Hey there and welcome to this episode where we are talking about what should go in your about page and why it’s not actually about you.
Now if you don’t have a website yet and you are just selling on tpt, don’t check out quite yet because this exact same concept also applies to the “my profile” tab in your tpt store.
When it comes to your about page, there are two main mistakes that I see a lot of teacher sellers making. Mistake number one is not having an about page at all. And the reason this is a mistake is because the about page is where people who are brand new to your site are going to go when they know nothing about you and they want to learn who you are and find out whether or not they can trust you.
So they might be wondering when they land on your site, “well who is this person to be teaching me about ____?”. You want to make sure you have an about page for them to go to so that they can learn who you are and why it is that you are qualified to be teaching them whatever you are talking about in your content on your site.
Now mistake number two is writing a long biography of your entire life as your about page. Now there is a reason that I’m calling it an about page and not an “about me” page.
See, your about page is not about you and I know that sounds completely backwards because it’s an about page and you’re gonna put your face on it and isn’t it supposed to be about the author? But it’s really not. See your about page is about the why and how that you’re helping the person who’s reading the about page.
Think about it in terms of when you visit a brand new website. Think about why you might click on the about page. I know for myself, if I click on an about page I am not looking to read the person’s entire life story. I do not want to know their favorite Tv show or how many pets they have.
What I want when I click on the about page is to find out, who is this person and do they really know their stuff? Can I trust the advice they’re giving me, or the resources or courses that they are selling? That’s what people are looking for when they go to your about page. The purpose of your about page is to build that know, like, and trust factor with people who are visiting your site.
You want to make sure that it shows them that you know their struggles. It shows how you can help them and proves that they can trust your advice or the things that you’re selling.
Now after you’ve identified that you know the struggles and that they can trust you, you do want to build the “like” part of that know like and trust factor by making a personal connection with a little information about yourself as well.
In this episode I’m going to give you a five part framework that you can use as a template for your about page. Before I get into that framework though I want to let you know that on the show notes for this episode, you can grab a free worksheet that walks through this framework and will help you plan out updates that you might want to make to your about page. You can find those at kristendoyle.co/episode3.
Let’s dive into the framework. Part one of our about page framework is an attention grabbing page title. Now, you’re going to use the word “about” for your url slug. So that portion of the url after your website domain. You’ll just use the word about for that and probably for your menu bar linked text as well. However, don’t just leave the word “about” as your page title. Write a much better page title than that – something that gets your readers attention and that shows them that reading this page is worth their time.
I gathered up some examples just from a variety of industries. Rent The Runways website says: The world saw a dress. We saw an opportunity.
A chef’s page that I saw says: It’s okay to make a mess. Experiments can lead to beautiful things. And then their page goes on to talk about how they have made experiments that have led to this beautiful website and their beautiful business.
Games are fun is one that I saw on one website. So keep your title on your about page short and sweet but come up with something that is interesting and will speak to your ideal customer who lands on that page.
The next step in our framework is to identify your purpose. So that people who come to your page know what you’re all about. You want to introduce yourself at the very beginning of the page but in a way that focuses on the benefits or the value that you’re offering to readers. You might think of this almost like an elevator pitch if you’ve ever heard of those.
An elevator pitch is a very short paragraph, maybe even one long sentence that identifies who you are, who you serve, and how you help them. You might use a simple framework like this one:
Hi I’m Kristen and I’m here to help [fill in the blank who is your ideal customer] with [what is the pain point that you are solving] by [providing or teaching or sharing whatever it is that you offer them].
So this turns into a kind of long sentence but it should very clearly identify who you are, who you serve, and how you can help them.
Part 3 in our framework is to identify who your site is for and let people know that they belong here. My favorite way to do this is in a bulleted list with a sentence stem before it, like
“You’re in the right place if:” and then some statements about them, about what they might be experiencing or going through or looking for.
Another sentence stem you could use is, “The fact that you’re here tells me:” and some statements below that that are showing that you understand who they are and that they are in the right place if they are struggling with this, or believe in that, or want to grow in a certain way.
Another one that I like is, “Maybe you’re looking for…” and then you can list out some of the things that you offer on your site in that section.
After you’ve done those 3 things, it’s finally time on the page to talk a little bit about yourself. But you’re not gonna start with your personal life. You’re going to start with what is relevant to your business and your target audience. You want to answer questions like when or why did you start your business? Focusing your answer on how you help your ideal customer.
You’ll want to share some credentials, those things that build trust with your audience, but do it in a conversational way instead of listing out a bunch of degrees, talk about your experience and any credentials that you have in a very conversational way. Most people will probably care a whole lot more about your teaching or counseling or therapy experience than they do about the degrees you have anyway unless you have some really prestigious degrees.
Now once you’ve shared the parts of your bio that are relevant to your business, then it’s time to share just a little bit about your personal life if you want to. Think about the things that make you relatable or likable to your audience. I might share some things like the fact that I’m a busy mom just like you are, so I understand the struggles that you have balancing work and family life. Or even some fun things like, I love coffee but I always like it iced not hot, or favorite Tv shows. This is a great place to throw in some of those little things that will help your audience to like you as a person.
Finally, you want to make sure you include a focused call to action. A huge mistake I see is that people write this wonderful about page but then they don’t direct readers to any next steps when they finish. The last thing you want is to put all this energy in and then just have them read the page and click away so make sure that you include a next step of some sort or a call to action at the end of the page.
Ideally, each page on your site should have one single call to action. But your about page may need to have a little bit more. I recommend you choose no more than three things and I would recommend that those 3 things be one free resource, a way to access your paid resources, and then a way to connect with you.
So when it comes to your free resources, the best option here is probably an email opt-in or directing them to a free resource they can download in your store. For a paid resource you can either link to your store where they can find resources or you might direct them to a membership or a course that you have.
When it comes to building connection, this might be a good place to send them to join your Facebook group, to invite them to DM on Instagram, whatever way that you prefer to connect and have conversation back and forth with your ideal customer. You wanna include that as your connection call to action.
Now your action step for today is to take a look at your about page, identify which parts of this framework you already have in place, and then add the parts that you’re missing. Don’t make this into a huge project. Just take a little bit of time to update the text and add a call to action if you don’t already have one. There is no need to run out and hire a web designer to create this page for you. It can be very simple.
To celebrate the launch of this podcast, I’m doing a giveaway of 2 1:1 strategy sessions with me where we can talk about ways to improve your tpt store. You can get my feedback on your website or anything else that you want to talk about that has to do with your tpt business.
To enter, all you need to do is screenshot your favorite episode so far and share it somewhere on social media. This could be in your Instagram stories your ig feed or on Facebook. Be sure to tag me so that I can mark down your entry @kristendoyle.co – This giveaway closes on July 26, 2022.
Thanks for tuning into this episode. Remember you can grab a free worksheet to help you plan out your about page content in the show notes at kristendoyle.co/episdoe3. And hey, if you’re loving this podcast so far, I’d really appreciate it if you’d leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there so you won’t miss an episode like my next one all about using your tpt note to followers! Talk to you next time.
