Social Media Bio Meets Mind Map: It’s Vizify

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Vizify.com

If you have read my blog for a while, you know that I’m a big fan of the visual mode: using things like doodling, drawing, mind mapping to get ideas across quickly and release the creative side of me. My friend Ralph Dopping from The View from Here blog also wrote an outstanding post on the topic.

Through my better half, Bob Dunn (AKA @bobwp), I ran across a fun, visually popping tool not just for writing your bio, but for managing your entire online profile.

It’s called Vizify.

Their message is, “”…looking good online matters.” Vizify is a unified bio that pulls all your stuff together from across the web, summarizes it and puts it into a cool, at-a-glance form that is easy to digest. We writers are fond of the mantra, “Show, don’t tell.” This tool does just that.

To show you what I mean, I’m including some screen shots below from Bob’s Vizify profile. The first one shows an at-a-glance picture of the important stuff: where he works, how many years he’s been in business, an icon for his WordPress services, how much he has talked about WordPress-related topics on the web, number of workshops and conference speaking gigs he has under his belt—things like that:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Branding Tagged With: ,

How to Write an Irresistible Blog Bio

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girl kissing boyOnce, before the world was nichified, before online bios—or online anything—existed, I had eight different résumés. I was a freelance writer and my  skills and experience were all over the place, so I needed to separate them to appeal to each of my audiences.

My husband Bob suspected I had multiple personality disorder, but, actually, what I had gotten very good at was crafting my résumés to target specific markets.

If I wanted grant writing projects, I pulled out the fundraising résumé; if I was approaching school districts to write curriculum or asking teaching magazines for article assignments, I sent the education-focused one; and so on.

Your online bio should be constructed with that same kind of attention: with a focus on your blog’s goal and your audience. If you do that,  your bio will become an incredibly useful tool.

My stats show me that my about page is my blog’s second highest viewed page. I have picked up many new assignments and clients from this page alone. And as I move more into writing, I see it as one of the first stops publishers, agents and editors will make.

Here are some tips for making your online bio a magnet for getting you new business, more readers, or whatever else you want. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog as Marketing Tool, featured post Tagged With: , ,

About Page Blues: Are You Making Any of These 5 Mistakes on Yours?

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boy with guitarDid you know that your blog’s about page is consistently the second most-viewed page on your blog?

Whenever a new visitor’s breath is taken away by a post of yours, it’s the first place they go to find out who this amazing person is.

It’s your chance to hook your readers, make them come back for more great stuff from this fascinating blogger. (That would be you.)

Okay. Here’s the thing. You already knew that your blog’s about page isn’t really about you, right?

About pages can be tricky because your readers want to know more about you, but they also need to know how who you are makes you the best person to blog about your topics. And just how you can help them with their needs.

So it’s really just as much about them.

Don’t Make These 5 Classic About Page Mistakes

I see smart, talented bloggers make certain mistakes over and over again on their about pages. They are easily fixed, if you know what they are:

1. You don’t tell me what your blog is about.

Most people think it should be obvious what their blogs are about. But it’s the one thing missing from many, many blogs I visit. Your readers want to know what you’ll be talking about.

My blog’s about page says:

I love to write about things that get people thinking about how they can show up online in unique, real ways.

How they can attract more website and blog visitors with a true voice and compelling copy.

How they can use social media to get their brand out there in the world.

Don’t make me guess what your blog is about. Give me that reason to stick around.

2. You start by telling me how great you are.

One about page I read said, in the second sentence, “[Name here] has long been on the cutting edge of web technology.”

Okay, double demerit: he used the cliché “cutting edge” and he told me how good he is, instead of showing me.

It’s okay to list your achievements (in fact, you should), but let me see who you are and what you care about first.

3. You bore me with too many details.

I want a personal glimpse. I really do.

But 27 diary-like entries—including when you were born, what year you got your driver’s license, the date your first husband ran off with a younger woman and the color of your first-born’s hair—doesn’t quite hold my interest. (Actually read an about page with this information today.)

Better to cut that list down and make some of the trivia fit who you are as a blogger. Give me a sense of who you are and what you bring to this blogging thing.

4. It feels like you’re applying for a job.

I don’t care what college you graduated from. Sorry, but I don’t.

If your about page reads like a résumé, I probably won’t stick around.

Now, there are some instances where degrees and credentials are very important (for a therapist, professional coach or attorney, for example). Keep them in there, but just don’t lead with them because people want to get to know you first.

And take out the chronological history of places worked. Now if you had a job somewhere that lets me peek into a part of you that helps me understand who you are today and why you have this blog? Then, yes, I want to hear that.

5. You don’t give me a short version.

Sometimes, on a first-time visit, I’m in a hurry. If I don’t see what you and your blog are all about—and within seconds—I may click away.

Always include the Cliff Notes version of your about page in a bio box, right there in the sidebar on your home page. Some readers are looking for any old excuse not to hang around, so hook them on you as the blogger right away.

My home page bio (with photo included) is only 62 words but it tells readers right away what they can expect to see on my blog.

What about you?

What do you see missing on about pages you visit?

Do you mix a little personal into your page or keep it all professional?

What do you want to know about a blogger when you visit their page?

Filed Under: Blog as Marketing Tool, Blogging, Branding Tagged With: , , , , ,

Who Are You, Anyway?: Showing Up Online

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who is showing up onlineIt’s been a strange week. I’m in day 10 of the crappy upper respiratory stuff.

Type. Cough. Sniffle. Repeat.

I’m keeping my water glass to myself and trying not to breathe on Bob. In fact, it would be better if I just didn’t breathe at all, his eyes are saying.

And why is everyone
talking about website bios all of a sudden?

This week had a weird synchronicity to it. People have been talking about website bios and social media profiles. In phone calls. On Twitter. On forums. In emails.

Everywhere.

For a minute, I thought they’d all gone crazy. Then I put it together.

It’s what I’ve been working on all week for clients. Fun, memorable bios. About Us pages. Social media profiles.

Bios are on my brain. So of course I’m paying attention more.

You know, like when you buy a new car and all of a sudden you see all the other ones on the road just like it? They were always there, but you just noticed them.

Showing up online: part II

This past week, I had lots of smart questions from people struggling to create their bios, to boil down the essence of who they are in a short paragraph or two—in a way that is consistent and that attracts
the people they want to work with.

Here are some starter tips:

1. Align your profile and website bio with your brand.

Your website gives people a good idea of who you are (or it should). But if the bio on your website, the one on your blog and the one on Facebook sound like you are talking about three different people, I’d say you have a problem.

Unless you have multiple personality disorder. Then, of course, it would make perfect sense.

Connect your profile with your brand. If you are playful, and your website copy reflects that, so should your profile. Got a quirky sense of humor? Go with it.

Someone tweeted a line from my website bio on Twitter yesterday: She said, “@CatsEyeWriter’s website bio says she can juggle, has been to Timbuktu and can say, ‘Four knives will be sufficient’ in Swahili. I LOVE THIS!”

Everything I said was true. And, yes, a little quirky. Just like me.

Just be sure you show yourself in a real and consistent way—across all platforms.

2. Tell what you do best—and for whom.

When I am browsing through Twitter profiles and bios or visiting someone’s About Us page on their website, I am attracted to the ones that deliver their messages with style and originality.

One of my Twitter friends, Havi Brooks, says it this way on her website’s About Havi page:

My duck and I (okay, the duck is a little weird and that could be a blog post all by itself) help
bright, creative kooky people (who she does it for) destuckify their stuff so they can do their thing (what she does best).

She goes on to say:

So they can work through all the overwhelming, sometimes-terrifying goo that gets in the way of doing what they love and biggifying it like crazy.

When I read this, I know right away. Either I am her target market or I am not.

3. Leave the cardboard person at the doorstep.

I saw a small business networking site recently that warned its members to only enter “basic business information” into their profile. They said, “It’s not about you personally. It’s a business profile.

I couldn’t disagree more, particularly if you are a small biz owner. People who are deciding whether to interact with you are looking for someone real.

Asking yourself a few of these questions will help you uncover—and show—the real, multi-dimensional you:

1. What three things do you believe most about people?

2. What is the one thing you’ve done in your life that you are most proud of?

3. What’s the one thing you haven’t done yet that you want to do before you die?

4. What three adjectives best describe you?

5. Which movie or TV character are you most like and why?

6. What’s your favorite food or beverage?

7. Name the two things that bug you the most when they happen.

Use phrases from these answers to make a list. From that list, mix and match until you come up with the whole person that best describes you.

On Twitter, it’s a challenge to do that in just 160 characters, but that’s part of the fun. And it’s the very process that gets you to the core of who you are.

My Twitter profile says:

Slightly neurotic copywriter. Loves strong verbs, creating unique online identities, oaky Merlot & John Cleese. Thinks the word cree-A-tive is overused.

4. Act online in ways that match your profile.

People are getting to know and, hopefully, trust you, so your online behavior and the copy in your bio should not clash. Who you are should not change. Whether you write an article for a social networking site like Biznik, create a new blog post or make a comment on Twitter, stay true to
yourself.

5. Play with the content as you change and grow.

You aren’t going to be the same person you are today. None of us are. Hey, next year you might climb
Mt. Everest. Or write a book. Or become a goalie on a women’s indoor soccer team (which one of my clients did) You might join the hole-in-one club. Or master conversational French.

Profiles are easy to edit. Be sure to do that regularly so when things change, your customers, prospects and colleagues can keep up with all the cool things you are doing.

What does your profile say about you?

Filed Under: Blogging, Branding, Copywriting, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , , ,