About A Writer — A New Approach

Earlier this year, I changed the theme on my freelance writing portfolio site. It was part of giving the site — and my writing services — a more professional image. This week, I made another improvement, by hiring someone to upgrade my about page.

Sure, I could have written it myself. In fact, I have — several times — and it’s brought in some clients. But I wanted a completely new approach — and felt that I was too close to my own material to do it justice. When I write for clients, I’m able to take a disinterested (in the original sense of the word) look at what they want to achieve, without getting bogged down in the emotional aspect of their business. That’s what helps me advise them on strategy and write great content. I wanted someone to do that for sharonhh.com — look at it with fresh eyes and give it some added pizzazz.

Of course, I didn’t choose just anyone. I picked Lea Woodward. Why?

• because she specializes in writing about pages. I’ve seen lots of examples of her work and thought they were excellent.

• because I’ve worked with Lea before on her Location Independent group of sites, so she knows my approach to work and the value that I offer from personal experience.

The process was simple. After completing the payment formalities, I filled out a form on Lea’s site, giving some basic info (there were a couple of unusual questions, but I won’t spoil the surprise). Lea had a look around my site, added the info from the form and provided a completely new about page in less than a week.

The Dot Net Connector Difference

So what’s different about it? The new about page:

• presents the basic information on my original about page in a new way, making it even more positive.

• adds some context to the things I do (like explaining ghostwriting and my interest in most topics).

• incorporates lots of testimonials — they have their own page, but they look great on the new page too.

• answers clients’ questions before they ask them (especially ‘how can I help you?’

A lot of that information is on the site already, but it wasn’t presented in this way — and the information from the form I filled in brought the page to life. The beauty of this about page is that clients will find out all about me in a single place — they don’t even have to go to the testimonials or FAQ unless they really want to (though these are linked from the page, too).

Here’s part of the testimonial I gave Lea:

Colour me thrilled! What does your about page look like? Does it do you and your writing services justice?