How to Write An About Page That Gets You Hired

This guest post on how to write an about page is by Tavleen. Tavleen is a Positioning Strategist over at TheYouEngine.com. Grab her Wordsmith’s Secret Swipe File to swap weak frail words/phrases in your copy with power-packed punches.

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Have you tweaked your ‘About Page’ a gazillion times?

But you’re still not sure if it forms a connect with your visitors and induces an insistent urge to know more about you.

When you talk about your achievements, you feel you sound like a windbag. But when you overlook your accomplishments, the page sounds like it’s plagued with self-doubt.

That line between bragging and self-doubting is live wire thin. Go too much on any one of the two sides and you’ll end up with a narrative that fails to connect, convince and convert. You got to tread that thin line with utmost care.

But don’t worry. Help is at hand in form of this blog post.

I’ll tell you how you can tweak your about page so that people landing on it feel compelled to explore more about you and your services.

Here’s a glimpse of the process that I’ve followed:

• Visited the nooks and corners of the internet to find different about pages
• Selected a bunch of them to tear-down for this blog
• Pulled out short paragraphs to point out the exact mistakes they’re making
• Given them a facelift and soul-lift to highlight the tweaks they need
• Hoped and prayed they never read this article

There’s no unfitting advice, only what I have tried and tested so that you can put your wheels into motion without second thoughts.

Let’s dive right in.

1. ‘Show’ don’t tell your visitors how you can help them

When someone clicks your about page, they want to see the transformation you can bring in their life. Stats and facts about you are add-ons but not the meat of it. Go beyond numbers to show your magic wand in action.

Take a look at this example from the ‘about page’ of a leadership coach:

I have over 12 years of coaching experience, 5 years of creating leadership development programs for emerging leaders and mid-level leaders within a corporate business unit, and 2 1/2 years of full-time recruiting experience.

What do you think is the problem with it?

The only opinion that you can form about the person in the context is that they’ve been in the industry for a long time. But this messaging doesn’t tell the reader if the coach can serve the need and if they are the right fit.

There’s also redundant information that doesn’t strengthen the argument. It is the ‘full-time recruiting experience’ bit.

Let’s transform this bland piece of copy into a more power-packed argument by using the ‘show don’t tell technique’. Here’s how:

With a total 12 years of coaching experience under my belt, I’ve spent 5 years in creating leadership development programs. Targeted towards young professionals, these programs have helped transform ‘yes-sir’ executives into go-getters. Those who take complete charge of their projects and tackle teething issues head-on.

The second narrative positions them as the go-to coach who can bring results for an organization. And not another coach who has experience but no results to show for it.

2. Share anecdotes that demonstrate you’re the right person to offer help

Anecdotes help transport people into the world you want them to be in. Since the attention spans on the internet are miserable, get an entry through the back doors of people’s minds. When you do this, their natural barricades get lowered and they want to listen to you.

Before I explain how to deploy this killer anecdote technique, let me show you what a messaging without a spicy anecdote looks like:

“I always loved helping, believing in and encouraging others – my family home buzzed with it as a child and I took it for granted as being the norm, yet it hit home when I went to a school reunion and my old ‘gang’ found out I was a life coach and they all agreed that was so me and they knew I’d be in a job where I was loving people back to life.”

There’s nothing wrong with it on the face of it. The heart is at the right place. She wants to tell her audience why she’s the right life coach to help them.

But she can use a little anecdote to add a spark to her copy so that her visitors feel an insistent urge to work with her. Let’s transform it:

Back in school, I was the little wise granny who gave a patient ear to the most pressing problems of my friends. The friend you’d turn to, to share your one-sided love, the messy, first breakup or that ugly fight with parents. I was never judging anyone for their feelings or actions and had an innate empathy towards them. It’s only a fitting that a lot of my friends said ‘You get me!’ after pouring their hearts out before me.

This narrative is insanely compelling because deploys the gigantic power of mini stories. When you read it, you know that life coaching is her natural strength- she doesn’t have to work too hard to get it. She enjoys doing what she does and is passionate about it. And that’s the kind of person you want to work with, right?

3. Be very specific when talking about your ideal clients

Your ‘about page’ visitors have one pressing question that they want you to answer clearly. It is this: ‘Do you work with people like them?’

It’s important to talk about your ideal clients so that your visitors know that your products/services cater to them.

Highlight their exact pain points, dreams, and desires so that they can relate to your narrative.

Let’s take a look at a frail attempt of talking about one’s ideal clients:

“I support people who want to stop procrastinating, gain more control over their time, and move forward on the projects and goals that matter most to them.”

The major issue with this narrative is that it’s too generic.

It brushes over the heart of the problem. And since it tries to talk to everyone, it ends up connecting with no one.

Let’s wave our magic wand over this so that it resonates with the right target audience:

I help online entrepreneurs like you who keep postponing the projects that create the most impact on their business. Projects like promoting themselves, reaching out to influencers, and starting that Podcast interview channel.

The truth is: You end up shelving important projects because you do not measure the impact of the activities you invest the most time in. If that’s you, you’re in the right corner of the web.

Let me point out a couple of things that this narrative nails:

1. Has a very clear focus on the target audience, the people can benefit most from her services. No fluff, no beating around the bush. It is clear that the ideal audience is online entrepreneurs who’re not getting the desired results in their business.

2. Puts the spotlight on the exact pain point her ideal audience is grappling with

The narrative is highly specific. It may not be true for everyone- but it will resonate with the right audience at a deeper level.

And that’s the sign of a narrative that converts.

4. Share your mission. Not your motto

Your mission is what sets you apart from others. It is what shows your passion. When you’re on a mission, your audience wants to rally behind you and root for you.

They want to connect with you and become a part of your mission.

But your motto is your personal guiding light, it doesn’t highlight how you feel about the cause that you’ve built your business around.

Take a look at this motto:

My motto is: “You are who you are no matter where you are.” Behind that motto is the understanding that once you truly embrace who you are, the real you, that is where life and career success lies.

It doesn’t help me form a connection with the writer. That motto has nothing to do with me as a reader. It’s neither aligned with the services she offers.

Motto sounds preachy, the mission is actionable.

Let’s convert this motto into an engaging and enchanting mission:

I am on a mission to help you see yourself as a ‘success story in the making’ and not a sack of past failures. Before you can take giant strides in your career, you’ve got to stop your regrets from becoming your biggest roadblocks.

Saw the transformation? So replace your personal motto with a mission you care about.

5. Share your personal story

Personal stories on about pages do a great job at making your mission and you memorable. They also add a pinch of spice to your page.

Take a quick look at this boring piece of copy without any personal story:

My background is in newspaper reporting and I started this website to blend research, interviews with subject matter experts and storytelling. 

Now let’s wave our magic wand and inject a power-packed personal story into this dull statement:

I was working as a newspaper reporter at a popular publishing house. But I didn’t enjoy the mandatory ‘reporting language’ for writing news. I thought it sounded pretty robotic and dull.

I realized what most media reporters were putting out there wasn’t relevant to the youth they were reporting to.

 I saw the need for using techniques of storytelling to transform the dull news into something interesting that people would love to read on the go.

That’s why I decided to bring the change that I wanted to see in the industry.

Now, this positions them as a relatable person, someone with a genuine interest in the work that they do. There’s merit in being honest and wearing your heart on your sleeves.

You want to work with people who have an opinion about their industry.

What are you struggling most with on your about page?

Put those two lines below and I’ll be happy to transform it into something that positions you as an authority in your niche.

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This is a guest post on how to write an about page by Tavleen.

Grab her Wordsmith’s Secret Swipe File here to swap weak frail words/phrases in your copy with power-packed punches. Watch your staid, and humble offers turn into dynamos that sell and your prospects’ resistance melt away like butter in a hot saucepan.