Creating the Perfect Profile or "About Me" Page

[Continued from last week...]

To ensure that you write the best “About Me” or profile page, follow these guidelines:

- Briefly describe your education and relevant experience. This section shouldn’t reiterate the specifics of your resume, but should highlight the projects, jobs and coursework that pertain to the work, clients, or customers that you seek.

- Devote a small portion of your text to who you are outside of your career. Are you a parent, volunteer, community leader, wine connoisseur or weekend hobbyist? Do you fish, scrapbook, or collect first edition books? It is important to include items of interest that will show to your reader that you are relatable and approachable.

- Add a picture of yourself, preferably close-range. Avoid pictures that have distracting backgrounds, large groups of people, or are not in focus.

- List items that set you apart from your competitors. Do you have special qualifications, certifications or affiliations that will enhance a client’s work? Have you landed an easily recognizable client like Microsoft, Starbucks or Google?

- Be consistent with tense and person terminology throughout your paragraph. I like using present tense where appropriate (e.g., Virtually Yourz offers writing, editing and marketing services to small businesses and nonprofits throughout the United States.) I also prefer using third person (Virtually Yourz instead of I or we)

While the “About Me” page of your website is intended to be personal in nature, maintain your professionalism. Use proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and complete sentences throughout to prevent the section from becoming too casual.

Above all, keep in mind that this section should be about YOU, and it may be your only opportunity to impress the reader with the person that they will hire, so use it wisely.

Virtually Yourz,
Dana Blozis

What is LinkedIn and why should I use it?

LinkedIn is one of many entries into the online networking market. At first glance, I was skeptical, wondering if this was a thinly veiled dating vehicle for hormonal teens (like some other networking sites to remain unnamed here). After a quick review of the site though, you discover that those dating-type features are absent. In its place is a very simple, easy to navigate system with minimal advertisements.

Instead of posting a photo album of your activities last Friday night, you are asked to provide the details of your education, career, and areas of expertise. The next step is to make connections with the people you already know in real life. The program has the capability to, with your permission, search your Outlook or web-based contact list looking for LinkedIn participants that you already know. Now here’s where it gets interesting: you can see the names and company names of every person connected to your colleagues. If you have been trying to do business with a certain company, but cannot find a way in, this allows you to ask for a warm introduction from someone already on the inside: your colleague.

As is the case with most online networking sites, or for that matter most in-person networking events, you get out of it what you put into it. In other words, if you take the time to create a quality, detailed profile and make an effort to make connections, you will gain more business traction from the site. And if you use the site regularly, your own name and company may rank higher in the results of online searches.

To set up a basic LinkedIn account at no charge, visit www.linkedin.com. To view a sample profile, check out mine here.

Virtually Yourz,
Dana Blozis