Soooo.. you are thinking about creating an about me freelance-page?
Often, we’ll write our life story and all our interests. Look at these examples of real about me-pages:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
What do you notice here?
I noticed that they are focused on the writer and what they want: “me, me, me!” It seems obvious because it is an “about me”-page after all. And they are among the most important pages on a website because we freelancers are in the relationship business.
In reality, the harsh truth is that clients only care about us in as much as it helps them. That is a great opportunity for you to stand out with your own.
In this article, I’ve prepared examples of great about me-pages and a quick and dirty template you can use to write your own off of. Before we jump into all of that, let’s first dive into how we should approach the about me-page in the first place.
Before you write your about me-page
Many of us think that we NEED a website in order to get clients. If you don’t have any clients yet, don’t worry about getting a website or an about me-page.
It’s nice to have but you don’t need it to get clients. You might even end up using it to procrastinate instead of reaching out to businesses, you’d like to work with.
The reality is that you don’t need anything but an email (it doesn’t even have to be a professional one) and a Paypal or bank account to get paid.
A website can distract you from earning more money because without knowing that your idea will work, you might be inclined to change it every time you change your freelance business idea.
If you start out offering writing services, create an about me-page, and then discover that you actually prefer to do programming or marketing – or work with an entirely different industry, you’ll feel like you have to change it over and over again.
It’s a huge distraction because few people will actually see the page until you get traffic. Instead, you’ll be better off testing your freelance business idea and only set up a page when you’ve got a bunch of clients and feel sure that you’ll continue with this idea down the road.
The second point is that you don’t have to make it perfect. If you focus on that, you’ll never move forward and earn more money. Again, only a few people will see the page until you drive traffic to it.
Rather, make it good enough and move on. The more you know about your customers, the better you can make the page. Writing attractive pages that sell your services for you is about what the reader wants, not what you and I want.
How to quickly write your own about me-page
Below, I’ve prepared a script you can use to base your about me-page off of. Before we dive into it, let’s cover the general direction first.
You don’t need to write about your own life and interests except for a short section at the end (if at all). And you kinda don’t even need that. If you are able to sprinkle in short stories or anecdotes here and there that can help, though.
There is no such thing as one size fits all and writing it too short or too long. It depends on your clients. It might be tempting to write it like your CV but the key is to write a great narrative that covers what the potential client is thinking about.
The most effective way to know what they are thinking, and want to know about you, is to… *gasp*… ask them. The best way I know is to either meet them in person or ask them on a phone call.
Most people hear that and think “sure, that makes sense… but I don’t need to do that right now. I’ll begin without and do that later”. Later becomes never.
I don’t win or lose anything if you don’t do it – but you will. Because almost everyone is too lazy or afraid to do it. That means, if you can overcome it you’ll win big.
It’s the difference between your dream clients visiting your page and closing it, or emailing you to discuss a project. It’s the first thing they see – they won’t know what’s going on in your head. All they see is the words on your page.
Instead of thinking “this sounds right” or wonder how accurate it is, you’ll KNOW that it’s correct. It is more work than what most other people will tell you to do. It is also virtually guaranteed to help you land clients because the businesses you want to work with have literally given you the insights that you put on the page.
I say “virtually” because there are no guarantees in life but I’ve used that exact approach many times with great success.
Just know that doing customer research calls with your dream clients is less weird than you might think.
You don’t need to write your page like a CV and in fact, most of us have too many items in our CV anyway. Great about me-pages are targeted specifically to the few clients that are a perfect fit for you – not every business out there. The more specific it can be, the better.
When you think about questions like how you should introduce yourself (e.g. as a freelancer, marketer, or entrepreneur), which tone of voice to use, etc. think not about you but what your client expects (you’ll have the answer from your customer research).
If you know that they refer to a freelance designer as just that, then that’s what you should call yourself. The goal is to make sure they instantly realize they are in the right place when they open your page.
That also means focusing on what is most important for them. For freelance marketers, their clients often want results related to revenue or sales. With programmers, their clients might want software than runs smoothly and help their customers solve a specific problem – not beautifully written and well-kept code.
Either way, the key is focusing on the results that are important to your specific type of client. It is almost always a big mistake to “borrow” someone else’s about me-copy because it is targeted to their type of clients. Yours will likely be slightly different and thus it doesn’t resonate with them when they visit your site.
About me-page template script
“Does any of this sound familiar?
- [Client problem #1]
- [Client problem #2]
- [Client problem #3]
If so, read on.
Hi, I’m [NAME], and I help [YOUR TYPE OF CLIENTS] with [YOUR SERVICE OR RESULTS].
Imagine [What your clients want after they get results by working with you – e.g. go on holiday, etc.]
Are you ready to do it?”
This is a quick and dirty script that does the job for you. Over time you can make it even better as you understand your clients better and better.
Notice that we just briefly describe what we do but that most of it is focused on the client’s challenges and what things will look like as a result of working with us. It is quite different than sharing your life story.
Most freelancers are focused on the solutions rather than deeply understanding the client’s problem. The difference is that the client feels like you really understand them and because freelancing is a business based on relationships, that connection is important.
For clients, to hand you their money, they have to trust you. And for them to trust you enough, there has to be a connection between the two of you.
Examples of good about me freelance-pages
I found a few examples of great about me-pages in the wild:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Takeaways
- For most of us, it is too early to create an about-page and we will earn more by reaching out to potential clients directly.
- Make your about me-page good enough and move on. You can always come back to it later