The health and wellness industry is getting increasingly competitive. Consumers have more choices when it comes to hiring a certified trainer, nutritionist, health coach or fitness professional than ever before.
As a small business owner, you need to stand out from the crowd to show potential clients why your services are better than the competition.
A professional biography is the first step in showcasing your personality and your talents. It’s a vital step in building your personal brand and winning new clients. It’s also something that many people don’t consider until they are asked to provide one, and they are forced to cobble one together in a hurry. The best time to write your bio is before you need it.
If you aren’t sure where to start (it can feel uncomfortable to write about yourself), here are some tips for writing a polished bio that will grab attention on any platform.
Getting started
Choose the right tone
Before you write your first word, think about where and how your bio will be used. Now, imagine someone standing in front of you, reading it from a piece of paper. If you are writing a bio for your social media profile, the person holding that paper is you. If you’re writing for a speaking invitation or a formal website, someone else might be reading about you from that piece of paper.
Next, select your pronouns and point of view accordingly. For more formal biographies, it’s completely acceptable (and encouraged) to speak about yourself in the third person. For a friendly social media bio or an “about me” section, feel free to use a conversational, first-person approach.
Use your name
It might sound silly, but you would be surprised how many people forget to include their name in their bio. You want your reader to read your first and last name at the beginning of the bio, so it is solidified in their mind as they read more about who you are. If you’re writing in the third person, you might start with, “First Name/Last Name is dedicated to bringing better nutrition to Indianapolis.” For a first-person bio, simply begin with, “Hello! I’m First Name/Last Name.”
Watch out for jargon
Every industry is chock full of jargon words and acronyms that may or may not make sense to your readers. If you have an accreditation or degree from a professional organization, spell it out instead of abbreviating it. If you’re an expert in HIIT workouts, say “high impact interval training” in the first mention of it within your bio. The last thing you want to do is make your reader feel ignorant or out of the loop as they read about you. Strive to be approachable, relatable, and anything but a “know-it-all.”
But…brag a little
Prospective clients will read your bio from the perspective of “what’s in it for me?” They arrive at the answer to that question by reading about your particular expertise and what you have to offer them as a client. While it can be a bit awkward to talk about yourself, now is the time to shake off that feeling and do it. If you’re a five-time Ironman winner, talk about it. If you won an award for your collection of healthy recipes, put that in your bio.
Your bio is a perfectly acceptable place to clearly communicate to your reader why your services are better than your competition and what they stand to gain by choosing you to help them reach their wellness goals.
Paint a picture
Think of your bio as a story. You wouldn’t say, “I am good at making people work out.” Instead, you might say, “I’ve dedicated my life to helping people find workouts they look forward to and lifestyle changes that last.” Again, your bio is an ad to sell your expertise to prospective clients. Help them visualize what you can do for them that no one else can.
Show your personality
A biography doesn’t need to be boring to be taken seriously. Let your readers have a glimpse of who you are as an actual human being outside of your career as a wellness professional. Maybe you collect sombreros…or maybe you’ve visited every national park in the country. Season your bio with a bit of personality to help your readers identify with you as an individual and not just a faceless entity on a screen.
Don’t forget the important details
You’ve chosen the right tone, scrubbed your sentences of jargon, and offered up a few fun facts—all critical components of a great bio. Don’t forget to include the “meat and potatoes” of what makes you an expert. Add in any certifications, awards, or degrees you’ve earned (related to your business or services). Talk about any speaking engagements or professional associations you’ve been a part of. You’ve worked hard to become the best at what you do—don’t sweep your efforts under the rug in your bio.
Keep it flexible
Write your bio knowing that it can (and should) change. As you gain new experience and engage with your clients in new ways, you’ll learn things about yourself as a professional that you’ll want to include in your bio. After all, your biography is really just a story of how you are evolving over the course of your career, and you should constantly be thinking about what’s in the next chapter.
Get a second opinion
Once you have a solid first draft, ask a few colleagues or friends to read it. Put on your thickest skin and be willing to accept their constructive criticism. Because it is hard to write about yourself and your accomplishments, you may overlook important details about your experience or reflect a tone that doesn’t fit who you really are. Every writer needs a good editor—don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Just as your writing tone shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all, you must also consider the platform you’re writing for. Here are a few common scenarios that require a professional biography and how to approach your style and tone for each one.
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Writing a bio for “formal” platforms
Your company website
As a small business owner, you have the luxury of setting the tone of your website. Whether it’s formal or informal, you want your bio to match the style and overall vibe of the other pages. If you have business partners or employees that will also publish bios to the website, try to keep a uniform feeling with each one. The ultimate goal is to show each of your unique personalities and a sense of individuality while reflecting the essence of a unified team.
As a business networking platform, LinkedIn generally calls for a more professional tone than other social media platforms. That doesn’t mean, however, that you need to put your readers to sleep with endless rows of text and bullet points that read like a research report.
You have a roomy 2,000 characters to tell your story to LinkedIn’s vast network of over 260 million users. Don’t write fluff to fill the space, but do be thorough and use the space if you need it. As you think through what you want your network to know, be sure to keep the highlights at the beginning before the user is required to “click to read more.” Most people won’t click in, and you want them to read the best parts upfront.
Blogs and publications
The key difference when writing a bio for a blog or third-party publication is to somehow relate your bio back to the primary subject of the article. You might also consider linking your bio to a related article or presentation you’ve previously published on your website. It’s a great way to position yourself as an authority on the subject, and it will also drive readers back to your site.
Proposals and printed collateral
If you’re writing a bio to accompany a speaker submission or to appear on the bottom of a printed brochure or piece of collateral, you’ll want to adopt a formal but friendly tone. Keep the information centered around the subject at hand. If the submission is related to the benefits of a plant-based diet, for example, make your expertise on that topic the focal point of your bio.
Unlike generic digital platforms, where your bio must appeal to a broad audience, you have the luxury of staying laser-focused on one aspect of your experience for proposals and other formal projects.
Writing a bio for social media platforms
Your social media profiles are where your audience will get their first taste of who you are as an individual and as a professional. Don’t be afraid to let your personality show in your social bios. It’s a glimpse into the kind of interactions your clients can expect to have with you. Be professional, but be…human.
While Facebook may only give you one hundred characters to tell your story, it also makes it easy to modify your bio and schedule updates. Match your Facebook bio to the tone of the photos and updates you post, and revisit it often to keep it fresh and interesting for your followers.
Facebook’s sister site offers 150 characters for bios, but more importantly, it’s the one place you can link back to your website or something else you’d like to highlight. Keep your bio brief, descriptive, and include relevant hashtags to make it easier for your audience to find you. Sprinkle in a few emojis to add some personality—you’ll be amazed at how much you can express about yourself in just a few characters.
Twitter is notoriously irreverent and fun as social media platforms go. Feel free to express your personality in your Twitter bio (in 160 characters or less), but do tie the information back to your business and what you can offer your clients. While Twitter is an excellent venue for humor and a little bit of edge, remember that the fewer characters you have to tell your story, the more intentional you have to be to engage your reader with what you do.
Sample biography for health and fitness professionals
Now that you know the basic rules, here is a sample bio to help you get started. Note: This is just a tool to get the ball rolling. Take this (or another template that appeals to you) and make it your own, based on the platform you’re writing for and the audience you want to attract.
Make it less formal by using first-person pronouns if the occasion calls for it. Above all, imagine that person standing in front of you, reading from a piece of paper. Don’t stop editing until the right words are printed on that page.
- {First Name/Last Name} is a {title or description of what you do} with over {number of years} of experience helping {who you help} to {describe how you help clients}.
- {First name} lives by the philosophy that {what you know/believe about the work you do and the services you offer your clients}.
- Over the course of {his/her/their} career in {field/profession}, {first name} has {insert achievements and most compelling experience here}.
- As a {trained/certified/awarded} {insert field of expertise}, {first name} has been recognized by {insert honors/awards/professional achievements}.
- {First name} holds a {degree/certificate} in {relevant area of study} from {insert professional organization/college/university}.
- {He/she/they} live with {partner/pet/child/etc.} in their home city of {city name} where they love to {insert fun fact/hobby} in their spare time.
Get Your Free Guide
Learn How to Start a Fulfilling, Impactful Career as a Holistic Health Coach
You’ll learn:
- Why holistic health matters
- If holistic health coaching is right for you
- What career opportunities exist for health coaches
- And more!
