Brand
In part one on this post, Write a Bio That Oozes Brand, I talked about how crucial your professional bio is to your brand. Now let’s move on to writing a killer bio.
Your bio is different from your resume, which means you have a little more room to let your personality shine.
In their book, Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand, branding experts William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson, recommend the following steps to creating a bio that effectively communicates your brand:
- Begin with a brand statement that provides the who, what, where, when and why about you that make your life and experiences compelling.
- Write in a style that reflects your attributes, and strive to make an emotional connection with your readers. This is not the place to be conservative and cautious. Be gutsy and courageous in sharing who you are. You can’t be all things to all people, so only focus on appealing to employers you want to work with or—if you’re self-employed—companies you want to work with.
- Get input from others who know you. Ask them “Does this make you think of me?”
- Consider getting help from a professional writer and testing your bio with hiring managers and executive recruiters.
- Once you’re satisfied with your bio, create versions in different lengths that will work for your all your online profiles, such as your web site, blogs, LinkedIn, social media profiles, etc.
Remember, a bio is only one part—but a critical one—of promoting your brand.
Do you have a bio in your arsenal of professional tools? Is it working? Please share with me.
