Often your brand bio seems like an afterthought, maybe you’ve quickly jotted down your job title and a bit about what you do and thought you might come back to it later. You’re missing a vital opportunity to standout and help your audience understand why you or your brand should be important to them.
The first rule of brand bio club
And I know you don’t like to brag, blow your own trumpet. So don’t sweat it. The first rule of brand bio club (and marketing for that matter) is making it all about your audience. I want to make this really actionable for you and remember, this is the start. How you develop this onto your LinkedIn description, your “about” longer-form bio and maybe even over to your website, will be made clear.
First, I want to break down a few “barriers”. I was having a conversation with a client about her brand bio and specifically LinkedIn. She hit a brick wall, a complete stop and had that blank page block. If you’ve experienced the same, I’d ask you if you were at the golf club, at the rock climbing centre or wherever you hang out and someone asked you what you do (I hate that question by the way), what would you say? You are good at saying who you serve, how you serve them and ultimately what you do and I bet you say it with a glint in your eye, a little smile. DO THAT. Just because there’s an “interface” called Linkedin or your website in-between you and a person don’t let it suck all your personality out of you. Forget that interface.
Let’s talk about your brand bio
You need to have several of these bio things. Yes, several of them. You’ll want to set up a Google doc so you can have a “swipe file” loaded with a couple of short, medium and long-form bios. I know that sounds like a lot and you probably didn’t sign up for that but there’s a good reason for it and you’ll thank me in the long term. Depending on where you are and who you’re talking to, you’ll have a bunch of appropriate options to “swipe and deploy” from your swipe file.
Brand bio #1: your short bio
This is the 8 oz shot, the espresso packed with 25 punchy words that will get across how you serve. This is not the boring, lame, confusing bunch of titles or words that will make people smile and start making beeline for the bar when you’re at that cocktail party. No, give them a quick and exciting way of saying how you serve people.
Here’s an example of a 25-word short bio.
“I’m {Sian}, I teach creative entrepreneurs how to craft utterly irresistible offers and successfully sell without feeling like they're selling their soul."
As you can see, the short bio is basically a quick introduction. It makes much more sense to say who and how you serve rather than whittling off your job title and a ‘business coach’ doesn’t sound as intriguing. It’s short and sweet so you could use it on your LinkedIn headline which provides much better visibility to your positioning than a job title or something vague like “director”.
Brand bio #2: third person
You can take your short bio and turn that into a taller 12 oz bio and it’s always a good idea to have one written in the third person. If you’re going to be featured in a publication, a guest on a podcast, a speaker at an event, a longer version of about 75 words is needed. You still want to talk about who you serve, how you do that with a little more detail and that all-important call to action. As this is external you’ll want to drive audiences to head on over to your website where they can find out more about you.
I know what you’re thinking, it might be weird to have this written up in the third person. If you are going to be a guest on a platform or have a guest article featured in Forbes, you want to have this written up so that you can control your brand positioning and make sure it says what you want it to say. Don’t leave it up to someone else to write, it’s your personal branding.
You might even use this (in the first person) in the LinkedIn description.
Here’s an example of a 75-word bio:
“Hey, I’m {name} and I show agency owners how to gain an unfair advantage and crack the growth code to give them exactly what they want which is more consistency and less stress in their business, while giving them the tools, strategies and frameworks to get clients like clockwork once and for all so they can quit the boom and bust rollercoaster. If you’re ready for more freedom in your agency, come visit me at workwithsian.co.uk”
Brand bio #3: long-form
The grande, the 16 oz that’s got a bit more substance and we start to be a bit more detailed about you and build in your back story for credibility. This longer version, about 150 words should include more of your credentials, your personality, maybe even family or hobbies so you can start to build connection and rapport. You’re taking your short bio and building it out into something that you could use in your LinkedIn ‘about’ section.
When someone lands on your LinkedIn page, your social media page and you have really leveraged the headline, the description and about sections I want people to feel like they have met you. They’ve gotten to know you a little bit and after they’ve experienced that “handshake” they want to go for coffee, get to know you better.
When you’ve created your own “swipe file” with your short, medium and longer form bios and you’ve got a few options, one or two in the third person, keep it on a Google doc or Notes on your phone so you can quickly copy and paste anytime a situation arises where you need it. If you have a VA or a team who helps you on LinkedIn or responding to enquiries and emails, they should have access to this swipe file too.
You don’t think you need it but once you have this little beauty set up you’ll be surprised how many times you’ll be reaching for your swipe file.
And if I can leave you with a parting thought before you head off to create your brand bio swipe file, it’s this. Your bio, your introduction, should only be intended to turn your perfectly aligned clients’ heads. Remember the latin origin of the word ‘advertising’ is ‘advertere’ which means to turn the mind towards.
Let’s break this down so this is really actionable for you.
You’re going to create a Swipe File for your bios on a Google Doc or Notes on your phone.
Write out your short, tall and grande bios with a couple in third-person format.
If you’re a little stumped and need a hand, download my Brand Bio cheat sheet to get you started (it’s got "fill in the blanks" if you don’t rate yourself as a wordsmith).
Refresh your social media profiles and LinkedIn profile with your new words.
Follow me on Instagram or LinkedIn and dm me your bio, I'd love to see if.
