How Much is Too Much “About Me”?

Working with me as your marketing content and business strategist, I’m going to review your strategy and tactics; which includes reviewing your website in detail.

The page that brings the most discussion and confusion is your “About Me (Us)” page. It seems that some introverts may be uncomfortable pulling back the curtain on ourselves as the human being behind the company.

Let me start by being crystal clear – people buy from people, not from entities. So
unless you’re a corporation of hundreds of employees – as a small business owner,
we want to know WHO we are dealing with before we hire you. This is
especially true when your services or industry is in the high trust factor range.

Next may be a painful point, since today’s society places an incredible amount of scrutiny on physical appearance.

Yes, we do need to see your professionally photographed headshot in your About Me page at the very least. If you can include photos of yourself “in action” elsewhere in the site, even better. Hopefully you’re wearing regular “every day professional” clothing that you might be wearing when I come meet you.

In my website, I included an AI-generated “drawing” version of me and my team. I can do this because there are other real, professionally photographed, images of
me throughout the site. If it is the only page you’ll be in, then no, the AI drawing is not acceptable. Clients expect a real headshot or a full body photo of you dressed
ready for work. If you wear a logo shirt or uniform, go ahead and wear that for your website photo. In business there’s no good substitute for a professional headshot.

People want to know more about you as it relates to your services and how it impacts them, the customer. Example – do I need to know your background story if I hire you to fix a faucet? Probably not. But I do want to see your plumber’s license, etc.

Do I need to know more about your background if you’re going to become my assistant? Train my dog? Design my home renovation? Yup. I do.

Revealing some of your “where I come from” is helpful, because it allows us to establish a more solid, ongoing relationship. It also helps distinguish you from other professionals who outwardly appear to be very similar to you. If there are multiple candidates available, a good About Me page will help prospects make their decision.

Here’s a breakdown of what you should consider including:

• Education
  List your industry-specific degree, certification, license. You’ve worked hard, spent years and money studying for that education, so be proud and show it. If you’ve won some awards in your specific field, go ahead and show off.
• Origin
  A little background story in what inspired you to follow this field. Just a few little sentences will sprinkle some human interest that will help me lean your way.
• Family
  Is your family history relevant? I was finally able to show my entrepreneurial history on my website after finding some cool photos of my parents, grandparents and even my great grandfather’s businesses! This is to show that entrepreneurship runs deep in my blood.
• Purpose
  Feel free to also share your company’s mission here, and if your business is supporting/contributing to a non-profit organization, this is also worth stating. If you’re on a board or leadership of any organization, and contributing to your community, this is nice to mention as well.

If you’re going to be designing my new bathroom, I don’t need to know that you also have a degree in Ancient Greek Mythology, love fishing, and that you have 3
dogs. That’s all very nice and can come up in conversation as we’re working together later, just not on your website please.

Back in the day, it used to be more common for women entrepreneurs to mention their husband and children; but these days, unless you’re a marriage counselor or
running a daycare, it’s likely irrelevant and distracting.

Typically if your clients will be interacting with someone on your team, it’s helpful to
introduce them here. A small sized headshot, their name, their title, their
professional email address.

If your team is fairly invisible to your clients, feel free to include them or leave them
off at your discretion. Remember to always get permission from people if you want to include them. In my site, I’ve included some “behind the scenes” people who are not my employees, but because I’m proud to work with them, I want to recognize their help and services as extremely valuable to me.

Being a family owned business gives you some bonus points. It shows a solid foundation, credibility, and a company that’s put a firm stake in the ground. If,
however, some of those family members are not yet of legal adult age, I would keep their photos, names and contact information off for safety reasons.

There was a time it was considered embarrassing that your company operated from your home. Back then it was seen as “unprofessional” and more of a
hobby. Thankfully, home offices are now the norm and no longer looked down upon.

I’ve worked from home for almost all of my 22 years in business. I’ve not shown a picture of my home on my website. However, my address is on my website and
on the bottom of my newsletters. Mention what you feel comfortable – your town, county, general area. I used to say that I had offices in New Jersey (my house), California (when I visited my daughter) and Massachusetts (when I visited my sister). It sounded very fancy!

If you own a property that wants foot traffic and welcomes customers – a law firm, salon, studio, etc, then you’ll absolutely want a photo of the front of your location published on your site, as well as your address clearly stated. You should also include any helpful GPS/driving information so that your clients can get to the right location.

Details such as parking, hours of operation, going upstairs, which door to enter, etc must be clearly stated. If you expect people to go to your office that involves
front steps or that’s not on the ground floor, state whether there is wheelchair access or an elevator.

You do have the option of moving that “where to find us” information to the Contact Us page or even on the home page.

Is this a lot of information? I hope so, and I hope it helps. If you feel that business strategy and content planning is confusing, and you’d rather avoid these details,
that’s a sign that you can use some help. Reach out with a simple email and let me know what areas of your business could use a helping hand.