Outside of your profile photo on The Bash, your “About” section is the first thing you should expect prospective clients to look at. It acts as your go-to sell sheet in that it’s the one place you describe yourself, your service, and the reasons why they should want to hire you (without, of course, ever having to say the words, “You should hire me because…”).
So it’s important to pitch the right points in the right tone here. Fail to do that and your prospects might easily skip over to the next vendor’s profile. But what constitutes a solid pitch point, you might ask? And how exactly should all that information be written out? Believe it or not, there is a formula to writing the perfect business bio, and we’re going to explore now the various elements that create it.
Tips for Writing Your Business Bio
To start you off, here are a couple of ideas to keep in mind as you set out to write—or rewrite—your business’ bio:
Decide on a voice.
A business description written in first person can convey a personal feel to your brand’s message, while one written in third person can lend it a distinctly professional air. Decide which one best suits your style before you begin writing.
AVOID TYPING IN ALL CAPS.
There are rare exceptions to this rule (e.g. awards you would like to stand out in the text), as more often than not, a passage written in all capital letters looks clunky and can come across as shouting.
Watch your length.
You don’t want to go with the bare bones approach here, but you also don’t want to be writing a dissertation about your service. Either one can turn off a client. We find a happy medium is around 150-250 words (not including any third party quotes you may want to use). The goal is to nail down your pitch points without veering too far off track.
Now that you’ve selected your style and set you parameters, let’s look at the actual description and the pitch points worth including:
The Hook
This can be a definitive statement, or something that positions your business as the “premiere”, “best”, “top-rated”, or “#1” vendor in a particular category or specific location. Of course, you’ll want to support whatever title you lay claim to with the name of the source who appointed it, be it a website, magazine, or venue.
A Brief History
Be sure to include a few lines about your history, including how many years you, your company, your band, etc. have been in the business. You should also include any formal education, degrees, or training you’ve received that are relevant to your service. This will lend credence to your level of experience as a seasoned professional.
Industry Awards & Achievements
Consider taking a page from your brag book and sharing from it a few of the most notable accolades you’ve received in recent years. List off the names of any major awards you’ve won, but be sure not to ramble for too long. It’s important to impress readers without overdoing it.
Reputable Clients and Venues
Again, it’s OK to brag a bit by noting some the famous clientele and venues you’ve worked both for and at. This will plant the seed in the reader’s mind that you’re an A-list vendor worthy of A-list gigs. That being said, never name drop without the explicit consent of the individual at hand. If you’ve worked with a celebrity, but it was for a private, closed-door event, they might not be comfortable with you sharing their identity.
Call to Action
Here’s where you should be sealing the deal with your reader. Explain how you’re ready to work one-on-one with them to make their special event a memorable one. By ending with a CTA, or call to action, you’re looking to motivate the reader to contact you for a quote today. Make note of any special offers you’re running and kindly suggest that they reach out to you for a free, no-obligation consultation.
Note that while it’s often best to open your “About” section with a hook, and close it with a CTA, feel free to mix up the order of the pitch points we've discussed here however you'd like. Be creative and have fun with it!
This brings us to our final topic, and it’s one that can’t be stressed enough. You must take the time to carefully edit your work! You could come up with the most brilliant description, but if there’s a glaring grammatical error, or if words are misspelled, those mistakes can stand out as red flags for the clients who catch them. Here are a few simple tips to guarantee the copy you've written is error-free and profile-ready:
Read it once over in your head.
After you've completed the actually writing process, take a moment to read though your description in its entirety. Doing so will help you establish the flow and ensure it reads smoothly and intelligently.
Read it out loud, very slowly.
This will help you catch any missing words that you might have glossed over while reading it in your head. Hey, it happens. When you're that familiar with the words you've written, you read them as they should look and sound in your head, while on paper— or the screen— they’re actually missing words like “a”, “to”, or “the”. You want to be sure you catch those when checking over your work.
Beware of homophones.
This one might sound like a flashback to your fifth grade English class, but it’s a blunder we’re all guilty of committing. Refer to this cheat sheet for a reminder on the proper uses of homophones such as “they’re”, “there”, and “their”. And remember, you can’t depend on a spell checker to pick up on these grammatical gaffes. They slip by as words that are spelled correctly, but rest assured, when used improperly, they’re unmistakable errors.
Pass it on.
Hand what you've written off to three different friends or family members who you trust have an eye for proofreading. Have them carefully read through what you've written and get their feedback on any copy edits, as well as the overall tone of the text.
Check back after the fact.
When you’re totally entrenched in what you’re writing, it can become difficult and often frustrating to continuously sift through the same words over and over again. Once you feel confident in what you've written, leave it be for a few days. Return to it with a fresh set of eyes for a final read-through before posting it to your profile.
In the end, your service description needs to act as a resume, hitting on all of your selling points, while reading in a tone that’s equal parts professional and personable. And, of course, it can’t afford to have any tpyos typos! If you think your “About” section could use a bit of work, revisit what you've written and try crafting something new with these tips in mind.
Think your business' bio matches the formula we've provided? Share a link to yours below and let’s have a look!
