link to your other profiles and blog. If you have a YouTube channel, podcast or other activities, link to these as well.”
Shawn Porat, Scorely
7. Speak About Your Values
“It can be difficult to capture the narrative of your brand in an elevator pitch, but it is important that you convey the story that answers the “why” of your brand. I always make sure that my online bio speaks to my values.”
Kevin Yamazaki, Sidebench
8. Add a Link to Your Website
“The bio section of a social media site or a guest posting article is a great place to link to your website, helping you generate back links. I try to keep my bio section short and to the point, with a professional photo and, most importantly, a link back to my site.”
9. Tell Your Story
“Everyone loves a great story, but somehow brands miss this. Instead of bragging about your brand’s accolades with bullet points, try telling the story of who your brand is and how it got there. Make the story fun and entertaining. Talk about how you were the underdog. Your potential clients and employees will relate to this story and be much more likely to work with you.”
Brandon Stapper, Nonstop Signs
10. Set Your Tone
“A lot of what you will be communicating in your digital elevator pitch will be in written form. Make sure that your writing style and tone is akin to what you are attempting to convey in your brand. Readers will quickly see a disconnect if your language does not match your brand and the power of your brand will be lost — and seem clumsy. Keep your written profiles matching in tone.”
Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors
11. Lead with What Makes You Unique
“If you stopped offering your products or services tomorrow, what would your customers miss the most about working with you? This gets to the root of what makes you unique. Lead with that.”
Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg, Massage Outpost
12. Include Media Mentions and Accomplishments
“I call attention to my media mentions and speaking engagements to quickly gain credibility. These events and media placements have taken a long time and considerable maneuvering to accrue. In person, I would not lead with these accomplishments, but online, using the first 100 characters to name your space in the industry and broader context as an expert is critical.”
Matthew Capala, Alphametic
13. Keep It Current
“Human beings evolve and change, and so should your online bio. Keep it current — as you take on a new endeavor, focus on a new avenue or accomplish something new of significance, update your bio to ensure that it reflects the most up-to-date information possible and most accurately reflects who you are right now.”
Adam Mendler, The Veloz Group
14. Be Your Brand and Let Your Brand Be You
“True authenticity is what will connect with people. Tell your story from the heart and be true to your purpose. Faking it or trying to be something you are not will always backfire. Don’t be afraid to show your real personality and make that part of your brand. It’s how you’ll stand out from the crowd. By building your personality into your brand, you’ll be able to more confidently speak to it.”
Brandon Houston, Switch Video
