Not everyone gets overjoyed at the thought of rewriting their About Me. But, if you maintain any sort of digital presence, it’s a necessary evil. Give your professional bio a makeover with these five tips.
1. Show off your personality.
Don’t be too stiff or serious (unless that’s how you are in real life.) Use conversational language. You want people to recognize your tone, and feel like this paragraph is a true representation of who you are as a person.
Good: Kristen Vanstrom loves her dogs.
Great: Kristen Vanstrom is obsessed with her two fur children, Beauford and Lucille.
While the first version isn’t horrific, the second statement shows off my personality.
2. Highlight your top 3 accomplishments.
Avoid going on and on about dozens of mini accomplishments. Yes, being a college graduate is great, but don’t hold onto your alma mater with a death grip. Especially if you’re a few years into your career, it won’t do you much good. Pick 3 relevant accomplishments. Don’t talk about your waitressing wins from ten years back. Unless that applies to your current career path, it’s not necessary. And remember, highlighting more than three will make your bio sound stuffed and exaggerated, especially if you’re a recent college graduate.
3. Invite followers to opt in.
You don’t have to include your personal cell number, but why not reserve a keyword with a text marketing provider? Or, if text marketing isn’t your thing, start an email list and offer a free download in exchange for the opt in. If someone’s reading your About Me, they’re probably one of your fans, or could be in the future. Point is, they like your content, and you should capitalize on this opportunity to connect.
4. Update it once every 90 days.
Don’t let your About Me go stale. Ideally, you should be moving at a professional pace that requires you to make edits every 90 days. If not, that means you’re stagnant in your career, which is an even bigger issue.
5. Make sure it’s cohesive across platforms.
Once you’ve completed your final version, copy and paste this across all applicable platforms. For example, if you are a guest blogger in five different marketing publications, you want your bio to read the same for each. Let’s say my bio on Personal Branding Blog says, “Kristen Vanstrom is a writer.” But, on another platform, it says “Kristen Vanstrom is a musician.” These conflicting bios will mess up my brand image, and confuse potential followers.
If you want to be a digital rockstar, you have to own your personal brand. That all starts with having an undeniably unique About Me.
