The bio is the tool that you could leverage most once you are networking.
Bottom line? People will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it, and whether it makes them really care about you, is a matter of how well you present yourself to your intended audience.
So, what do the best professional bios look like?
Below, we have curated a few of the best real professional bio examples we have ever seen on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the various sites where you may describe yourself.
Check them out, and utilize them as inspiration when crafting your own.
1. Ann Handley
Bio Platform: Personal Website
When you are a marketer, you have likely heard of Ann Handley. Her list of credentials is lengthy, and if she actually wanted to, she can go on and on and on about her accomplishments.
However, when people list out all their accomplishments in their bios, they risk sounding a bit egotistical. Sure, you may impress a handful of people with all these laurels, however, many people who read your bio will end up feeling either intimidated or annoyed. Think about it: Is that how you want the majority of your readers to feel once they read your bio?
To reduce the egoism that comes with talking about yourself, think about how you could list out your accomplishments without sounding like you are bragging. Ann does this really well, selecting a tone in her bio that is more approachable.
It begins with the excerpt in the footer of her personal site. Give it a quick read, paying close attention to the opening and closing lines:
“This is Ann Handley’s website, and this is a bit of copy about her … That’s not giving you a lot of detail, is it? So read more here.” This is the type of easy, friendly language that invites the followers in rather than shutting them out.
Follow the link and you will be led to a page dedicated to a fuller bio, which she is divided into 2 parts: a “short version” (literally a bulleted list of key facts) and a “long version,” which contains traditional paragraphs. There is something in there for everybody.
2. Rebecca Bollwitt
Bio platform: Instagram
Instagram is a notoriously tough platform on which to write a great bio. Just like Twitter, you simply don’t have room for a professional bio which includes everything about you. And since Instagram is primarily a mobile app, many viewers are reading about you passively on their mobile devices.
Instagram’s limited bio space requires you to highlight just your most essential qualities and blogging icon Rebecca Bollwitt does so in her own Instagram bio in a superb method.
Miss604 is Rebecca’s brand name and cleverly utilizes emojis in her Instagram bio to tell the audience exactly what makes her a valuable content creator. Take a look at the screenshot below.
Beginning with a trophy emoji, Miss604 says she’s won over 30 awards for her blogging services. I have not even looked at her photos yet and the introduction of her bio has already sucked me in.
The rest of her bio follows suit, breaking up the text with an appropriate emoji and an ideal collection of nouns to tell me who she is as a person. She even links out to her husband’s Instagram account after the heart emoji (an adorable addition) and assures her followers that all of her photos are authentically hers.
Thank to Miss604, and show your personal side. Just since you are branding yourself as a professional does not mean you have to take your human being hat off. Usually, your most personal attributes create the best professional bio content.
3. Mark Gallion
Bio Platform: Twitter
As a venture capitalist and an executive at several start-ups, Mark Gallion has different versions of his bio all around the internet. You could imagine some are more formal than others. However, in terms of his Twitter bio, he carefully phrased his info in a method that helps him connect with his audience — particularly, through using humor.
Why would he select humor when he runs 4 start-ups and constantly seeks funding for them? Well, Mark’s tactic is totally intentional: it is a lever he pulls to refresh his brand while maintaining his already impressive and established an identity as an entrepreneur.
Mark leverages his Twitter bio because it’s place where he could be human. And it helps him relate to his followers and potential investors.
When crafting your own Twitter bio, think about your audience and the personal brand you are trying to make for yourself. Use it as a chance to be relatable.
4. DJ Nexus
Bio Platform: Facebook
This New England-based DJ has single-handedly captured the Likes of more than 2,000 folks in and past Boston, MA. And even when you don’t listen to the kind of music he produces, it is hard not to listen to his compelling Facebook bio.
Stage-named DJ Nexus, Jamerson’s professional bio makes use of almost every Page field inside the About tab. Right away, his audience knows which genres he plays in, where he is from, and who else he is worked with. The latter — under “Affiliation,” as shown in the screenshot below — is unique and seldom mentioned in professional bios today.
Our favorite part about DJ Nexus’s bio? His tagline, under “About” — “Quiet during the day. QUITE LOUD at night!” DJ Nexus tells you when he works in an awesome method. I got goosebumps just imagining a dance club he may play his music in.
DJ Nexus’s bio brilliance does not stop there.
The great thing about Fb Business Pages is that you could write as much as you want without overwhelming your Page visitors. For those who just want Jamerson’s basic info, they’ve the 4 categories shown above. For those who want to learn more about him, he tells an excellent story of his career. Here is just a preview of his story, below:
In this story, DJ Nexus describes both when he “became known as DJ Nexus” and a company he founded shortly afterward — all before going to college. It is a terrific lesson for Fb Businesses today: customers want to learn about you, and as Fb increasingly becomes a place for meaningful interactions, there is no better place to tell your story than on your Fb Business Page.