Why You Can’t Afford to Shortchange Your Short Bios and Profiles

Just before the holidays, I wrote a 100-word bio for an existing client who runs a solo accounting and bookkeeping firm in North Carolina. The bio will appear on the website of an organization that offers professional resources for the arts community.

While other bios on the website (including one for another accountant) read like resumes, this bio speaks directly to the needs of the arts community, explains what the firm can help them achieve, and delivers a clear call-to-action – in 103 words, to be exact.

Two takeaways here…

1) Generic doesn’t connect.

LinkedIn headlines and summaries, chamber profiles, professional bios… they all matter.

Approach them strategically. And eliminate the phrase “generic bio” from your vocabulary.

Profiles and bios should be customized if needed to resonate with the audience of the platform.

Remember, the purpose of your bio is to create moments of human connection with readers, pique their interest, and motivate them to dig deeper into what you do.

If you want to connect with your ideal client, develop content that’s tailored to your ideal client’s wants, needs, goals, challenges, and aspirations.

If you don’t mind dealing with tire kickers, you’ll happily work with anyone, or you just want to get it done quickly, I guess generic content will do.

2) Shorter does not equal easier.

Actually, shorter content is often harder to write. A lot harder.

Trust me. I used to write audio ads as short as 10 seconds for a living.

Don’t assume that because content is shorter, and nobody knows you better than you, you can write your own profile or bio without much effort or strategic thought.

And don’t assume that because content is shorter, you can type a few words into a little white box on your favorite AI platform and magically generate content that creates moments of human connection.

Just like a good writer will ask questions to zero in on the right message, you need to feed AI the answers to those questions to generate content that’s remotely usable.

That’s why most AI-generated content is generic and awful. Garbage in, garbage out.

To be fair, most content written by inexperienced human writers, or writers who rely on the same generic questionnaires and don’t ask follow-up questions, is also generic and awful. Garbage in, garbage out.

When words are at a premium, they matter that much more.

Take nothing for granted.

Every profile, every page of your website, every social media post, every thought leadership article, every brochure – each one is a reflection of who you are as an individual or business.

Each one can influence the decisions and actions of your ideal client. Never assume it’s just a profile, just one article, or just one social media post.

Every word matters.

The wrong words drive people away, or at least give them an excuse to leave.

The right words, including those in your short bios and profiles, move people closer to doing business with you.

Move them emotionally. Move them with facts and logic to support their emotional decision-making process. Then move them to action.

But first, give your words the thought and attention they deserve.