Copy Camp: Tell Me The Truth

Today I’m talking about your “About” page. So many people tell me they want to sound a certain way – either to sound like someone (not themselves) or to sound more something. And this is the problem with the world – everyone wants to be MORE. More confident, more impressive, more popular, more established. People think impressive figures will make them sound better or the good old writing in the third person: “Jess Collins is a talented writer with over a decade of experience….” Because they worry that writing in the first person will look too amateur (it doesn’t – it looks real).

And that’s the thing – in trying to sound like everyone else every five minutes you’re denying yourself of your individual magic. I feel the same way when I learn a beautiful teenage girl has smothered her face in make up, trying to strip out every inch of her individuality and turn herself into an “it” girl. Except she simply becomes a number then – she literally covers up what makes her her.

Quite honestly (and flying in the face of most copywriting advice) my biggest piece of advice when writing your About page, is stop thinking about what others will think. Write from your heart and just tell the truth. Does anybody really care that you’re professional (expected), unobtrusive (isn’t everyone?) or have been in the industry for five years? I would rather know about you and get to see the authentic person that I’m working with. So don’t use generic terms, don’t copy and paste the language of others that you admire (bonus points for originality), just do you. And try to do it in under 200 words.

Then you’ve got yourself the bare bones of an About page.