How to write: About page
When searching How to Write About Pages, I found a lot of information for mid-sized businesses, but very little information designed for solopreneurs. So here you go: How to write an about page as a small business or solopreneur — the short version, because I know you don’t have a lot of time (because you’re doing everything for your business already).
The About Us Page Format
The about page structure I recommend for solopreneurs is based on this idea: Your right-fit clients don’t just want the service or modality you offer, they want it from you. So you have to show them who you are, not just what you do! As a solopreneur you have a “personality-driven business” and your personality — who you are, how you make people feel, your values, your sense of humor — is one of the best differentiators you have to draw clients to you. Use it. This format will help you do that:
Part 1: About Page Header and tagline
Introduce yourself with a simple “Hi, I’m [your name]” and what you do.
Like “Hi, I’m Lauren, ethical copywriter for coaches and service-based entrepreneurs. I’m also a Virgo, Enneagram 8w9, Manifesting generator, INFJ, gardener, and tea hoarder — seriously, it’s a problem”
Notice it’s not all business — the best introductions give your reader a real sense of who you are as a person. Bonus points if you include humor. My ideal clients tend to know astrology, enneagram, human design and Meyers Briggs types, so that’s what I use as shorthand for them to know who I am at a glance. What details about you would give your ideal clients a quick insight into who you are?
Part 2: Introductory Paragraph
Here we get back to business — because your business About page is NOT your autobiography (and it’s not your resume). The most effective About pages answer the Big Question on your reader’s mind: Why should they work with you?
Stumped? Don’t worry! The answer to that very hard question is: Your Point of View (POV). POV = Why you do What you do in the Way you do it. There is a reason you’ve chosen your specific modalities to help solve your clients’ problems. There is a reason you perform your service in a specific way that’s different from how other people tend to do it. There is a reason you came to the work you do, probably because you have wrestled with the problem yourself and figured it out.
You have figured something out. You took a journey to do that. In this paragraph, and maybe 2 more paragraphs after it, tell the story of your journey. How did you come to do this work in the way you do it? Short version. TLDR is a thing.
Part 3: Happily (or Complicatedly) Ever After
At the end of your journey to find The Way Which Worked (the way you found to solve the problem for yourself, or for your clients, or both), what were you able to do that you couldn’t before? Or what can your clients do that they couldn’t before? This is the “happy ending” where you get to say “And now that I’ve figured this out, I’ve helped dozens of clients overcome that problem too. If you’d like to explore working together, see my services page.”
Buuuuut… this is really important: Don’t give yourself a fake happy ending if the real story is more complicated.
My favorite example of radical transparency in this part of the page is from a client who was a relationship coach for “tough” men and women who were aggressive and defensive (often succeeding professionally, but failing in their romantic relationships). Once she figured out how to soften and let her defenses down, she hoped to find The One. Didn’t happen. And we didn’t pretend that it did. Because what she actually found was so much better: She was happier with herself after doing the work.
Always be transparent. Because A) it’s honest, and B) it’s always a better story.
Part 4: Invite them to work with you
If your story resonates with your reader, invite them to deepen the relationship! Usually that’s by checking out your sales page or services, but it might also be signing up for your newsletter, or hopping on a free call with you.
Part 5: The Fun Facts (don’t treat this as an afterthought)
This is my favorite part of the page to write. So much so that on my About page, I have… multiple Fun Facts sections. Too many really. There’s a reason for this: These aren’t just throw-away facts. They’re human to human connection points that build the “Like” factor in the Know + Like + Trust we need to build for sales. People buy from people they feel like they know, like, and trust. The About page as a whole builds all three. The Fun Facts carries almost the whole burden of Likeability. BUT — it’s really easy to screw it up.
2 of the most Common ways to screw up your About Page fun facts (and crush your likability)
Highlights reel: If you just list big accomplishments like hiking Kilimanjaro, taking long walks on the beach on your lunch hour, or traveling the world… you’re not relatable. You come off as bragging. Nobody likes that.
Boooooring: If you overly course-correct from bragging, you could careen into BORING! So you don’t load your dishwasher optimally - who cares? You like reading and walking your dog… so does everyone else… yeah.
The Fixes
Show me the FUNNY! So you hiked Kilimanjaro… how many blisters did you get? What’s it like to have an intestinal parasite at 19,000 feet? So you traveled the world… what is the most awkward experience you’ve had in a foreign country? So you walk on the beach every day… ever step on a stingray and have someone pee on your leg? Self-deprecating humor can really save your bacon when you want to write your Greatest Hits list, because then you become human like the rest of us.
Me? I’m a gardening goddess who grows my own organic produce and raise my own chickens… except the chickens complain non-stop and I’m pretty sure they’d eat me if they could, and the produce is shared with (read: eaten by) bluejays, rabbits, sow bugs and gophers (I’ve learned to just plant extra).
Be Specific. Nothing specific is boring. You like to read? What do you like to read? What books are on your night stand right now? Don’t tell me you like to read Self Help books. Tell me you’re reading Code Red by Lisa Lister! Maybe I’ve read that too! BOOM! Connection. Love walking your dog? What kind of dog? Breed? Mix? Rescue? Something-poo that’s probably smarter than all of us? If you’re a house plant mama, I want to know: Monsterra? Fiddle Leaf fig? How many plants have you killed in the past year (see FUNNY).
And that is IT! You’ve just written a personality-fueled About page that will set you apart as a service-based solopreneur. Congratulations! Not as bad as you thought, right?
Or was it.
???
If you’re onboard, but still kinda confused, I have a whole About Page Workbook that will lead you through every single section with easy to answer prompts and many examples.