Interacting with Prospective Clients
Prospective clients and companies are generally interested in learning about the business entities they plan to interact with, particularly when the interaction will mostly unfold online. Well-established brands and franchises with a certain longevity do not have to worry too much about this, but all other companies should, and this is why an adequate company biography is crucial to have in 2021.
Company bios often take up the entire “About” page of a website; this is a classic strategy, but you can also keep this section short so that a longer version of the bio can be published elsewhere such as in a media kit. The idea is to be informative as well as slightly persuasive; readers of the bio should come away with an idea of the company as well as an enticement to do business with it.
A good biography should be based on an explanation of what was originally written on the business plan, but with a greater emphasis on readability. You can think about business operations as they relate to customers and clients; focusing on the positive results that your operations generate for customers. Another aspect to include in the bio is the company image for prospective employees, particularly those who will be transitioning or pivoting their careers. Company achievements should be mentioned along with future goals and possible needs; this can help you recruit the kind of candidates who are conscious about the organization they will be working for.
Change is always good to mention in a business biography. If the products, services, and business processes have evolved, they can be listed on a timeline chart with visual appeal because we are all receptive to this kind of presentation. Explaining the steps your company took to grow, expand, and improve can go a long way in terms of building confidence in your brand.
Basic Elements of a Company Bio
Business owners and brand managers who wish to establish a casual and friendly rapport with clients and customers should begin with a greeting and a very brief mention of the company’s mission. The next section, which should be more business-like, can present official data such as alternate names, locations, jurisdictional licensing, structure, mission statement, milestones, and key personnel.
The next element of the bio consists of a narrative about the company. While the aforementioned elements that come after the greeting can be presented in bullet points, this narrative section should be written as a story. Small business owners can use the first person voice as a means of introduction, but they should switch the plural “we” afterwards.
As for how long the narrative should be, please refer to this brief company bio as an example. You generally do not want readers to scroll down endlessly; to this effect, it is better to keep things short and sweet on the “About” page; should you need more space, website visitors can be directed to the media kit or to a separate page on the website by means of a link. Finally, if you wish to inject some search engine optimization into the company bio, keep the number of keywords around three.
