How To Write About Yourself To Get Leads
One of the big omissions I see on a regular basis is that web designers tend to not have an “About Me” page. Or, if they do have an “About” page, the content isn't helping them drive leads. Here are three ways to write about yourself. We'll start with the worst structure. The middle approach is, meh… The third concept is the one that will generate the most leads for you… by far.
The Accident Method
The worst way to write about yourself is to make it sound like you started your business by accident and it's just good luck that you have a business. The accident method sounds something like this.
I've always loved art and design but never really knew how to make a career out of it. When I got out of college I got a job working at an RV campsite and they didn't have a website. They were going to hire a web developer but I said I wouldn't mind trying to put a website together on my own. That's when I built my first WordPress site. I had such a great time and realized that not only did I love the design aspect of working with websites I also loved the idea of helping companies grow.
So I started building more websites on the side and now I'm doing it full time! Give me a call and let's grow your business together!
This is obviously the worst because it doesn't inspire confidence or position you as an expert with the authority to solve big problems for your clients.
The Recruiter Told Me To
The next approach that is common to see is pulling the pattern right out of a recruiter's playbook. Maybe you've tried to get a job through a recruiting firm or just had somebody coach you through posting a resume for a corporate position somewhere. It's easy to assume that the same pattern would work great on your About Me page.
When that happens, you end up with an About Me page that reads like a resume where everybody follows this 5-step little formula:
- Introduce yourself and let people know your basic information – name, phone, email, etc.
- List a few past projects or name-drop of few clients (that you probably worked on through somebody else's agency)
- List your tech skills (even if you're not 100% confident in everything on the list)
- Talk about how much your care about your clients to the point where it almost sounds like your begging for work
- Wrap things up with some personal stuff you like to do when you're not working
This is a lot better than the Accident Method because you're at least giving some details about what you can do. This may help you land a few clients especially if the client is really more of a “middle-man” style client where they hire you as an outsourced resource for one of their clients. In other words, where you are not working directly for the actual client – it's your client's client. We used to call this “your grand-client” (like your grandparent).
Anyway, the point is, describing yourself like this will help you by telling people what you can do. If people like what they see and need somebody to do those things then maybe you'll get hired.
Establishing Yourself As An Authority
The goal of becoming a DoubleStacker is to become a sought after, high-ticket consultant, not a low-budget implementor. The truth is, if you're going to be a high-ticket consultant, you don't want people to simply hire your fingers to spin up a website. You want people to hire your mind so you can deliver a transformative impact for your clients' businesses.
As we saw in the previous two techniques, the temptation is going to be to focus on yourself but that's not what you really want to do. Instead, you always keep the spotlight shining on your client even when you're writing about yourself. In other words, what is it about you and your history that builds up confidence in your client's mind so they understand that YOU have the expertise and authority to deliver results?
This is something we spend a lot of time on in DoubleStack because it can be hard to think of how to word everything. It's very common to just go blank and have no idea what to say. If you feel stuck and can't think of anything to write, or you end up saying incredibly generic stuff that doesn't mean anything, it's almost always because your audience is too broad.
To be able to write an effective and inspiring About Me page you have to know:
- who you're writing to
- what problems they have
- what outcomes they are hoping to achieve
Then you have to talk about their problems in their language (use the words your client's use, not our tech-talk buzz words). The point is to show them that you're an insider in their world. You know exactly what they're going through because you are one of them and you know exactly what they want.
For example, if you're trying to connect with people who own and run auto dealerships if you're just an average every-day web designer that hasn't ever worked with an auto dealership it is easy to assume that the main thing they want to do is sell cars. But the truth is that's not really how they measure the success of their marketing campaigns. Of course, they want to sell cars, but what they are really looking for is to increase the number of test drives they're getting. They know if they can get people to come in for a test drive it's very likely that those people will end up buying a car. Let them know that you know what they really want and they will realize you're an insider. Now you've got the edge over all the other garden-variety web designers out there.
Having established that you're an insider, now talk about the aspects of your history, skillset, and your past experiences that prove that you know exactly what it takes to deliver more test drives.
If you do it right, it's a subtle thing. But are you seeing how you're keeping the spotlight always shining on your client even when you're talking about yourself?
You're always saying, “I know what you want. I know what you want. I know exactly what you want AND I've got the chops to deliver.”
Write about yourself like that and you're About Me page will win you leads.
Want Some Help Winning Clients?
If you're ready to win high-ticket long-term clients and you'd like to join the DoubleStack Five Figure Family, let's schedule a time to talk.
We'll get on the phone for about 45 minutes and take a deep dive into your business. Tell me what's working, what's not working, and we'll put together a step-by-step plan to attract and win your ideal clients so you can build a profitable and sustainable web design business for yourself.
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