Lessons
Class Introduction
08:38 2The Importance of a Good Bio
05:25 3How to Interview Yourself Like a Top Journalist
05:47 4Adding Personality Into Your Bio
12:27 5Echoing Your Client's Language in Your Bio
08:58 6Creating Your Bio-Thesaurus
03:44 7Creating a First Draft & Intro
21:51 8Writing a Compelling Byline
04:36Lesson Info
Writing an “About Page” that Pops
Writing an About Page that pops. So this is essentially like the final one, it's like the big climax that we're all building into, and why it's so important is because it's the second most visited page on your website. I mentioned that earlier. People go to your Home page and then they're like I wanna know more about this person, so they click through, so this page has to be awesome, 'cause we don't wanna lose them, we don't want them to click away after that. Couple mistakes I see on About pages. Industry jargon right? This comes up a lot, I have to keep repeating it, just because it's something that should always be top of mind for us. I am in that crowd of it needs to be top of mind for because I do it myself, so it's just a constant reminder. Also, people will edit out all of their personality from an About page. This happens a lot when we edit as we write, that's why the rough drafts or the first drafts are so important, so don't do that. Also don't worry about like it's not profe...
ssional and things like that. Just sound like you, you, you, you. You are a professional so don't edit yourself out of your writing. And then also trying to please everyone and worry about offending. This is something I hear so much where it's like but if I say that, then so and so might get mad, or if I say that, you know this person might not like it. Look, at the end of the day, I believe that you don't wanna sensor, within reason, you don't wanna sensor yourself from your clients, right? You don't wanna sensor your business because it makes your existence in your business really miserable if you're constantly trying to pretend to be someone you're not, or like I have a little mini story about this. Like years ago, I like told this funny secret which is not even that funny, I was just like I love the Twilight movies and I do so oh well, right (laughs)? And it was just like I know they're guilty pleasure and they're silly, but I loved it. Well I actually had somebody write to me and they were like that's so unprofessional. Like those movies are terrible and why would you say that? And I'm like okay bye (audience laughs) and I was glad, and then I realized I'm like, thank goodness I talked about Twilight because I do not want that person to be my client, because God forbid if I ever talked about like (stutters) you know if I was like oh, this weekend I watched the Twilight movie again and then they were like so disgusted, and like repulsed by me, like I don't want that to be my client. So keep that in mind like, be okay with like the things that you like and the things that you do, and the things that you say. Like at the end of the day, do you really wanna work with somebody who's gonna be super offended and turned off by who you really are? And have to pretend to be something like watered down, filtered version of yourself just to make them happy? Heck no! We don't do that in relationships, we don't do that with friends, family, so you shouldn't do it in business 'cause it strips all of the fun out of it. So be you and don't worry about that. Being you should attract the right people into your business, the people that love that you're you, and appreciate it, and actually are excited to work with you 'cause they're like thank you, you're filled with awesome personality that I can get behind. Alright so here are the things to include in an About page and you will get a template for this, so don't worry about like frantic note-taking. So it starts out with a this is what I do statement. So basically you're just saying this is what I do, right? And you'll be plucking this from your earlier bios. Then you're gonna stack your impressive credentials. So number of years you've been in business, these could be academic credentials or notable press mentions. You noticed that earlier in my bio where I listed out press mentions? That's what I chose to do. We don't all have press mentions, we, some of us have awesome academic credentials, some of us have like killer client credentials. I don't care what you put in there (chuckles). Just any kind of credentials. Don't go crazy! Like don't put a million of them 'cause that gets really boring, but stack the most impressive ones, the ones that you're most proud of you can put in. Alright, and then you want some details to prove that you walk your talk. So, "Demonstrate that you live your mission." You know if you help people live a bold life let's say, then share an example of how you live a bold life. If you help leaders, we need an example in your About page of how you lead, right? Like you do something, share a mini story. So just show that you practice what you preach, that's really, really important. You don't wanna just tell people like I'm awesome at leadership, right? You wanna show them that you're awesome at leadership. So anytime you can share a little anecdote or mini story, that's really important. And then details on what you do when you're not working. So we talked about this a lot. Fun facts, 10 things you don't know about me, five things you don't know about me, whatever you wanna put, whatever works for you. And then a clear action step; so important in an About page. We miss this a lot, is that we just end our About page, and there's like nothing like what's next? There's no journey right? Like there's no I'm just wandering in a circle, like I don't know where to go next right? So you don't want them to feel that way. So give them something to do. Schedule a consultation with me, sign up for my email newsletter, follow me on Instagram, I don't care what it is; pick one thing though, not multiple things. Give them a clear next step so that they're not just left like wandering and lost without a map.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Victoria
Short, sweet and simply amazing! Melissa has such great energy, conveys her messages across with the right amount of information mixed with animation and humour, and provides helpful best practice templates for you to put what you've learnt into use right away. Highly recommended.
Margaret Lovell
I find the tips in this class helpful because while I'm a good writer, I hate writing about myself. Melissa's template is perfect for someone like me. I recommend this course.
Bettina Palazzo
What a life saver! I got so much inspiration and fun practical help our of this course, when I was stuck on writing a bio that would make me feel confident.