One of
the hallmarks of a platform-rich site is your Media Page � and the
star of that page is always a compelling bio. Here are a few key tips to
help you build credibility:
1.
Stack the facts up front. Begin
with your most impressive facts. �
Mary
Louise Green is a nationally known painter whose work has appeared in
numerous major gallery exhibits.� (Mary Louise has,
in fact, only shown in four galleries, but they were in different parts of
the US,
so that counts as �numerous� and �national�.)
2.
Don�t ramble on about passions and purpose.
This bio needs to sell you, not your philosophy. You can mention it in
passing (�
which helped her
discover a deep love for teaching art.�) Generally,
your bio is a tool for media bookers, agents, editors, etc., to get a
handle on who you are and how they can sell you to their bosses or clients.
So they just need to know your most impressive facts.
3.
Be selectively honest.
There�s always a temptation to fudge the facts a bit with bios. I
think that�s acceptable as long as you don�t blatantly lie, and
done by most bio writers. The key is to be honest, but still think big and
impressive. For instance, if you�ve done fourteen workshops for ten
people each, can you say that you�ve worked with �hundreds of
participants�? I say, yes, IF you�re planning to keep right on
doing those workshops, and accumulating experience. Realistically,
you�ll be using this bio for at least the next year, so presumably by
year�s end, your total will be up around 300 or so. On the other
hand, using these same figures, you�re not entitled to say
you�ve worked with thousands of participants. But not to worry
� �hundreds� sounds ample enough.
4.
Add a line that defines your expertise.
When I published my first book, I was described in bios as a
�creativity jump starter�. Look for a quick active phrase that
spells out your philosophy and work in a nutshell. Imagine this as
something radio jocks can say when they introduce you.
5.
Maximize your experience. We all
feel like one student of mine, who complained while writing her bio:
�But I�m just a little person in the middle of nowhere
who�s done diddly-squat.� As it turns out, she was a cancer
survivor, writing a book for cancer patients. So that�s what she put
in her bio. Qualifications don�t have to be strictly academic or
professional.
6.
Keep it to a paragraph of two.
No need to go on forever. Make it pungent and specific. The basics are that
you want to illustrate your expertise, your pertinent life experience, and
distill what you do down into an essential sentence.
A Good Example Here�s a fun
bio I found recently at the end of an article on the website, www.publicityhound.com
(great stuff there, by the way!):
Gladys
Edmunds was a single teenage mom in early 1960s Pittsburgh. She posed as an adult to make
money by doing other people's laundry, whipped up chicken dinners in her
grandmother's kitchen for taxi drivers, and stared down snarling dogs to
sell fire extinguishers and Bibles door-to-door. Today, Edmunds, 52, is an
evangelical entrepreneur preaching the value of self-employment. The
founder of a successful travel agency, Edmunds Travel Consultants in
Pittsburgh, she is the author of There's No Business Like Your Own
Business, a six-step guide to success published in February by Viking.
Doesn�t
that just make you want to spend time with the author?
Once you�ve
written your bio, pass it by some supportive friends and ask for feedback.
This is a critical piece because somehow we�re never as good at
evaluating our own bios as we are those of others.
After
you�ve got a great, un-boring bio in hand, post it on your media page
with all relevant contact info and, of course, your very best headshot.
