German
One of the more awkward questions you get on a date, a job interview, or any new introduction is “Tell me about yourself.” Suddenly you’re in the spotlight. You start thinking to yourself trying to figure out some of your best features, what this person might want to know, or what sounds best to say.
Basically, you try to read their minds. If you’ve ever been in a situation like this, you know how difficult and nearly impossible trying to read a stranger’s mind can be.
Well, that’s the beauty of being a creative. When you offer a certain type of information, you gravitate a certain type of people. Therefore, it’s a lot easier to read their minds and “give the people what they want.” Here are the main things that your audience is looking for out of an “About” section.
What you can do for them
This is the number one thing that anybody wants to know before they invest their time, money, and/or energy into something.
“What’s in it for me?”
Your audience wants to know how your business benefits them. What problem does it offer a solution to? What issues does it solve? What frustration does it ease? How does your business offer usefulness to your audience?
You need to be clear with your reader on what exactly is the purpose of your business. Of course, to be clear with them you have to first be clear with yourself.
In 30 seconds or less you should be able to tell someone what your business is all about. If it takes you longer than that, you aren’t clear with what your business offers. Therefore, you can’t be clear with your reader on what they should take away after leaving your website.
If your “About” section doesn’t tell your reader how it can benefit them, how will they know if they want to stay and engage in your content or use your products? They don’t know if your business is something they want to know more about, or be apart of. They don’t know if they even need you.
What does this result in? That person leaving your site and never returning because you didn’t let them know what kind of USE your business would be to them.
Your qualifications
When you buy anything from anybody, you want to be sure that they are legitimate at what they do. You want to be sure that indulging in their services or products, you are making a good decision. Your readers are just the same.
They want to know why they should you trust you. What makes you an expert in your field? Why is your “insert service/product here” valid?
When creating an “About” section, your audience doesn’t just want to know about your business, they want to know about the person behind the business as well. People do not want to wait around hearing about how you love dogs, have a husband, three kids, and take long walks on your off days. They want to get right to the point.
For example, if you’re a business coach, share your story of how you built your business up to where it is now. What did it look like before? Share an embarrassing moment or two. What were some of the biggest lessons you had to learn on your journey?
Your audience is typically who you were before your business got to where it is now. People don’t come to your business just to have a chat about you guys being in the same struggle. They come to you because you have struggled with the same things that they have so they want to learn from you on how to do the same.
It’s important to share this before and after story with your readers. Not only does it build a genuine trust, considering you know exactly how it feels to be where they are, but it also shows that you’re not perfect.
Sometimes people get so intimidated by people when they feel that they have had everything on a silver platter. Once you show that you have been where they are and you worked for everything you have, people are more likely to want to engage with what you have to offer, be it a service or product. They want a story they can resonate with, which in turn helps them connect with what you have to offer.
As you can see, your about page is extremely important. There are certain professionalism tactics that give your audience what they want to know in order to engage in your content. In other words, “give the people what they want.”