Need to know how to write a professional bio on yourself? You’re not alone. Bio writing is difficult. It forces you to prioritize what’s most important about you. It’s an intimidating task to boil down your entire professional life into one paragraph that’s clear, concise, and works for you.

Luckily, you don’t have to start your bio from scratch. Before writing your bio, let’s dissect Dan Schawbel’s. If someone is already doing things right, why not learn from them? Personal branding guru Dan Schawbel’s short bio is an excellent example of a brand-building, professional bio that works for him. I’m going to break it down piece by piece to show you what you can learn from it.

Learn by Example

Dan Schawbel’s Bio:

“Dan is the leading expert in personal branding for the generation-y audience, with an award winning and world recognized Blog, a TV podcast series that he directs, Awards that he gives out, and a Magazine that benefits the American Cancer Society. He has written over 20 publications for major magazines and online resources and has been featured in Fast Company Magazine and Yahoo! Finance and is EMC’s social media expert. He is also establishing the first 360 degree personal branding website, DanSchawbel.com, creating a new standard for career development. Recently, he has redefined personal branding by establishing a collaborate wiki, which he is using to acquire knowledge from all the leading experts to establish a single definition for personal branding.”

Analysis of Dan’s Bio

Let’s break down Dan’s bio now, one piece at a time.

“Dan is the leading expert in personal branding.” This immediately tells you Dan’s niche, without hesitation and without confusion. When you’re writing your own bio, be crystal clear about what you do from the get-go. Your first sentence should have people nodding their heads along with you… ahh okay, so that’s what you do.

“…for the generation-y audience.” This makes it very clear who Dan’s audience is. Personal branding focuses on achieving success by making you the best solution for a particular audience. It would be difficult for Dan to say he’s the leading personal branding expert in the entire world. It’s much easier to be an expert for a certain group of people – for Dan, that’s Generation Y (today’s twenty year olds). Who is your ideal audience? It could be individuals (the disabled, the elderly, women in their twenties, etc.) or groups (cancer researchers, failing not-for-profits, green startups, etc.). Choosing an audience helps you attract more ideal opportunities that better align with your long-term goals. That way, everybody wins.

“…with an award winning and world recognized Blog, a TV podcast series that he directs, Awards that he gives out, and a Magazine that benefits the American Cancer Society.” This sentence highlights Dan’s professional accomplishments. What have you done that directly backs up your first “what I do” sentence? Include your most important achievements, but be picky because you don’t have too much space.

“…He has written over 20 publications for major magazines and online resources and has been featured in Fast Company Magazine and Yahoo! Finance and is EMC’s social media expert.” This showcases Dan’s “credibility boosters” – items that build a strong argument for his authority in his field. What credibility boosters (awards, certifications, memberships, etc.) might make you a more attractive job candidate in your bio?

“…He is also establishing the first 360 degree personal branding website, DanSchawbel.com, creating a new standard for career development.” This shows what Dan is doing to stand out in his area of expertise. What things (side projects, past work, etc.) have you done that differentiates you from your peers?

“…Recently, he has redefined personal branding by establishing a collaborate wiki, which he is using to acquire knowledge from all the leading experts to establish a single definition for personal branding.” This demonstrates how Dan is contributing to his niche. Are you doing anything novel or innovative in your niche that might make you more memorable to readers of your bio? If so, be sure to include it.

Create a Remarkable Web Presence at Brand-Yourself.com

Once you’ve got your bio up to snuff, it’s time to create a visible web presence where you can use it! Did you know that more than half of employers are more likely to hire you if you’ve spent time developing your personal brand across social networks? To help you do this, we built a platform to manage your online reputation from one central hub. Create your Brand-Yourself account today and see how our tools can help you build, optimize and promote a remarkable web presence that gets you hired.

The more involved you become with various groups and projects, the more you need a professional bio. They are massively useful in a variety of settings – for example, if someone needs to post a description about you on a website, newsletter or article. Since people who don’t know you may only ever see your bio, you need to make it count. The following tips will help teach you how to write a professional bio on yourself:

1. Make three versions: short, medium and long. Most of the time, someone else will dictate the length of your bio. They will likely tell you how many words you can use to ensure that yours is the same length as other bios. Because of this, one bio will not do.

You need three bios:

• One sentence bio
• 100 word bio
• 250 word bio

Each bio has its place. You will save you time and energy when the time comes time to post it, and establish consistency between every professional bio about you that is published.

2. Introduce yourself as if you’re meeting a stranger. Lead in with your name. People need to know who you are before they hear what you’re all about.

3. Immediately state what you do. If you are “Portrait Photographer,” don’t wait until the last moment to say it. Your most important details should go in the first sentence. Remember: people on the web rarely read more than the first and last sentence.

4. Touch upon your most important accomplishments. Don’t list them, and make sure they fit. A bio is not a resume; it is simply a quick summary of who you are. If you have space, mention them. If not, ignore them.

5. Include your contact information. You should have a line in your bio that makes it easy for people to contact you. Stick to the norm and put your contact info in the last sentence.

6. Talk in the third person. Since your bio is something other people use to describe you, make it sound like someone else is talking about you. Good: “John Doe is a portrait photographer with six years of hands-on experience working with clients… etc.” Bad: “I am a portrait photographer… etc.”

7. Get feedback from a friend. A great way to test your bio is to have someone else read it. Ask for their feedback. Does it accurately state who you are and what you do? If after reading your bio they still don’t understand what value you provide, revise it until they do.

8. Keep it up to date. You’re constantly moving forward in your career, and your bio should reflect that. Never send out your bio if it still says you work for a former employer.

The next step: Join me as I analyze Dan Schawbel, one sentence of his bio at a time.

---

Brand-Yourself.com is a platform to diagnose, manage and monitor your online reputation for career success. Did you know that 83% of employers use the web to research job applicants? If you’re ready to proactively control your Google results and get hired, rather than cut from the applicant pool, try us for free and start controlling how you’re perceived online. Go ahead. Take our tools for a spin.