6 tips for writing an ‘About Me’ page that gets you hired.
April 13th, 2022
Did you know that your “About Me” page is often the most-visited page on your online portfolio website? After they see your images, the natural step for clients, readers, and fans is to ask: “Who’s the person behind the work?”
Most people find writing about themselves difficult. The question of how to distill your work down to a short, simple description is challenging regardless of how long you’ve been in your profession. A good “About Me” page will help you market yourself to site visitors who identify with you, connect with your personality, are impressed with your accomplishments, or all of the above!
About pages can be as unique as the way people take their coffee. There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to how you present yourself on your portfolio website, and different strategies will work for different styles, and types of photography.
That being said, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what makes a successful About page and we’ve put together a simple step-by-step guide to walk you through creating a biography that works: one that’s personal and professional at the same time, and that can be finished up in six easy steps.
- Tell them about yourself and your experience.
- Use a tone that’s professional, yet friendly.
- Awards, testimonials, or accolades.
- Highlight what makes you special.
- Upload a photo of yourself.
- Check spelling and grammar.
1. Tell them about yourself and your experience.
Tell readers your name in the first line of your portfolio introduction. Before introducing yourself, first think about the most natural way for you to do this. Ideally, your about page will sound similar to a conversation you might have if meeting in person. Don’t forget to mention where you are based! Even if you travel, clients like to know whether you’re halfway around the world, or just around the corner.
2. Use a tone that’s professional yet friendly.
There’s no need to be overly formal on your bio / About page. Keep the page name clear and simple, and don’t feel the need to write in third person as though someone wrote this page for you. This is your own space for representing yourself on the web.
Not sure where to begin? Here are some questions to help get your “About Me” text started:
- How long have you been doing photography?
- What is your “manifesto”?
- How did you learn photography?
- What is your favorite genre to shoot?
- How do you approach each project?
- What are some of your hobbies and interests? (i.e. knitting, cooking, nutrition, music, sports, camping)
- Where did you grow up?
- Do you have any pets?
- What is your favorite quote?
- Have you had a previous career unrelated to photography?
- What drives you?
- What are your strengths? (i.e. Making people feel comfortable, great at posing, great at catching candid moments)
- How can you share your personality? (i.e. funny, humanitarian, animal lover, world traveler)
3. Awards, testimonials, and accolades.
If you’ve been recognized for your work, your “About Me” page is a great place to talk about it. A couple carefully chosen client testimonials might be appropriate to include here as well.
Depending on your primary genre and clientele, your About page may only touch on your professional experience, or these details may make up most of the content. It is always good to include a little of your background, but it can sometimes make more sense to have a separate page for an extensive CV. Decide what makes the most sense for you.
Here are some examples of professional accolades you might include:
- A wedding you photographed was featured on Style Me Pretty.
- Your work was selected for inclusion in a juried art exhibition.
- A customer left rave reviews about how kind / professional / creative / all around awesome you are.
4. Highlight what makes you special.
It’s easy to skim through someone’s professional experience and not feel as if you’ve learned anything personal about them. A client’s experience with their photographer is almost more important than the final images delivered. Give them some insight into who you are so they can make a more informed decision about whether you’ll be a good fit for each other.
Touch on something interesting about who you are or what you like, how it may impact the shoot experience, or highlight other talents and skills to make your “About Me” page resonate with your ideal clients.
Where to find appropriate “About” details to add.
Customer reviews and testimonials are a great place to find aspects about you that have impressed your past clients. Especially when you’re trying to appeal to a specific kind of client, highlighting things that have worked in the past will likely have a similar effect with future clients.
Phone a close friend or family member and ask what they love about you. It’s always great to get some direction from an outside source, and who better to ask than the people closest to you.
Take a personality test:
- Myers Briggs
- Enneagram
Personality tests will help identify positive traits and strengths. For example, after taking one of these tests you might find that some of your strengths are: curiosity, authenticity, kindness, intuition, enthusiasm, creativity, innovation, adaptability. These would all be great traits to include in a photography bio!
When deciding how much personal information to include, it’s important to remember that you want to not only appear professional and reliable, but also to stand out in a sea of many other professionals. Including these brief little details can make a world of a difference.
5. Upload a photo of yourself.
People love to put a face to the name, and it helps them to more quickly connect with you. Choose a photo that represents your personality. Depending on the tone of your online portfolio website and what kind of work you do, you might choose an image that’s more professional (like a headshot), something more personal (like a shot of you working in your studio), or something in between.
People generally have a faster, more emotion-based connection when the subject (aka: YOU) looks directly into the camera. If including images of you creating, consider having more than one image so that potential clients can get a glimpse of the “windows to your soul.”
6. Check spelling and grammar.
Your About page should not appear sloppy or unprofessional because of typos, spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors. We all make errors; ask friends or family members to be a second set of eyes, and always read the text out loud at least once to make sure it flows naturally. Before you publish your new “About Me” on your portfolio website, read everything carefully one last time.
To sum it up, writing your about me page is all about striking a balance between personal and professional that best suits your business. Potential clients don’t need every little detail about your personal life, but the page likely won’t keep anyone’s attention if you simply list out every professional accomplishment. If needed, make a list of each and then distill it to a few key items from both.
Once you have a good balance, you should feel ready to craft an about me page worthy of your photography portfolio. Of course, it may take a bit of time and a few drafts, but keep reminding yourself of the motto “Done is better than perfect.” You can always come back and make adjustments to the page as you–and your photography business–grow and change.
