By bbr

Okay, that may be an overstatement, but I’d be willing to bet that people to care more about who you are as a person than you think. We preach this to our clients all the time, (see this post called Close the Deal with a Great Bio) especially when it comes to the profiles we create for their websites and other materials.

I was reminded of this fact while on a recent week-long trip to Baltimore. The purpose of my trip was to attend and exhibit at the CPA FMA National Practice Management Conference, at least through Thursday. After that was complete, my husband flew up and we became tourists for the weekend, exploring mostly the Inner Harbor area. One of our favorite things to do when in a new city is to find the favorite local places to eat, and Saturday morning we discovered Miss Shirley’s for what turned out to be a fantastic brunch. As I was looking over my options on the menu, I noticed a separate laminated card on the table. This card was titled Meet the Miss Shirley’s Chefs and included snippets about each one, including a quote, their favorite dish, kitchen utensil they can’t live without and a fun fact. I loved it and immediately felt a connection with the place and those that ran it. It may seem silly, but knowing a bit about the people who were preparing my food did make me happy I was supporting this place rather than another. It also stood out to me since I have not seen this at any other restaurant…ever.

This is doubly important for professional services firms, since your clients are working directly with you, and paying substantially more for your services than I paid for a Bayou omelet and coffee. You can almost guarantee that potential clients are going to visit your website and check out your profile before hiring you and often before even reaching out to you. What they read there can make or break your opportunity to win new work. So make it interesting. Of course share all your degrees, certifications and qualifications to do the work you do. But also share something about you as a person as well. Hobbies, anecdotes and fun facts are what visitors will remember most…and can even be a deciding factor if the reader finds something in common with you. Don’t assume that no one cares what you do outside of the office. Your potential clients do care and it gives them a peek at who you are as a person and what it will be like to work with you.

One more note, NO ONE can write their own bio, or at least no one can do it well. We write bios all the time for clients, but no one on the bbr marketing team, yours truly included, would even consider writing our own bios. It takes an outsider to ask the right questions and paint a picture that you may be too self-conscious or humble to write yourself. So do yourself and your firm a favor and hire someone with experience and creativity to take this job off your plate. And avoid the inclination to water down the content when you get it to proof too. You are a fascinating person – make sure everyone knows.